Special post; Hors d’oeuvres and cocktails

Our tastebuds are tingling around here as we are mixing up new flavors for the holidays. We thought you might enjoy a few recipes to start your Thanksgiving celebration using some of our hard-to-find special products.

An hors d’oeuvre is a snack that is served alone usually with beverages.  In french, the term literally means “outside the work” meaning it is not part of the courses in a meal.  An appetizer is part of the meal as a first course to whet the appetite.  In our household it was a tradition on Friday nights that our entire meal was hors d’oeuvres.  But we weren’t that fancy to call them that; it was simply a Snicky Snacky dinner with an assortment of yummy, tasty bites.

One our all time favorites this time of year is our homemade spiced chutney poured over soft cheese, served up in goey globs over crackers.  It is a fruit and cheese platter all in one.  I made some cranberry orange chutney for you and it is in the back cooler along side some very lovely soft cheeses. Plain ol’ cream cheese works too but we love the tang of the vinegar in the chutney against the aged tang of a good soft cheese.

You may have figured out from my last post that I do love using condiments in different way than they were intended.  Our organic olive spread and organic artichoke spread is delicious as-is piled onto crackers but another use for it is to create an appetizer (or hors d’oeuvre or Snicky Snack) using phyllo dough or even a very short biscuit dough.  Roll out the dough into a rectangle then spread with either or both, sprinkle with grated cheese and roll it up into a log.  Cut into 1/2” slices and bake according to the dough directions.  Serve with a dipping sauce; pureed roasted red peppers, tomato jam, hot pepper jelly….you get the idea.  Serve with a nice dry white wine.

We are assembling a few hors d’oeuvres/snicky snacks for you too. A fresh mozzarella flower marinated in 18 year old balsamic vinegar, good olive oil, fresh rosemary, orange peel, with a dash of garlic and sea salt. Serve each “petal” on a plate drizzled with the marinade. Eat with a tiny fork or tooth pick along side some warmed bread or simple crackers.

We love cocktails this time of year so we have fun playing with flavors.  And not always do our cocktails contain alcohol.  We have always been a fan of St. Germain Elderflower liqueur but it does contain alcohol.  The store carries an alcohol-free Elderflower syrup so you can get the same taste with or without alcohol in a cocktail.

Sage and Elderflower cocktail

Take one to two rinsed sage leaves [we have them free of charge in our cooler if you need some] and crush them by twisting the leaf back and forth; place in the bottom of a glass. Add 1/2oz (1T) elderflower syrup into the glass, add 1oz vodka if desired, add 4oz club soda and stir gently. Fill the glass with ice. This is very refreshing!

We hope you have a happy thanksgiving and look for our Friday Feeding post in a few days.

Warmly, Jane and Dave