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Friday, December 16, 2011

Sharing Holiday Entertaining Tips!

Please join me today at the beautiful Party Resources blog where Kate has been running her series on Holiday Party Tips and I sent her mine along with a few of my favorite holiday images from Martha Stewart who is always so inspirational this time of year!

When Kate asked me last month if I'd like to guest post for this series, not only did I think it would be fun, but it would also keep me focused on my own holiday planning. Thank you Kate!

In addition to sharing tips on topics from Best Hostess Gift Under The Tree to Favorite Holiday Cocktail,  I thought I'd kick things off by passing along the recipe for one of my favorite quick appetizers. This recipe for cheese filled apricots came via Traditional Home-November 2002 in a segment called Cooking School that featured appetizers that took only 10-20 minutes to assemble. This was included in the 12 minute category!



Recipe:
Blend equal parts blue cheese and butter until smooth. Pipe or spoon into small dried apricots, top with nuts.

Every holiday season I buy 2 rosemary trees to flank my kitchen window. They are festive, fragrant and
 oh, so handy when I need a quick snip to garnish a platter as well as seasoning for the Christmas roast!

Tips I've learned from making these for nearly a decade:

Use a pastry tip and bag. Or fill a zip-lock plastic bag, cut a small hole in one corner and fill the apricots. I could never figure out how to "spoon into" without making a mess!

Both walnut and pecan halves work great or combine the two to appeal to the nut lovers.

Use quality blue cheese and unsalted (my preference) butter at room temperature when blending. Taste and make any adjustments before you fill the pastry bag! 

These can be assembled on any size platter depending on how many you make. My favorite way to garnish them is with a rosemary wreath. Put them on a cake stand or pedestal and they look especially festive, like little jewels!!!

Please visit Party Resources for more tips and to say hello!  

PS: Since this guest post was already scheduled for today, I will announce the signed book givaway winner this weekend!

All photos courtesy of A&A
Posted by Acanthus and Acorn at 8:00 AM

13 comments:

  1. Acquired ObjectsDecember 16, 2011 at 8:09 AM

    I love apricots and blue cheese so am going to give these a try. I'm off to check out what else you have to say. Enjoy your Friday!

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  2. Party ResourcesDecember 16, 2011 at 8:11 AM

    Thank you for the great guest post!

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  3. quintessenceDecember 16, 2011 at 11:16 AM

    What a delicious pretty appetizer!! Popping on over to Kate's!

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  4. KathysueDecember 16, 2011 at 12:06 PM

    Yum!! I also love the presentation,very pretty! Kathysue

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  5. Blayne MacauleyDecember 16, 2011 at 12:23 PM

    those apricots look devine!

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  6. 24 CornersDecember 16, 2011 at 12:26 PM

    These jewellike creations are so pretty and sound absolutely delicious!! And having rosemary trees around during the holidays is a wonderful idea...I've always wanted to have one, now might be the time!
    xo J~

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  7. Lisa O.December 16, 2011 at 12:53 PM

    These look great. It almost looks like the nuts are candied or glazed, or is that just the lighting?

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  8. trumpDecember 16, 2011 at 2:57 PM

    Happy holidays to you. Richard

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  9. Acanthus and AcornDecember 16, 2011 at 5:34 PM

    Lisa O, you have a good eye and the answer is both! I snapped these pics last month by a window. The nuts were leftover from a salad I made for Thanksgiving. I tossed them with butter, cider, sugar and a dash of chili powder and toasted. I thought why not improvise, but plain nuts are better I think because they don't compete with the blue cheese!

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  10. pve designDecember 16, 2011 at 8:41 PM

    I happen to have all the above ingredients to make these elegant little bites!
    pve

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  11. Teresa Hatfield ~ Splendid SassDecember 17, 2011 at 1:10 PM

    I love your blog! I am your newest follower!
    Teresa
    xoxo

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  12. Mary Ann PickettDecember 18, 2011 at 6:57 PM

    How delicious and easy!!! I love dried apricots...have to try these. Thanks and Merry Christmas.

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  13. TrouvaisDecember 18, 2011 at 10:37 PM

    Hi Rebecca. Great recipe. Lately I've been throwing toasted pecans, goat cheese and dried cranberries into my salads. Love the mix of tangy with sweet. The apricots do look like jewels...will have to try them! Thanks! Trish

    ReplyDelete

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