A Party-Appropriate Appetizer Care of Your Half-Eaten Bags of Snacks

My guests do not need an antipasto platter or a mezze spread. Sure, they'd love one, but I also want them to be hungry enough to love dinner.

So I go for the kind of appetizer that's entertaining enough to stand alone, that says, "Dinner is worth waiting for," but also, "I love you enough to give you more than a bowl of raw almonds."

Nancy Silverton's garlicky marinated olives are one of my stand-alone snacks—as is Fromage Fort.

But this snack mix is the newest addition to the rotation. (It's perhaps perfect for your Oscars party. Just an idea.) It's salty and sweet and spicy enough to land on the right part of the snack scale: where munching evolves (devolves?) to shoveling rapidly.

Pretzels, sesame sticks, coconut chips, and peanuts are made even crunchier with a sesame seed coating. When the mix is in the oven and still tacky, you'll stir it around every 15 minutes and shower it with a coat of seeds every time. When the mix comes out of the oven, it's craggy and alluring, but a little sticky, too—that's the soy sauce and hot honey, which you can make yourself or buy here in our Shop.

To make sure it's not too gloppy, give the mix lots of space on the baking sheets; you'll likely need to use three. This recipe makes a lot of snack, but keep extras around in a jar—like we have on the editorial table right now. Or we did have the other day. Hmm, wonder where it went.

Tell us: What's your go-to appetizer?