Welcome guests with some goodies! These snacks are quick, easy, and just a little bit elegant.
Last week I had the opportunity of welcoming two very favorite people into my home. My littles and I headed down to the airport to pick up Stephanie and Amy. On the way home we stopped at the French bakery for some baguettes. I threw in a few chocolate croissants and eclairs for good measure. I knew I had cheese, apples, and drinks at home.
Instant feast!
My husband and the other boys joined us for a little afternoon noshing. It was so easy, so elegant, and so tasty. If I do say so myself. The Kaltbach Gruyère that Emmi sent me was amazing. Amazing. The double-creme brie I bought at Trader Joe’s wasn’t too shabby, either.
You don’t have to be tricky to make some delicious snacks to welcome your guests. Consider these options:
- fresh baguette
- chocolate croissants
- eclairs
- a variety of cheeses
- apple slices or other seasonal fruit
- sparkling water, wine, beer, or juice
- olives, pickles, and other pickled vegetables
Pull out a bunch of cutting boards to slice it all up and serve from. Place salad plates on the table. Pour out the glasses.
That’s all there is to it!
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Escalivada
Sounds like a lovely welcoming. I usually do similar things, though I add nuts which you can have rattling around your house of course. Depending on time or occassion I might add quickbreads or finger foodsof various kinds – enjoy your visit!
Nuts are a great thing to add, as well as dried fruits. Those are pantry stable.
I love to serve a fruit and cheese plate as a dessert alternative. I keep an eye out at my local Aldi’s for clearance deals. They tend to intermittanly stock exotic flavors, like bacon, chocolate, cranberry, cinnamon raisin, etc cheeses. When they get down to the last few packages they mark them down significantly. I consider that a really good reason to have a party!
Great idea. Yes, this would have served as dessert. Chopping the pastries into bite-sizes stretched them further.
While not nearly as elegant, if my guests include children, I usually include cookies accompanied by milk or lemonade.
We love olives ( kalamata, green-we love then all) , cheese, baquettes, hummus, and dates. We are lucky enough to live by a store that sells many kinds of olives bulk at reasonable prices. And if we have cashews, all the better.
Yes! And maybe pickles, too. We could have a real feast!
This was an absolutely perfect welcome… the cheeses and baguette were delicious and I so enjoyed munching, chatting, catching up and getting to meet your family in real life, too. 🙂
I couldn’t have asked for a better afternoon.
Thanks, Fishmama!
Elegant is right! I’m thinking different kinds of olives, maybe some fresh guacamole to dip that bread itno 🙂 Grapes, cherry tomatoes, and string beans are also nice.
I’m glad I found this. Since Valentine’s Day is falling on a Friday this year (and both my husband and I are working that day), we are doing most of our ValDay celebrations on Saturday–and I’m planning a cheese tray with accompaniments. Thanks for the great ideas!
Funny to see what French snacks look like in the US.
As French myself I would definitely add some dry meat like : saucisson and rillettes.
So typical over there in France. 😉