Thanksgiving Hors D'oeuvres

[chez suz]

Looking for new ideas.....so far cinnamon chips w/a fruit dip and fruit salsa.... chopped apple, pear, pecans, cranberries etc...
Endive w/a cream cheese and smoked salmon spread.
All ideas are welcome. Kid friendly especially....

 

[QSis]

Kid friendly appetizers?

Well, the little kids and big kids in my family gobble up Pigs in a Blanket. Get a package of 50 little cocktail weiners, and two packages of Pillsbury Crescent rolls. Cut each dough triangle into thirds and roll up a weiner, so the point of each triangle is on the outside. Bake about 12 minutes at 350 and serve in a big napkin-lined basket. Can serve small bowls of mustard and ketchup on the side, but these things are great as is.

Also, you can slice up bologna, cheese and dill pickles. Skewer a slice of each on toothpicks and stick them in a grapefruit or two lemons to present. Add a few toothpicks with olives, too, some green and some black.

Kids like shrimp cocktail, too, for some reason (I hate the stuff!)

Lee

 

[QSis]

Oh yeah, and scroll down to see the Cranberry Brie recipe I posted recently. Maybe substitute cream cheese for brie? I dunno - kids might like the brie.

Lee

 

[chez suz]

Thanks QSis..pigs in the blanket are a great idea...and your way of making them is easy...Thanks.

 

[Yakuta]

Hi Chez Suz I love to make puff pastry pockets (more traingles). You can stuff them with veggies, chicken and cheese and bake them.

My kids absolutely love them and it's so easy for them to hold in their little hands and eat them.

I use the readymade pepper-ridge farm puff pastry sheets. There are two sheets and eaach is folded into three halves. I cut each half into 3-4 squares add the filling and then fold into a traingle. You can make them ahead of time and freeze them and bake them at the end.

 

[buckytom]

hiya chez suz,

i've been saving this one for a special post, so here's a really kid and guy friendly dip i found on epicurious. good for big family gatherings like thanksgiving and football games and so on.

BONNIE'S BUFFALO CHICKEN DIP

4 skinless boneless chicken breast halves, about 2 pounds, boiled, drained & shredded with 2 forks (crockpot is a great way to cook the chicken) Don't cut chicken into chunks..it needs to be shredded

1 - 12 ounce bottle Frank's Louisiana Hot Sauce (try not to substitute here, Frank's really is the best. Crystal would be okay but do NOT use Tabasco)

2 - 8 ounce packages cream cheese

1 - 16 ounce bottle Ranch dressing

1/2 cup chopped celery

8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a 13x9x2 inch baking pan, combine shredded cooked chicken meat with entire bottle of Frank's sauce, spreading to form an even layer.

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine cream cheese and entire bottle of Ranch dressing, stirring til hot & smooth. Pour this evenly over chicken mixture.

Sprinkle with celery. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes; then sprinkle with cheese and bake for another 15-20 minutes or til bubbly. Serve with celery sticks for dippers and/or any sturdy dipping chip like Tostito Golds. My 22 year old son says to just put out spoons, he loves this so much.

 

[QSis]

Oh, well, buckytom, that Buffalo Dip is DEFINITELY going to be the next one I take to the neighbors' house for one of our holiday get-togethers! Looks incredible!!!

Lee

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

A favorite everywhere we go is Knox Blocks. The recipe is on Knox unflavored geliten boxes. The advantage of these over Jello Jigglers, is that they have the flavor of regular Jello. Jigglers are made simply by reducing the amount of water in the recipe. This concentrates the flavor, making it too strong for many. Using the Knox recipe, you are adding extra geliten to the recipe to create a more stable and firm geliten. They stay solid at room temperature, and in sittle hands. you can get molds for them as well. We use ice-cube molds, bean shaped molds, and egg molds (size of medium chicken eggs). Everyone loves these sweet treats that can be made with either the regular Jello, or no sugar version. And the taste is as good as regular Jello.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the North

 

[Chief Longwind Of The North]

Oh, I forgot to mention that at the last family get together, I mad a batch of Knox Blocks simply by pouring the liquid onto a greased jelly-roll pan, with multiple colors/flavors of product, taking care not to mix them. The result was mulit colored and flavored Jello roll-up. Kind of like fruit rol-ups, but with finger jello. It was a huge hit.

Seeeeeya; Goodweed of the north.

