Appetizer Menu

Last month I had a Mary Kay & Cookie Exchange party for my dear friend Carla. It was a lot of fun to combine the two events into one. We had a small crowd, which was good for my small condo; I ran out of space to display everyone's cookies! Traditionally at a cookie exchange, you don't actually eat the cookies - you just pick them out and take them home. So, for this party I wanted to make some appetizers for us to nibble on!

I made Sweet & Sour Meatballs, Carla made a spinach & artichoke dip (I don't have her recipe but I'll see if she'll let me put it on here!), I made a tomato & feta dip (recipe below) and finally, Fruit Bruschetta (recipe below) for dessert. It was really good and just enough to fill us up.

Tomato & Feta Dip

This couldn't be easier or more flexible. My friend Natalie gave me this recipe and I love it.

Ingredients
1 loaf french bread, cut into pieces
1 jar of tomato/spaghetti sauce (make it easy on yourself and buy prepared sauce - I usually buy Hunts Spaghetti sauce for this)
1 container of feta cheese, crumbled

Combine sauce and feta in a small sauce pan and heat up over medium heat. Serve warm with bread pieces to dip!

Fruit Bruschetta (from BlogChef.net -- check out the recipe page for pictures)

This was a huge hit. Everyone loved it and it was so easy and fun to make and it looks beautiful when it's all plated. Use any combination of fruit that you love. I don't care for bananas and didn't have kiwi, so I used strawberries and they were good all by themselves. It might be cool to use different flavors of yogurt, too. Vanilla was tasty though! **Watch the bread when you put the oven on broil - I definitely burned some of these and had to throw them out because I got preoccupied!

Ingredients
1 loaf of French bread (sliced into 16, ½ inch thick slices)
2 tablespoons butter (melted)
1 ½ tablespoons sugar
1 ½ tablespoons cinnamon
4 kiwi fruit (peeled and chopped)
2 bananas (diced into small cubes)
10 large strawberries (diced)
2 tablespoons orange juice
3-4 tablespoons vanilla yogurt
Honey (for drizzling)

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Arrange the bread slices on a large baking sheet. Place into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Brush toast slices with butter on one side.
Step 2: Combine 1 tablespoon of cinnamon and 1 tablespoon of sugar and sprinkle with mixture evenly over the buttered side of the toast. Broil in a preheated broiler for 30 seconds or until tops are bubbling. Remove and allow them to cool.
Step 3: In a bowl toss fruit with orange juice and remaining cinnamon and sugar. Spread yogurt on the top of each piece of top, top with fruit and drizzle with honey.(Makes 16 Bruschetta)

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

Need a dish to bring to a party? This is a great appetizer! It couldn't be easier! There are many recipes floating around for Sweet & Sour Meatballs but this is my favorite and when I bring this anywhere - baby shower, pot luck, Super Bowl party, etc. there are NO meatballs left! So don't expect any left-overs! This is sweet and tangy and I dare you to just eat one! :)

Sweet & Sour Meatballs

1 bag Armour brand frozen meatballs (usually come with 32 meatballs in a bag - make sure they are "caramel coated")
2 12oz jars of grape jelly
2 12 oz jars of chili sauce (not to be confused with cocktail sauce which looks exactly the same but tastes totally different so pay attention!)

I cook this in the crock pot for about 4 hours and it turns out great. Just empty the jelly and chili sauce in your crock pot and whisk to combine. It will be lumpy but the jelly will melt and the sauce becomes smooth as it cooks. Pour in the bag of meatballs and stir to get them all coated. Put the lid on, cook for 4 hours and serve! This is a hit at any event!