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Christmas Crostini



If you want an appetizer that looks festive, this one will definitely work for you, plus they are a tasty combination of pesto, roasted red peppers and feta cheese.  They are easy to serve and easy to eat. Those are the kind of appetizers I like.  For our Christmas party, I like to serve small little tidbits of a variety of items that aren't too filling that always includes some vegetables and lean meats or cold cuts,

the usual crackers that include rice crackers for those who avoid gluten and freshly cut cheeses, along with a platter of our Christmas cookies just because they look Christmas-y.

This year, I bought some olives from those olive bars you always see in the stores and put them on a wreath of fresh sprigs of rosemary for the holiday look.

I saw this on Pintrest and thought it looked perfect for our party.  Mine was too full of olives and didn't really end up looking like this one.  I knew I'd be too distracted during the party (which I was) to keep refilling the wreath with olives.

I also put out our dessert because it looked so festive and beautiful, along with an ice bucket of non-alcoholic beverages.  

We always have wine glasses out for people to help themselves to wine and a couple dishes of almond roca.

We always have beer in our beverage cooler built into the kitchen island that people know they can help themselves to and the open bar.  A few extra bottles of home brew ended up in our ice tub.  We always welcome home brew!  Yummy!

Nobody used the bar during this party because my  pomegranate mojitos were such a hit.  
I always try to come up with one special mixed drink concoction for parties which seems to always be a big hit to people.  There's nothing as fun as walking into a party and immediately being handed a special, festive mixed drink!

The other tip I've noticed over the years is to avoid the breaded, fried-type appetizers because they are too filling.  Keep it simple, whole fresh foods, easy to pick up (although I always provide small plates) with a variety of sweet (cookies, almond roca), salty (crackers, cold cuts, cheese) tangy (olives, roasted red peppers), and spicy (pepper jack cheese, jalapeno jelly on cream cheese). You will be sure to have happy party guests.



Pesto, Red Pepper and Feta Cheese Crostini

 1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 2.  Put baguette slices on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil.

 3.  Cook until golden, about 5 minutes.

 4.  Top each with pesto, jarred roasted red pepper slices and crumbled feta cheese.

 5.  Season with pepper.























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