How to Transform Store Bought Dips into a Beautiful Spread

As a diligent fan of food and entertaining blogs, I am always looking up recipes. I love trying new things, and keep aggregating appetizer recipes to try. Cookbooks line my shelves, full to the brim with earmarked pages of adorable canapes and small bites with delicate garnishes that I have daydreams of serving at upcoming parties.

You know what, though? Sometimes you just don't have any time to cook.

When those times happen, you can look to one thing to keep your party food looking inviting and well-thought-out - presentation.

Paying close focus to presentation can be one of the most best ways to show your guests that you have thought about their needs and put in extra effort to make things look desirable to them. It is what separates a weeknight family dinner from an actual dinner party.

More often than not, adjusting a meal to have a little extra pizazz and attention to detail will not take much extra time. This can be done by plating on your food on a beautiful platter, paying attention to garnishes, laying food out in a way that is accessible to all - or all of the above.

Presentation skills can be used to easily upgrade store-bought dips, in fact, creating a beautiful appetizer spread for your guests when you do not have time to cook. In this post, I will take two of my favorite store-bought dips and apply my favorite presentation tricks to upgrade simple fare into a lovely, party-ready repast.

Hummus Served with Snap Peas and Baby Carrots

I am not sure if this is an LA thing or a yuppie thing, but hummus is easily the most omnipresent dip at the parties I attend (or host, for that matter). Creamy, savory and just healthy enough to (somewhat) justify eating way too much of it, this superstar is endlessly modifiable to satisfy every craving.

For this example I am using plain old hummus from Trader Joe's, and serving with pre-prepped bags of baby carrots and snap peas.



Selecting the vegetables is as simple as buying a bag of baby carrots and a bag of snap peas, pre-washed. You can easily swap out for a variety platter of vegetables, sliced red peppers, endive leaves, celery or whatever you have on hand.

The presentation upgrade here is how you lay the vegetables out. Grab a platter or large dinner plate, on which you will divide the vegetables 50/50.



Pour your first vegetable out on the first half, and tidy them up so they are all facing the same direction. This isn't as fussy as it sounds, and will take you maybe a minute tops. Do the same with the second set of vegetables.



Then, take your hummus and put it in a bowl. I like to take a spoon and swipe in a circular motion to look 'rustic,' then wipe any extra hummus from the rim of the bowl with a paper towel to make it tidy.



The real magic here is with the garnish. To add color and a little extra flavor, I drizzle a little olive oil over the top, give the bowl a tap or two of smoky red paprika and add a few pine nuts, if I have them on hand.

See the difference? With five minutes of extra effort, you gain so much value in presentation. The diversity of color is very pleasing to the eye, and makes the food look that much more desirable.



Guests will not be able to resisting diving right into this tempting treat.

Bruschetta Dip Served with Baguette Slices

As previously established, I am crazy for Trader Joe's dips. This is in large part because I stumbled onto this savory-yet-slightly-sweet bruschetta dip. It has a fruity taste of the tomato mixed with the pungent taste of olive oil and Italian seasonings.  Served with baguette slices, you pretty much can't get an easier appetizer.

Start by slicing a baguette, making each peace uniform. I like my slices to be about a centimeter thick.

Lay the pieces out on a platter in tidy rows.



Pour the dip into a bowl - I like to use the same style bowl as the hummus for a streamlined look - and spoon off any excess olive oil that drifts to the top. Then, add a few taps of dried Italian seasoning, oregano or basil.

This won't add too much to the overall flavor if you use a light hand, but adds a nice color contrast.



Serve alongside your bread slices.

Overall Presentation

After you have both sets of appetizers ready, lay them out on your table. Depending on where people will be sitting, be sure that they have an easy reach to both dip and dipping vehicle (read: bread or vegetables). 

If you have a fair amount of people and there is not an easy way for them to enjoy both, consider putting out small salad plates or napkins so guests can grab several at a time and bring back to their seat.

There you have it! With several extra minutes, you can present store bought dips and spreads in a beautiful manner, while saving yourself heaps of time. These little additions show a caring touch and interest in presentation, making your guests feel appreciated.

Do you have favorite store bought dips or presentation tips? Leave them in the comments below!

Happy Hour: Aperol Spritz (A Love Song to Aperitifs)

Aperitifs are a beautiful thing. I first discovered Campari in my early twenties, lured by events the Campari Group would host at art galleries. At these evenings, there would be a bartender crafting cocktails starring Campari's line of tart, bitter liqueur cocktails. My friends and I would enjoy trying out all the permutations - the Negroni, the Americano and, my favorite at the time, La Stella Grande. Sure, it was great to feel cultured at galleries but, if we are being honest, we were nurturing a fetish for the cocktails.