 

[jkath]

To build on that jell-o theme...
Here's one that's fun. My kids love these, and
they really are easy to cut out. Because of the
milk & pudding, they kind of taste like
50/50 bars, if you use orange.


Creamy Cut-Outs
2 pkgs (6oz. ea) orange or strawberry jell-o
2½ c. boiling water
1 c. cold milk
1 pkg (3.4oz) instant vanilla pudding mix

Dissolve jell-o in water; set aside for 30 minutes.
Whisk milk & pudding mix until smooth,
about 1 minute. Quickly pour into jell-o; whisk
until well blended. Pour into an oiled 13x9x2
pan. Chill until set. Cut, using a knife into squares
or use metal cookie cutters.

 

[SierraCook]

This recipe is great for kids. My mom has served this at parties for a long time and the kids just loved them. The best thing is that they can be served hot or cold.

Parmesan Chicken Bites

6 chicken breasts
½ cup crushed packaged herb-seasoned stuffing mix
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons snipped fresh parsley
1/3 cup butter, melted

Cut each chicken breast into 6-8 pieces about 1½” square. Combine stuffing mix, cheese, and parsley. Dip chicken pieces into butter. Then roll in stuffing mixture. Place in a single layer on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in a 300º oven for about 10 minutes, or until tender and cooked thoroughly. Serve hot or cold with toothpicks.

 

[luvs]

we keep it simple... you have to save room for dinner, after all...
we just set out a bowl of nuts, a pair of nutcrackers, and a bowl to drop the nut-shells into, a box or 2 of gourmet chocolates, and sometimes some wine

 

[lyndalou]

Buckytom this sounds so good, I want to make it for supper. As your son said, just put it on the table with spoons.
I do know I'm taking it as my contribution to my friends' annual Thanksgiving dinner.
Thank you

 

[buckytom]

lol, lyndylou, i read thru my entire post last night, and realized i should have edited the original writer's comment about her son.

my son is 7 months old. lol, i will be happy if he makes it to 22 someday, tho. i can't wait to start shooting around a puck with him, and race down a mountain on skis or bikes, or throw him a football. next year maybe...

 

[debthecook]

I just put out grapes, a block of swiss, some salami, ritz. The meal is grand, so my appetizers are not filling.

 

[mudbug]

deb, you have the right idea. We were invited to my sister's one year along with her new in-laws. The MIL was/is an excellent cook, and made a groaning tableful of hors d'oeuvres, including some kind of fish mousse molded to look like a fish and with green olive "scales."

We were so full of hors d'oeuvres that we could hardly eat any turkey.

 

[debthecook]

May God rest his tormented soul, but the Frugal Gourmet was a big advocate of that, if you are going to serve appetizers, hold back on the main meal. How many times have we gone to a restaurant to order appetizers, just to never finish the main meal.

 

[QSis]

Well, my family eats the large special-occasion meals in the evening, not midday. We don't eat lunch, so we bring out the appetizers around 1:00 or 2:00 in the afternoon and have them while we are opening birthday or Christmas gifts and catching up with each other.

As far as restaurants go, I never order appetizers unless I am going to make a meal of just THEM. If I go to a place that serves all kinds of free stuff before the meal (like soup or salad or bean relish or something that I won't be taking home), I will decide what I'm ordering for a main meal, and if it's something that will be great leftover from a doggy bag (like prime rib), I eat the pre-meal stuff. If my entree is something that is not good the second time (like fried clams), I will just take a taste of the pre-meal things.

Hey, it takes a lot of thought to be a foodie!

Lee

 

[PA Baker]

I just got my November issue of Cooking Light and they have a whole section of light dips and appetizers for T-giving. They all sound good and can be used in various ways (cold/hot dips, leftovers as spreads for sammys, etc).

 

[Juliev]

I just got my November issue of Cooking Light and they have a whole section of light dips and appetizers for T-giving. They all sound good and can be used in various ways (cold/hot dips, leftovers as spreads for sammys, etc).

you get that too? I used to. I miss that magazine, and I don't know why I never renewed the subscription.

I can't believe marmalady hasn't posted on this thread!
She mentioned something somewhere about rolled up strips of good roastbeef or other sliced meat. I do something similiar, but put a thin layer of cream cheese on the slice (mixed with minced green onion or chives--my aunt made it once using VERY crushed wallnuts) and roll up and stick with toothpicks.