Hi Marty Richardson here from chefmartyrich.com.  Welcome back to our daily tip series.

Bring On The Food

Today, I’m going to start talking about holiday appetizers. Finally, we get to “talk turkey”.  But first, I have an announcement for you. I have secured the kitchen. I am going to be shutting down this front porch studio and taking it inside. Hopefully, you will be able to see, up close and personal, the preparations and presentations in HD.  I’m sure it will be more interesting for you.  My second announcement is please go to the blog www.chefmartyrich.com and leave a comment.  Let me know what is working for you and what areas I can make improvements. I’m shooting this series specifically for you.  If there is a topic that I can do a video on, please, don’t be shy.  Let me know how I can help you and I will shoot a video for you. By the end of this month, I hope to have answered all your questions about holiday entertaining.

Appetizer Tips

My first tip about appetizers is, keep it simple.  Make sure they are easy for you to make. Make your appetizers inviting.  Write a list of all the items that you were thinking of serving.  Then, compare them against the “Big Five”…your time, your money, your skill level, the guests you have invited and the limitations of your kitchen.  Balance your need to impress against your need to have fun at your own party.

Stress Busting Appetizers

Do as much preparation ahead as possible.  You don’t want to be scurrying around at the last minute with guests showing up and you still haven’t gotten into your party clothes yet.  The oven is full of turkey and you don’t want to be making hot appetizers at the last minute.  Give yourself a break.  These are bite sized snacks and don’t be afraid of purchasing prepared items for people to snack on before they get to the main event.

Four Types of Appetizers

Appetizers can be broken down into 4 different categories. The first, is nuts and olives.  These items are purchased already done.  You can serve them as they are or enhance them with your own specific flair and taste.  And still they can be made days ahead and then just brought out and served. The second type is cheese and crackers.  This is another simple choice unless you are making your own cheese.  You go to the store, you buy a selection, arrange it on a platter nicely and your second appetizer is already done.  The third is dips and spreads.  Here is where you can get a little creative.  You can flavor your mayonnaise and sour ccream, or cream cheese based dips with lots flavor.  Try mixing some pesto in there. Or you can make guacamole or hummus, a shrimp dip or crab dip.  What are you serving to scoop up the dip or are you spreading it on toasted bread, crackers or vegetables? How is it presented?  There are many different ways you can mix and match with your dips and chips.  The last appetizer category is seafood.  You can serve shrimp cocktail, caviar, oysters, marinated herrings, smoked salmon, or ceviche.  These are pretty simple choices as well.  Seafood tends to be a little bit more pricey than the other categories, but still can be pre-made.

One From Column A…

These four different categories of appetizers allows you to mix and match with the holiday – or with your event.  They are pretty much done ahead of time as well, and pretty simple for you to do too. That’s it for today.  The next 4 days, I am going to run through these categories in a little bit more detail and then we are going to move on to the main event. Thanks for watching.  Go over to the blog and add a comment.  Thanks.