At home, my roommates' and my favorite drink became Campari mixed with orange juice, champagne and a touch of sugar to take the bitter edge off. Eventually, our tastes skewed away from the heavy, sweet drink and, unfairly, we set aperitifs to the side.

So what is an aperitif, exactly? Specifically, it is an alcoholic drink meant to be consumed before a meal as a sort of 'liquid appetizer.' Many different types of drinks roll up under this category but, for this example, I will be focusing on my favorites - Campari and Aperol.

If you do not know what to expect from either of these liqueurs when you take your first sip, you very well may want to spit it out. The flavors are essentially a tart equivalent of a spicy habanero chili or sugary sweet Pixy Stick - that is to say, the pinnacle of its flavor profile.

Where Campari is very strong, herbal-tasting and higher in alcohol content, Aperol (part of the Campari Group family), comes in sweeter, lower in alcohol content and milder in general. It is a great "intro to aperitifs," as it were. Both are amazing additions to cocktails and, after you inevitably fall in love with the taste, delicious to sip on their own.

There are a host of other differences more experienced palettes can discern (certainly those with better palettes than mine). These differences are brilliantly explained by the folks at Post Prohibition.

Outside of the taste, one of the most noticeable characteristics of these liqueurs is the brilliant colors they possess. Aperol has a bright, blood orange red color that adds a shock of boldness to any drink.

You may wonder, if they are so smoothly added to cocktail recipes, why did I shun them for being so sweet? Short answer - I used to add them to already-sweet cocktails and cocktail mixers that brought out that character. Recently, I have been revisiting this love in the much more mellow Negroni or the Boulevardier (bourbon, Campari, sweet vermouth and an orange twist). Then, on one warm Summer day, my friend Christie introduced me to the Aperol Spritz.

Having just come back from her honeymoon in Italy, she was sipping a beverage that had the characteristic red coloring of this family. The Aperol Spritz, she told me, is the go-to sipping drink of Italy. Made with Aperol and chilled prosecco, this drink is refreshing on a warm day and a slow sipper. The Aperol adds a layer of flavor that makes you want to truly savor your cocktail. When served in a champagne flute or a coupe glass, with its red coloring shining through, it is undeniably romantic.

Speaking of romantic, a quick note on Campari Group marketing and branding - this is a case where advertising undeniably works on me (albeit I was already a fan). The classic, painted ads for such brands as Campari and Aperol were turned into wall hangings favorited by female twentysomethings worldwide.

1921 Campari Ad - Capiello

1920 Campari Ad - Dudovich

1988 Aperol Ad - Mattotti

In recent years, the advertising remains brilliant and colorful, focusing on sexy photography that captures the bold colors and nature of the drink. I am a fangirl all around.

2015 Campari Calendar Featuring Eva Green - Behind-the-scenes

Back to the drink! The Aperol Spritz is SO simple that you can very easily whip up a batch to serve at a party. Picture a tray set out with champagne flutes filled with the pre-measured amount of Aperol. Guests can grab a glass and top themselves off with sparkling wine and soda water (or heck, even just sparkling wine if you want to keep it very simple). Easy elegance!

So let's learn how we make this...

Grab your Aperol and prosecco (or other sparkling wine).

You can buy Aperol at Bevmo, or other big box liquor stores.

As mentioned, the classic Aperol Spritz uses prosecco. I only had Cava around - so Cava it shall be!

Add 2 parts Aperol to your glass, then top with 3 parts prosecco or sparkling wine. Top with 1 part soda water.

Oh yes, friends. It is that easy.

If you are an aperitif newbie, leave a comment about your first experience!

APEROL SPRITZ

from Aperol.com

3 parts prosecco (although you could use any sparkling wine - I used Cava)
2 parts Aperol
1 part soda water (sparkling water is the same thing)

Mix in the glass you are serving. Viola!

The Quick Clean: How to Get Your Home Guest-ready in 15 Minutes

For me, cooking is fun. Putting out dishes is fun. Organizing a menu is fun. Shopping for said menu is fun.

Deep cleaning my house is decisively NOT on my fun list.

Sure, I get on a roll and feel fabulous and productive, but it is in and of itself just plain not that fun sometimes. I am prone to clutter, and my big hairy Golden Retriever sheds a second dog's worth of fur just by lumbering around the house.

That being said, I do love HAVING a clean house. That is actually one of the amazing things about entertaining - you are forced to make your house tidy. Goal-oriented cleaning is satisfying because you know you just have to buckle down and get the place gleaming.

However, sometimes you have a last-minute get-together and just plain don't have time for the deep clean you would like. Or, other times, you get so caught up in cooking and making drinks, you totally lose track of time.

