Who doesn't love the cocktail hour portion of the evening when visiting friends and family for dinner. Or - how about a early evening party with heavy hors d'oeuvres and cocktails.
We entertain here quite a lot in Tubac, Arizona. Many people do. Sometimes I have only 15 minutes notice that someone is coming over to have one of my homemade margaritas or wine and watch the sunset. Sometimes people pop over when they see me or my husband and I outside on our front patio. Everyone knows it is open house here ;-)
If I don't have any time, I almost always have a selection of cheeses and salami in my cheese drawer. I always have crackers and wonderful bread frozen in foil in the freezer. I always have grapes as well for decoration and herbs from my garden and at least rosemary in the winter months. Olives are on hand as well and if not fresh from the salad bar - jarred ones will do. Good quality of course. Sweet gerkins are great with salami and I always have those on hand as well.
So my simple go to quicky plate that I can rustle up while I'm pouring my unexpected quests some wine is what you see above sans the bread. I grab the aged gouda (Rembrandt is my favorite), aged goat or brie and some good cheddar or whatever I have on hand and slice some, put down a decorative arrangement of salami and gerkins, add some olives, grapes, herbs (A few Marigolds on this plate which are edible) and I'll put some crackers in an attractive container lined with fancy napkins with the napkin rings on them for a bit more elegance.
If I have a little advanced notice, I'll add some homemade Salsa (recipe follows) or some Guacamole with good quality tortilla chips and if time - I'll warm those in the oven. For a more formal affair I'll add a hot app and maybe some baked brie in pastry or some homemade pastry triangles with spicey shrimp, tomato and olive or meat. I'll post some of those recipes in the future. I can't say enough about wonton cups and always have wontons in the freezer and a couple of mini muffin pans. Push them into lightly oiled cups and bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 min. I'll post some fillers for those later - My favorite being a smoked oyster dip with cream cheese, lemon zest, chives and more. Puff pastry is another stable you should always have in the freezer as they can be filled with many stuffings and baked for an impressive appetizer.
Let's start with the simple on this page today.
Oops - Guacamole - Cut the Avocado in half - take the knife and whack the seed - twist and the pit will come out. Take a knife and cut a grid pattern in the flesh while holding the half of the avocado on a cutting board or carefully in your hand. Scoop out with spoon. Add all the chopped ingredients to the bowl - Add chopped tomatoes if you like! SALSA - you can take the seeds out of the tomatoes if you wish for a less liquidy salsa. If you don't have any fresh tomatoes - always have some diced tomatoes on hand and drain the juice out. Save the juice for another use. Add all chopped/diced ingredients together in a bowl.
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