Thanksgiving & Christmas appetizer ideas?

[Illinoismom]

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TOH/Images/Photos/37/expsi41011_FrtdTurkPicture020(41).jpg

 

on the same idea as above I am doing this one this year

 

 

Ingredients

1 large watermelon

2 whole cloves

2 medium cantaloupe, cut into 1-inch balls, divided

1 red chili pepper

4 medium navel oranges

2 pounds green grapes

Wooden skewers (12 inches)

Directions

Thoroughly wash and dry watermelon. With a sharp knife, cut a thin slice from bottom of watermelon so it lies flat.

Using a small sharp knife, lightly score a horizontal cutting line around middle of the melon, leaving 4 in. on each side of stem end unscored for the head. Next, score a vertical line over top of melon, connecting both ends of the horizontal line. Using a long knife, cut through melon along the vertical cutting line. (Stop cutting at the horizontal cutting line.) Then, cut through the melon along the horizontal cutting line. Gently pull off cut section.

For turkey's head, cut a 2 in. half-circle at top. Make a scalloped edge, using the rounded edge of a 1-in. circle cutter. With a sharp knife, cut along the scalloped lines; discard scrapes. For eyes, insert a clove into the center of each of two cantaloupe balls. Using toothpicks, attach eyes; add a chili pepper wattle.

With a vegetable peeler, cut peel from oranges. (Save oranges for another use). Thread grapes, orange peel and remaining cantaloupe balls onto skewers; add to turkey for feathers. Yield: 9 servings.

 

TIP: Once guests each have a skewer, you can slice and serve the remaining watermelon.

 

I am also doing this this year

http://hostedmedia.reimanpub.com/TOH/Images/Photos/37/exps23893_TH950745D22.jpg

Ingredients

12 slices French bread (1/2 inch thick)

1/2 cup chopped seeded tomato

2 tablespoons chopped green onion

1 tablespoon chopped ripe olives

4 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese

1 tablespoon minced fresh basil

Directions

Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet. Broil 6-8 in. from the heat for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the tomato, onion and olives; set aside.

Combine cream cheese and basil; spread over the untoasted side of bread. Broil 3 minutes longer or until cheese is melted and edges are golden brown. Top with tomato mixture. Serve warm. Yield: 1 dozen.

 

Nutritional Analysis: 1 slice equals 81 calories, 3 g fat (2 g saturated fat), 7 mg cholesterol, 164 mg sodium, 11 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 3 g protein. Diabetic Exchange: 1 starch.

 

I am doing these this year

 

http://www.kitchendaily.com/2010/09/10/turkey-cupcakes/

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.kitchendaily.com/media/2010/09/turkeycupcakes-456_240x180.jpg

 

To make your own Turkey Cupcakes, you'll need the following:

12 chocolate or vanilla cupcakes

1 can (16 ounces) chocolate frosting

1 1/2 cups chocolate sprinkles

18 vanilla wafers

12 thin scalloped ginger cookies

12 small 's'-shaped cookies (such as Stella D'oro Breakfast Treats 100 Calorie Packs, available from amazon.com)

60 pieces candy corn

12 mini chocolate chips

12 orange candy coated sunflower seeds

1 piece red fruit leather

 

Here are Karen and Alan's easy decorating steps:

1. Place the sprinkles in a shallow bowl. Spoon 1/2 cup of the chocolate frosting into a resealable p bag. Cut 6 of the vanilla wafers in half with a serrated knife.

 

2. Spread the top of a cupcake with the chocolate frosting and make smooth. Roll the edge of the cupcake in the chocolate sprinkles to coat. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes. Spread the tops of the 12 whole vanilla wafers with some of the chocolate frosting and press into the chocolate sprinkles to coat.

 

3. Place a cut vanilla wafer, rounded edge toward the edge of the cupcake on top of the cupcake. Press the thin scalloped cookie into the frosting and leaning on the cut vanilla wafer and the fan tail. Snip a small corner from the bag with the chocolate frosting. Pipe a dot of frosting on the scalloped cookie and attach the vanilla wafer with the sprinkles. Pipe 5 dots of frosting along the outer edge of cookie and add the candy corn, pointed end down.