Sometimes you need to put your best foot forward with *gasp* only FIFTEEN MINUTES before people are at your house!

Time to prioritize. I am happy to share my personal Quick Clean Checklist, crafted from many last-minute gatherings and reading hordes of Real Simple magazine. It may seem like a long list at first glance, but it is all about the bare necessities. A swipe here, a hide there, and you are ready for guests. Commit to a quick cleanup, without letting yourself get distracted, and you can be ready-to-go in a quarter hour.

Tip: These tasks are best paired with embarrassing pop music or heavy metal. Gets the action going.

Image courtesy Life Photo Archive, Hosted by Google

Stop 1: The Bathroom

This is the place that should get attention first. Bathrooms tend to become a symbol of the cleanliness of your entire home. Fortunately, it can be cleaned lickity split. Here are the basics to ensure you have a guest-ready 'power room.'

1. Wipe the toilet, both rim and top of the tank. Spray some cleaning spray into the bowl and give it a quick swipe of a brush.
2. Using one cloth, wipe down any porcelain fixtures - sink, bathtub rim, etc..
3. Ensure you are stocked with toilet paper (you don't want to leave guests stranded!).
4. Check that you have a hand towel out.
5. If your mirror has a sheen of toothpaste, quickly spray with Windex and wipe down.
6. If you are feeling VERY fancy, light a votive.

Image courtesy Post War Vintage

Stop 2: The Living Room / Dining Room

The cleaning steps for the living and dining rooms are, in essence, the same. These are the rooms where people will congregate, and you want them to make a good impression.

1. Remove extra clutter from tables and floors and stash somewhere out-of-site (closet, bedroom, etc.). A classic.
2. If you don't have a designated place to hide clutter, stack it in neat little piles. Looking at you, books.
3. Group remotes and console controllers together, away from prime coffee table territory.
4. If you have a dog, gather his toys and put in a basket. I reckon this is the same task if you have children.
5. On a related note, if you have a big furry beast, gather up the tumbleweeds of fur and throw them out.
6. Wipe down table surfaces.
7. If you have an eye sore (such as a stain on a tablecloth), plunk something on top of it (sneaky, yes?)
8. Light a candle to class up the joint (see a theme here?)

Image courtesy Green in Chestnut Hill

Stop 3: The Kitchen

You want the people you are feeding to feel confident that your kitchen is clean, don't you? I will assume your kitchen is always nice and appropriately hygienic (the one room in the house you must keep spic-and-span), but it is nice to do a pass if its surfaces get un-tidied from pre-party cooking.

1. Move dishes in the sink into the dishwasher, if available; If you do not have a dishwasher, quickly wash the big items, dry, and put away to free up space.
2. Wipe down sink - the sink is the focal point of the kitchen, so make that baby shine. Magic Erasers are great for this - one swipe and your sink is gleaming.
3. Wipe down the stove. This is Splatter Central and also quickly tended to by the above methods.
4. Throw out any food packaging / vegetable peels / what have you.
5. Quickly spray some cleaning spray and wipe down the counters. Even the smell of a cleaning product will immediately trigger the "oooh, clean" censors of the brain.

Image courtesy Viva Victoria Vintage

Stop 4: Other Rooms

1. Close the door. Ta-da!

Bonus Round

Some other quick, impressive hosting tricks if you have a little extra time:

1. Put out a pitcher or carafe of water. This will show that you thought ahead (and keep people from heading into an untidy kitchen to get their own glass).
2. If you have one, put out an ice bucket. See above.
3. Light candles. This one popped up a few times above as it is a really easy way to make your house look cozy.

The ultimate takeaway, though? Your friends are your friends and they won't care too much if your place is clean. They just are looking forward to spending a lovely evening with you, not inspecting your place to see how clean it is.

...or that is what I am banking on, anyway.

What is YOUR favorite clean-up-quick trick?

Build-Your-Own Breakfast Burrito Bar with Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Verde

Looking for a main dish to serve with the H-100's you have totally mastered?

How about something that is hearty, simple and can be made en masse? That's right, friends, it is time for breakfast burritos! More specifically, a make-your-own breakfast burrito bar.

Half of the fun of taco nights, after all, is custom-creating your own spectacular plate and crafting it to your liking. So why not apply this logic to breakfast burritos?

These are also kicked up a notch with the offering of homemade salsa verde. The most fascinating part of this salsa recipe... the entire pot took 80 cents worth of ingredients. EIGHTY CENTS! The tomatillos are extremely inexpensive at a Mexican market, although you can also find at most major grocery stores. Ryan started making this a year ago, and now we almost always have some in the freezer.

So lets' dive right in - how do we make this help-yourself masterpiece?

Let's start with the salsa verde. This can be made far in advance, and, indeed, freezes splendidly.

