Appetizer ideas

What about those sausage balls made with bisquick?

I have gotten lots of raves for these meatballs they're good plain or can be used as sandwiches and sooo easy...

1 package frozen Italian style meatballs (I get ours at Wal Mart or Sam's - the Sam's bag is about 2 or 3 recipes worth)

1 can Hunts traditional spagetti sauce (the cheap 99 cent can. Although your favorite sauce is fine as well, the cheap stuff works great)

Put meatballs in large pot and pour sauce over. Add 3/4 to 1 cup sugar. Stir. Heat through - maybe 20 minutes or so. Can also be done in a crock pot. For parties I usually heat on stove and then store/serve in crock pot on low.

Rebekah

Here's a good, easy one for pepperoni bread. My kids love it. Take 2 cans of Pilsbury refrigerated french bread. When you pull it out of the can, look for the seam, and carefully unroll it into a sheet. Coat with a thin layer of your favorite spaghetti sauce, leaving 1/2 inch around the edges. Then top with shredded mozzarella and pepperoni. Rolls loaves back up. Cross the two loaves in the middle. Then twist by continuing to cross to each end. Brush with beaten egg. Bake at 375 until golden brown. Let cool a few minutes before cutting.

Another of my favorite easy appetizers is to take either beef, chicken, shrimp or pork (whatever you like), and cut it into bite-size chunks (the shrimp just need to be peeled, but not cut). Put them in a large zipper bag with your favorite store-bought teriyaki marinade. Let sit at least 4 hours for shrimp, at least 8 hours for others. Skewer the chunks along with pineapple chunks (fresh or canned). Broil until cooked through (or for beef until the doneness you prefer).

This is something kids 6 and up can do (don't want younger kids using those toothpics!).

Skewer a green olive and a cheese cube on a toothpick. Simple, fast, and easy. The cubes make them stand up straight and the 30 or so I (or my mom) put out seem to disappear very quickly.

We're doing the same thing for when the relatives come over, and having food my kids will eat:
1. nacho cheese dip in the crock pot w/ chips (velveeta, 1 cup sour cream, 1 cup salsa)...easy
2. lil smokies pigs in the blanket...both DS's love these
3. either sausage balls (described in a post above) or ham biscuite
4. Christmas cookies
And that's it...
Hope this helps,
Melissa

Olive cheeseballs (make dough with flour and shredded cheese and butter, wrap around pimento stuffed olives, bake)

chebe bread

roasted green beans (they ARE too a finger food!) and broccoli (DITTO!)

celery filled with cream cheese.

crockpot full of Hoosier (cocktail) meatballs (meat or your favorite soylent green sub made into balls, catsup or bbq sauce, grape or currant jam)

i was always fond of ham or roast beef wrapped around cream cheese--good hot or cold. maybe i'll try it with smoked turkey and a chipotle cream cheese.

And I always find myself missing salads. No, they're not finger foods, but a good green salad, a good cauliflower-tomato salad, and a good bean salad always make me happy on appetizer days.

ygg

Thanks for all the great ideas. With two birthdays and christmas coming up, I'll have a chance to use them all.