 

4. For the head; pipe a dot of chocolate frosting on the 's' shaped cookie and add a mini chocolate chip for an eye. Pipe a dot of frosting and add an orange sunflower seed as the beak. Press the cookie in front of the other cookies as the head and neck. Cut a small tear drop shaped piece of red fruit leather as the waddle and attach next to the beak. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

Edited November 18, 2010 by Illinoismom

[tinkrbel]

the turkey cupcakes are precious

[Turtle Mommy]

BUFFALO WING DIP

 

1 small bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce

1 8oz block of soft cream cheese

1 jar of blue cheese dressing(the kind in the produce section)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

combine hot sauce, cream cheese and blue cheese pour into deep baking dish. add shredded chicken and mix thoroughly. bake at 450°F until bubbling, add Cheddar cheese until lightly browned.

Serve warm with sliced baguette or French bread, crackers, or celery sticks.

 

Combine hot sauce and blue cheese. Pour into a deep baking dish.

 

Add shredded chicken and mix thoroughly. Bake at 450°F until bubbling.(You can make it the night before..it warms up GREAT in the microwave!!)

 

Add Cheddar cheese until lightly browned.

 

Serve warm with sliced baguette or French bread, crackers, or celery sticks.

 

We LOVE it with celery sticks! YUMMY!!!!! :) :) :)

[Ladybugpicnic]

BUFFALO WING DIP

 

1 small bottle Frank's Red Hot Sauce

1 8oz block of soft cream cheese

1 jar of blue cheese dressing(the kind in the produce section)

2 cups shredded cooked chicken

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 

combine hot sauce, cream cheese and blue cheese pour into deep baking dish. add shredded chicken and mix thoroughly. bake at 450°F until bubbling, add Cheddar cheese until lightly browned.

Serve warm with sliced baguette or French bread, crackers, or celery sticks.

 

Combine hot sauce and blue cheese. Pour into a deep baking dish.

 

Add shredded chicken and mix thoroughly. Bake at 450°F until bubbling.(You can make it the night before..it warms up GREAT in the microwave!!)

 

Add Cheddar cheese until lightly browned.

 

Serve warm with sliced baguette or French bread, crackers, or celery sticks.

 

We LOVE it with celery sticks! YUMMY!!!!! :) :) :)

You can also do this with Ranch if you don't like Blue Cheese. It is SO good!

[queenofshopping]

Hummus! I think more people would love it if they gave it a try! A nice flavored one (Whole Foods has so many good ones) with some olive oil, chopped olives and similar, with some nice toasted pita bread triangles. Yummy!

[Buckeye Shopper]

You can also do this with Ranch if you don't like Blue Cheese. It is SO good!

We do this too for new years eve.We us swanson premium white chicken breast instead of cooked chicken and we use ranch dressing. It's layered with cream cheese on bottom, chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch, and then cheese on top. We serve with warm tortilla chips..it's yummy.

[Kibit13]

Hummus! I think more people would love it if they gave it a try! A nice flavored one (Whole Foods has so many good ones) with some olive oil, chopped olives and similar, with some nice toasted pita bread triangles. Yummy!

I agree. Hummus is so yummy and Whole Foods has a lot of good ones. I also like it with chopped cucumber and tomatoes. A little bit of feta cheese is nice too!

[twinmom]

Sabra hummus is great too, especially with greek olives. We make the sausage dip with the cream cheese but use 2 cans of Rotel - 1 drained and 1 undrained. I brown the ground beef on the stove but I do the cream cheese and tomatoes in the microwave. Add 2 bricks of cream cheese and the tomatoes and heat on high in 2 minute increments. Stir and keep doing it until melted. Add the ground beef and voila! We use Tostitos scoops or a sliced baguette. This cream cheese olive spread is really good too:

 

1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup finely chopped pimiento-stuffed Spanish olives

1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup chopped fresh chives

Preparation

1. Stir together cream cheese, Spanish olives, and 1 Tbsp. mayonnaise. Shape cream cheese mixture into 2 (6-inch) logs; wrap in plastic wrap, and chill at least 30 minutes, or store in the refrigerator in an airtight container up to 2 days.

2. Place pecans in a single layer in a shallow pan.

3. Bake pecans at 350° for 8 minutes or until lightly toasted, stirring occasionally. Let cool 30 minutes or until completely cool.

4. Roll cream cheese log in chopped chives and toasted pecans just before serving.

 

Also - I don't usually bother rolling it into logs, just spread in a nice container and top with the chives and pecans. Yummy on all kinds of crackers!

[Kandy]

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4051/4263936046_95b3faa3d1_z.jpg

 

simple - (not my picture sorry its so big)

 

 

1 8oz package of cream cheese 1 jar of pepper jelly (red or green)

 

Put the creams cheese on a plate and top with pepper jelly serve with crackers

Edited November 24, 2010 by Kandy