Cocktail Party Snacks

I may have mentioned that we are entertaining quite a bit lately. We've made some lovely hors d'oeuvres lately and I thought I'd share them.

At the top we have endive with English Stilton and a pecan. This is so simple to make and absolutely delicious. It's also very nice to serve--and clean up--since there are no utensils (or even toothpick) required. If you want to get a bit fancier, you could use a candied pecan--it's delicious but you lose the ability to pretend that you've made the cheese healthy by paring it with endive and a nut (they have omega-3 fatty acids).

Another simple one is radishes with salted butter. I make my own salted butter by mixing softened butter with good sea salt, but you could obviously use some nice store-bought salted butter. I'm not a huge fan of radishes myself, but this French staple is delicious if you do happen to like radishes.

This platter of saucisson sec and cucumber is also absurdly simple. All you have to do is slice the salami and the cucumber to the same thickness and spread them out on a platter. Just don't forget to provide toothpicks if you are having a standing shindig.

This last one is one of my personal favorites. It's not quite a high brow as the other three, but it is still lovely to serve at slightly less formal occasion. It's a very fresh, simple avocado and heirloom tomato salsa with scallions. Delicious served with blue corn tortilla chips!

All of these are fresh, simple, and delicious for a cocktail party, an appetizer, or even an afternoon snack.