craftygal fridge - Easy hors d'oeuvres

Snacks that Give your Party Panache in a Flash

by Jan

There's just so much to do when you're hosting a gathering! The work begins the moment you draw up a guest list. From coordinating invitations to menu planning, shopping to house preparation, the hostess with the mostess puts in a lot of hours to pull together a fabulous fete. When the big day sees you up to your oven mitts in food preparation, you may find yourself wondering whether you're having a party or the party's having you.

Never fear harried hostesses, craftygal's here! With our array of easy-to-make and even easier-to-eat party treats, you can get out of the kitchen with plenty of time to enjoy the festivities. Roasted garlic couldn't be easier to make and the transformation of this bulb with bite into a creamy smooth spread will leave your guests clamoring for more. The most time consuming thing about making our stuffed mushrooms is cleaning those little caps; that done, it's just stuff and bake. And the piece de la resistance, baked Brie en croute with cranberry sauce, is so decadent no one will believe it was as easy to make as your average grilled cheese. Now get out of the kitchen and go mingle!

Roasted Garlic (Prep time: 5 minutes. Cooking time: 45 minutes.)

Ingredients:

2 heads garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil

Fresh grated pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Cut tops off garlic heads to reveal tips of cloves.

3. Drizzle each head with one teaspoon of olive oil and sprinkle with black pepper.

4. Wrap each head in aluminum foil.

5. Place wrapped garlic on oven rack, sliced end up.

6. Bake for 45 minutes.

Stuffed Mushrooms (Prep time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 15 minutes)

Ingredients:

24 oz small fresh button mushrooms

5 oz goat cheese (can use flavored if you like)

1/4 cup butter

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

2. Clean mushrooms and remove stems, reserving half of stems for use in stuffing.

3. With food processor, finely chop reserved mushroom stems.

4. Add goat cheese to food processor and blend.

5. Melt butter on defrost setting in microwave.

6. Put mushroom caps in large ziplock bag and add melted butter. Toss to cover caps with butter.

7. Arrange mushrooms on foil-lined baking sheet and stuff with goat cheese mixture.

8. Bake for 15 minutes.

Brie en Croute (Prep time: 10 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes)

Ingredients:

1 8 oz roll refrigerated crescent roll dough

1 15 oz wheel of Brie

3/4 cup whole berry cranberry sauce

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

2. Spray pie plate with cooking spray.

3. Unroll crescent roll dough onto sheet of wax paper. Use rolling pin to roll out dough slightly (enough to envelope the Brie wheel).

4. Flip the dough into the pie plate, dough-side down, and peel off the wax paper.

5. Place the Brie wheel on the dough and cover the top of the wheel with the cranberry sauce.

6. Flip the ends of the dough up over the wheel to cover it and press them together to seal.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden.