Appetizer recipes during the holidays are much more different from what you would normally serve. Holiday appetizers range from elegant and festive to colorful and fancy. There’s a little bit more thought in planning and make them so it reflects the spirit of the season— generosity, love, and hope--amidst the ribbons, trimmings, and holiday cheer. An ingredient, décor or cooking technique can make holiday appetizers more elegant, festive, colorful and fancy.

1. Holiday Appetizers Recipes
Appetizer recipes during the
holidays are much more different
from what you would normally serve.
Holiday appetizers range from
elegant and festive to colorful and
fancy. There’s a little bit more
thought in planning and make them
so it reflects the spirit of the season—
generosity, love, and hope--amidst
the ribbons, trimmings, and holiday
cheer. An ingredient, décor or
cooking technique can make
holiday appetizers more elegant,
festive, colorful and fancy.
Red, gold, and yellow may be part of the holiday décor, so in that vein, choose
bowls, platters, and glasses that bear these colors. Spread the cheer even more and
arrange them like a Christmas tree, wreath or holiday log. This is perfectly applicable for
cheese logs, cold cuts, and toasts. For other kinds of holidays, borrow from that holiday’s
symbols, like the green from the Irish for St. Patrick’s Day, the red and white on the
Canadian flag for Canada Day, and so forth. Food looks more appetizing with colors
around and with free video recipes.
The antipasti platter can easily be turned into a festive centerpiece of appetizers.
Arrange colorful vegetables like pickled pepperoncini, mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and
ripe olives along with the pepperoni slices. To make Christmas cheese ball with crackers,
mix cream cheese with sharp cheddar cheese, chopped onions, pimientos, and lemon
juice, shape the mixture into a ball and roll in herbed pecans. Put the cheese ball in the
middle of the platter (or shape it in a bundt pan so there’s a hole in the center) then
arrange the toasts and chips around it.
Complement the holiday cheese ball with stuffed mushrooms and peppers. Usually,
you can stir fry or mix up the filling using sausages, cheese, chicken, ground meat or rice
before stuffing them into the hollow of the mushrooms. If you want more cheese, serve
marinated feta cheese as well as tomato basil skewers, which uses fresh mozzarella
rounds speared on a small stick along with cherry tomatoes and basil leaves.
Crusty peach flowers and artichoke hearts evoke elegance as appetizers. So do
passion fruit with wild strawberries. The duck aiguillettes with pears in wine, which is
included in the recipe collection, reflect that extra effort in the preparations.
Make puff pastry tartlets festive with the colors of basil and tomato against the
backdrop of melted cheese. Anointed these savory tartlets with olive oil and sprinkle
chopped herbs. Make it bigger, with a roasted vegetable tart using uniformly sliced
butternut squash, red and green bell peppers, zucchini, and red onions on cream and
cheese.