Every holiday season I start by telling myself that I’m going not going to go overboard for the holidays but somehow that never happens. Can anyone else relate? This year I’m determined to make it happen. One way to do that is to skip making appetizers and go straight to the easiest appetizer spread ever, cheese and crackers (with a few additional goodies). Ina Garten has shown similar ideas on some of her Food Network shows. In fact she gives great entertaining advice. I figure if cheese and crackers are good enough for Ina’s guests then they’re good enough for mine. 🙂
I’ve seen people write articles about what kind of cheeses to use but I don’t follow any of those “rules.” Instead I think you should choose a variety based on what your crowd likes, or at least which kinds you like. My family does not like strong cheeses so I go with a variety of mild flavors like cheddar and monetery jack. Today I went with one hard cheese (Cabot seriously sharp cheddar) and one soft spreadable cheese (Boursin garlic & fine herbs).
Then choose a variety of fun crackers. I actually thought about making crackers. Bad Tina. The main goal here is to produce an easy appetizer. Store bought ones will do just fine. By the way, if you want to make crackers then I’m not going to stop you.
I love to add an easy dip and chips too. I make my hummus because it’s so dang easy and delicious but you can certainly buy a tub at the store if you want.
Lastly, I like to add a few other goodies to the platter. Depending on what I find at the grocery store, I’ll add fresh fruit, various veggies, olives, or nuts.
Ta da, you’ve got the easiest appetizer ever! I’ve already served similar appetizer platters for three gatherings and it’s been a success.
Have fun with it and let me know what fun goodies you like to add to your platter.
Simple that it may have been to put this delicious looking appetizer tray, it looks like a picture from a magazine. Nicely done. 🙂
You are so sweet! Thank you because that means a lot to me! 🙂