Appetizers-for-Dinner and a lovely Mushroom Tart recipe!

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I arrived at my mother’s house for the Christmas holiday with Hubs, the kids, and my sisters and their families.  It’s my favorite week of the year!  I have mastered the art of cooking for a crowd and the secret is: someone has to be the director and producer.  I take charge (since no one else wants to) and then delegate.  On one particular day, there were a few important football games on and no one was going to unglue him/herself from the television, plus we had a tree to decorate.  I decided to do an Appetizers-for-Dinner night.  Verdict:  HUGE hit.

We had very little time to figure this out, so I asked my daughters and my sisters for input, sent my mom to one store and Hubs to another. My sisters were my sous chefs and all the kids helped set up the buffet and plate the food.  This was not the time to get hung up on aesthetics.  Here’s what we made:

Spinach artichoke dip with crackers 

Pizza rolls (recipe in Quicker Than Quick) with extra sauce (storebought) I doubled the recipe in the book and baked it in this skillet.

Whipped ricotta (recipe below) with crostini + bowls of Divina tangerine & chili olives, Divina olive bruschetta, and Divina roasted tomatoes

Mini beef meatballs (based on this recipe) in sauce

Crudites with Caesar dip (I made this recipe and omitted the water)

Shrimp cocktail (we bought from the fish market) served over ice

I actually didn’t make the Mushroom Tart on this night, but made it for appetizers for a party recently and it was devoured!!

We served this non-alcoholic champagne dupe from Good Twin. Really good!!

Whipped Ricotta Appetizer 

1 15-ounce container of ricotta (Kite Hill makes a good vegan ricotta)

Zest of half a lemon

1 teaspoon white wine vinegar or lemon juice

1 TBS olive oil

Salt and black pepper to taste (I love adding freshly cracked black pepper, but one of my sisters can’t eat it.)

Minced fresh herbs if you like.  I added flat leaf parsley.

Whisk everything together or blend in a food process and refrigerate a few hours or serve immediately with an extra grind of black pepper and a drizzle of olive oil.  Always taste before you serve and season accordingly.  I like to make ahead and store in the serving dish.  One less thing to wash!

I would have loved to have done this crudites wreath below, but we couldn’t pull it off.

Even More Musings is an extension of my weekly newsletter, Monday Musings. My newsletter is a sponsor-free zone and is fully supported by readers like you. Consider becoming a paid subscriber to get Even More Musings! Each week, I share my tips and tricks along with a new recipe. For only $5/month or $50/year (less than $1 a newsletter), you'll also gain access to the entire archive, featuring favorites like My New Hyper-fixation High-Protein Fluffy Breakfast Bowl  and the Hillstone Copycat Emerald Kale Salad.  This week I am sharing a recipe for a lovely and elegant Mushroom Tart. It’s great for brunch, lunch or dinner, but I served it in bite size pieces as an appetizer/hors d’oeuvres.