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added over 2 years ago

If you've got a good Italian deli nearby, how about a beautiful tray of cold anitpasto? Various thin-sliced Italian meats, like prosciutto, salami, some nice cheeses, like provolone, fresh mozzarella, some beautiful olives, roasted peppers, eggplant, giardiniera, skinny breadsticks. And you can purchase all of these the day before. Virtually stress free!

Or you could do various bruschetta and/or crostini with different toppings. Lots of ideas in the recipe archive here.

And you can't ever go wrong with shrimp cocktail. People scarf them down like mad.

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How about a wheel of brie topped with cranberry sauce and nuts, wrapped in puff astry and baked? really easy, really impressive. There's directions all over the internet here's one
http://www.puffpastry.com...

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mrslarkin has beautiful ideas! Love antipasto and people DO love shrimp--you could try a southern classic appetizer: pickled shrimp and remoulade sauce. Or you could make your own Boursin (easy--mix butter and cream cheese with herbes de Provence etc) or even make your own ricotta (the rage right now and super easy) and serve on crostini with herbs. People also scarf up toasted and spiced nuts--pecans, walnuts, almonds--especially when they are fresh-made! My husband always appreciates cantaloupe and proscuitto before the big dinner--he gets a salty meat fix but feels it's okay because there's fruit involved.

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gingerroot added over 2 years ago

In addition to the great suggestions above, you could also bring stuffed dates. There are many great looking versions in the recipe archive here - this is my version, which always gets rave reviews.
http://www.food52.com/recipes...

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Kayb added over 2 years ago

All these are wonderful. I'd add that my favorite fig and olive tapenade -- finely mince equal parts dried figs, black and green olives, add enough extra virgin olive oil to bind lightly, a splash of good balsamic vinegar, and some finely chopped fresh rosemary -- is another great topping for crostini, as is a lovely chicken liver pate. This recipe is a great one: http://www.epicurious.com...

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