Festive Christmas Appetizers

You can find lots of pictures of pretty holiday appetizers on social media, many of which seem to be quite simple. One caught my attention this year, which reminded me of my daughter (because of an antipasto wreath she had made before), and I sent it to her. Later I realized we had the ingredients (or could easily get them) and I ought to try making this myself. So I did.

First, cook some bowtie pasta al dente, drain, then marinate in Italian dressing for a while. Take a toothpick or short skewer (the inspiration picture had fancy ones with stars on the tip), and thread a piece of the pasta, an olive (or a grape tomato), a piece of salami folded in fourths, and a little cube of Mozzarella cheese onto the pick. Of course, you could use any type of cheese. Wayne thinks Swiss cheese would go well with green olives. We tried a couple with Cheddar; because that's on the strong side, so you should use a smaller chunk. Pinterest success!

The kids were going to bring a fruit platter. When I mentioned the antipasto "trees" they had the idea to create a fruit "tree" and I think it turned out great! I particularly like the star made out of orange segments instead of a slice of starfruit. The addition of rosemary stems is a wonderful idea as well.