Appetizers

I love dinner parties where everyone brings something. I love tasting all of the different dishes guests bring, and gaining inspiration from all of the dishes for future dinner parties. Lucky for me, Tammy and Tom invited us to a dinner party on Saturday night. They were brave hosting 12 adults and 11 kids. We had great weather, so we sat around the outdoor fire with our plates in our laps scarfing up the delicious food (okay, maybe it was just me scarfing while everyone else ate politely). We stayed outside all evening enjoying the beautiful fall weather.

I said I would bring appetizers to Tammy’s shindig. Appetizers can be tricky. I don’t want to bring too many appetizers or bring appetizers that are too filling. I would hate to spoil everyone’s dinner, but since parties usually start with an alcoholic beverage, I like to give guests something to eat too. I usually have one or two appetizers, but since there were so many adults and kids coming, I decide to bring three appetizers. I have to thank Lisa from A Dinner Party for her appetizer ideas. I am pretty sure I saw the recipe for the spicy green bean rolls from her, but I can’t find it now. I know I found the stuffed pepper and the sausage roll recipe from her, since she just had an appetizer party.

I love the green bean rolls and the stuffed peppers, because both of them only need a little assembly and they are ready. The sausage rolls needed a little more attention, but they were also easy to make. My daughter helped me make the green bean rolls and I did the stuffed peppers and the sausage rolls, and we finished assembling the appetizers in an hour. I baked the sausage rolls right before we left, so they would still be warm when we arrived.

I think I was successful in my choices, because there were only a few stuffed peppers left, and it didn’t seem like I ruined anyone’s appetite.

Stuffed Peppers
From Lisa at A Dinner Party

You can find these peppers in the olive bar at the grocery store. The store near my house even had them stuffed already, but I like to stuff my own.

Peppadew peppers
Blue Cheese
Break the blue cheese into chunks, and spoon the chunks into the peppadew peppers.

Spicy Green Bean Rolls
From Lisa at A Dinner Party (at least I think so)

I jar spicy pickled green beans
1 package thinly sliced salami
toothpicks
Are you ready? This is difficult. Roll one piece of salami around one spicy green bean and secure with a toothpick.

Sausage Rolls
From Lisa at A Dinner Party

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
4 links of uncooked sweet Italian sausage
zest from one lemon
1 Tablespoon fresh thyme (you can use 1 teaspoon dried)
1 egg beaten
Preheat the oven to 450°. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Remove the sausage from the casing, and place in a small bowl. Mix in the lemon zest and the thyme being careful not to over mix. Slice each sheet of puff pastry in half horizontally. Roll ¼ of the sausage mixture into a log and place in the center of one piece of the puff pastry. Have the sausage overhang the pastry by about ¼ inch. Fold the top and bottom of the pastry over the sausage and crimp the pastry together with the tines of a fork. Brush the rolls with the beaten egg. Then, using a sharp knife or kitchen shears cut the pastry into ½ inch slices. Repeat with the remaining of the sausage and puff pastry. Place the sausage rolls on the baking sheets, and bake for 10-15 minutes or until puffed and golden.