Quick and delicious recipes for your next cocktail party

Throwing a cocktail party can seem a lot of work. After all, you need to serve on average 4 to 5 kinds of canapés. And you need 6 to 8 pieces per person for a 2-hour event, the amount of work adds up quickly.

I got a few books on canapés and hors d’oeuvres at home. Although they show great looking recipes, I find out that most of them will require me to cook all day. Not an option. The frozen appetizers do not taste good enough. So, I used to hire a caterer until now.

But for my next cocktail party, I will do it all by myself thank to the cook Michael Smith. He showed us on the Hors d’Oeuvres Party episode how to make nice hors d’oeuvres on his show Chef at Home at FoodTV.ca.

His table setting was interesting. He shows us how to think outside the box to display the food. My only complain is about the dull, small flower bouquet he put on the table.

Always set time and money to buy some flowers from a talented florist. Flowers are important to set the right mood. Buy exotic flowers at best or get an intriguing arrangement of local species. In no circumstances, you should place a supermarket bouquet on your table. Cheap looking flowers ruin everything.

If your budget is small, gather a bright gerbera bloom with some greenery. It will cost you 3 dollars and you will look better than the bouquet on that episode. Usually set aside at least 15 to 25 dollars for a small table bouquet. I like to get two or three small arrangements that I spread around my buffet.

I am sure that Food TV Canada will rerun this episode later but for now you can get the recipes on FoodTV.ca or Michael Smith web site. If you know the name of the recipes you are looking for, I suggest you visit Michael Smith web site. The FoodTV.ca search engine does not filter by chef or TV show.

Link : Hors d’Oeuvres Party episode of the Chef at Home on FoodTV.ca – with links to the recipes
Link: Web site of chef Michael Smith