Good and bad. I’m glad I tried these out before hand. Firstly, ALL of the apps included some sort of cheese AND mayo, with the exception of the apple-celery kabob which just had a hunk of cheese. And I had to skip the smoked salmon canapé because I forgot the sour cream (to blend with the cream cheese).
I started with the Stuffed Olives:
Cream Cheese
Roqufort Cheese
Finely chopped nuts
Large Black Olives
Mash it all up and fill the olives. The filling tasted great but after filling two olives I said hell with it! And the wonderful subtle flavor disappeared when combined with the olive. So I piped it into the celery instead, which upon closer examination of the recipe, was essentially the same thing sans the nuts and maybe a dash of French Dressing. When I get a proper tip for piping it won’t look so slug like on the celery. Results? Thumbs up! But it needs a fancy garnish me thinks.
Next was Avocado Canape:
NOTE: A canapé is something typically served on a bread or cracker. I always wondered!
1 Avocado
Cream Cheese
Salt
Grated onion
Mayo
Crumbled Bacon
Top with olive slices
Yum! This is my fave, hands down. It was supposed to be served on a bread cutout but I hated the taste of the bread I got so it went on a Ritz. Two thumbs up!
Then came the Egg-Cucumber Canape:
Hard-boiled Eggs
Cucumber
Cooked bacon in 2” pieces
Mayo (of course)
Ritz
Very disappointing considering how nice they looked. It was very bland and dry. Perhaps it needs something yummy spread on the cracker first?
Next up : Apple-Celery Kabobs
Lemon juice, water, sugar
Red Apple-cubed
Sharp Cheese – cubed
Celery- cubed
Toss apple in lemon juice mixture and chill for an hour. Tastes great and prevents apple from browning.
Very tasty and by far the healthiest thing on the “menu”. I need to cube everything more carefully for proper effect and color contrast. And I think I will slice the celery thinner so people actually eat it. When served on a larger scale they should be poked into a large grapefruit, not a withered mango!
Conclusion-
I’ll keep the Avocado Canape and the Apple-Celery Kabobs for sure. I need some meats/shrimp too.
Next I think I’ll play with the Melon Cocktail, Maraschino Cherry Soda, and gelatin desserts!
Here's a bird's eye shot, in all it's cheesy splenor.
