Easy Cavendish Holiday Appetizers

Holiday entertaining is essential for a cooking fiend like me, but it can also be stressful. The month of December is always jam-packed with events, gift-buying, decorating, baking and cooking. To ensure that I get to do the things I love and spend time with my family and friends without feeling overwhelmed, I try and keep things practical.

I am a minimalist when it comes to decorating because what goes up, must come down after the holidays! I complement my regular décor instead of starting from scratch by adding a few silver and gold accents. In addition, I focus on centrepieces for my dining room and entranceway that are wintery and subtle so that even if they stay up the whole month of January they won’t look out of place!

For parties, I only serve appetizers that don’t require a lot of preparation and can be eaten by hand. I always add a charcuterie and/or cheese board to the mix as it requires very little effort other than buying ready-made ingredients and has something for everyone’s tastes.

These Cavendish Oven Chip ‘Grilled Cheese’ Sandwiches and Kettle Wedge Caprese Bites only have a few ingredients and are easy to assemble (and eat!), but are packed with flavour.

I thank you all for reading, commenting, and trying out the recipes in the past year. I wish you all a very happy and yummy holiday season!

Oven Chip ‘Grilled Cheese’ Sandwiches   

Ingredients:

·       1 package Cavendish Farms Spicy BBQ Oven Chips or Tuscan Herb

·       Cheese of your choice, sliced (I used cheddar, blue cheese, and a gouda with green peppercorns) - about 20 pieces

·       Ketchup

Method:

1)      Bake the Cavendish Farms Oven Chips according to package directions.

2)      Take similar sized chips and fill with one to two cheese slices (depending on chip size). Bake until cheese melts.

3)      Serve with ketchup for dipping.

Kettle Wedge Caprese Bites

Ingredients:

·       1 package Cavendish Restaurant Style Kettle Wedges

·       Cherry tomatoes (about 2 cups)

·       Mini bocconcini cheese (about 2 cups)

·       Basil leaves

·       1 to 2 tablespoons pesto (to your taste)

·       Toothpicks (medium-sized length, not the standard small)

·       Balsamic Vinegar

Method:

1)      Bake the Cavendish Farms Restaurant Style Kettle Wedges according to package directions.

2)      Meanwhile mix tomatoes, bocconcini, and pesto in a bowl.

3)      Skewer a potato wedge (cut bigger pieces in half or thirds), tomato, basil leave, and bocconcini on a toothpick and repeat.

4)      Serve with balsamic vinegar for dipping.

Enjoy!

Natasha