The star of this show is the tomatillo - this is also known as a "Mexican husk fruit" and the taste is reminiscent of a tomato crossed with a pepper. This is a big time staple in Mexican cuisine. Wash these guys to get started.

Chop up one onion, approximately half a cup of cilantro, three cloves of garlic and one serrano pepper.

Grab your trusty oregano and cumin.

Get your whole salsa verde family together...

...and throw them in a pot. A dutch oven is great here as it provides consistent heat but, if you don't have one handy, any pot will do (just be sure to keep your eye on the heat). Turn your stove on medium heat and, once at a boil, simmer for about 10 minutes.

Once the tomatoillos are soft,  blend together using an immersion blender OR ladle one scoop at a time into a blender and pulse until smooth.

The texture should be as such. Allow to cool, then pop into the fridge to chill. After about 20 minutes, it is ready to serve!

Now wasn't that easy? Plus, you have to remember... EIGHTY CENTS A POT! Have I over-emphasized that? Nonetheless.

Shopping note: I always found an immersion blender to be at the tipping point of expensive-to-the-point-of-not-being-worth-it, coming in at about $30-$40 each. Not a lot overall, but not something you use every day either. Then I started making salsas and soups. If this is a favorite of yours, I recommend purchasing. If for nothing else, it was worth it so I could quit scalding myself while transferring things to a blender.

This salsa can be used for dishes, great and small. Pour over a citrus-marinaded chicken for a quick sauce, or served with fish for a hint of heat. Naturally, it is also great with chips as a dip. Today, however, is the day we pair it with breakfast burritos.

These burritos are featuring pepper-rubbed bacon, onion, orange bell pepper and eggs tenderly scrambled together, lovingly served with your fresh salsa verde and shredded pepper Jack and cheddar cheese.

The recipe below is easily modfied to include or omit any ingredient based on your preference. Hate peppers, but love tomatoes? Swap the latter in for the former. Vegetarian? Swap in Soyrizo instead.

So let's go!

Start with your bacon. We used pepper-rubbed, available at many grocery stores, but plain bacon will work just as well. To get your bacon uniformly flat and crisp, cook on a baking sheet. We used a rack in our pan so the fat drains off.

While the bacon is cooking, dice up an onion and your orange bell pepper. Be sure to remove the vein in the pepper, to avoid the bitter taste.

Grate your cheese and put in the dish you will serve it in. Cover and chill in the fridge so it doesn't get melty.

Your bacon is ready when the dog starts staring at the kitchen like this.

...or when it the bacon looks like this. It should be brown all around with crispy edges.

Delicious, delicious, crisp edges.

Transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool slightly. Once cooled, chop into pieces.

Yes, these guys will get along royally. Add a little bit of butter to a nonstick skillet and cook the onions and peppers. They are ready once they are soft. Be sure to forget to take a picture of this...

Once the vegetables are cooked, toss in the bacon and 6 eggs, whisked  together in a bowl with a little milk and seasoned with salt and pepper (or cajun seasoning if the mood strikes you).

The best egg technique I received is from my friend Yolanda, who never stops moving her eggs around the hot pan. By not keeping the eggs on the heat for too long, they won't get brown or tough. The result is a more tender, even-tasting scramble.

The eggs are ready when it is no longer runny. Remove from heat and transfer to a serving dish.

Serve with a stack of tortillas, warmed in the oven.

Along with your amazing salsa verde, feel free to add any other salsas or sauces you like.

Add the eggs to your brunch spread along with a potato side, such as H-100's (Tater Tots), and enjoy!

Breakfast Burritos with Eggs, Bacon, Onion and Peppers

7 slices bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 orange bell pepper, chopped
1 cup cheddar cheese, grated
1 cup pepper Jack cheese, grated
6 eggs
1 tbsp milk (approximately)
Cajun seasoning (if desired)
Salt
Pepper
2 tbsp butter, for the pan
12 medium flour tortillas, for serving.

Preheat oven to 425°.

On a cookie sheet, lay out the bacon. Cook until crisp, approximately 20 minutes. I find that every oven is a little different when it comes to bacon, so this should be based on doneness rather than time in oven.

While cooking, chop the onion and orange bell pepper and set aside. Grate the cheeses, place in a serving dish, cover and chill in fridge until ready to serve.

Remove bacon from oven, transfer to a paper towel-lined plate and allow to cool slightly. Chop and set aside.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk. Start with 1 tbsp milk, and add more if you like yours creamier. Add cajun seasoning, if desired, and salt and pepper to taste. If using cajun seasoning, be sure to use less salt, as it is often salted already.

Timing Note: Now is a good time to toss your tortillas in an oven to warm them up. Use the dish you intend to serve them in, ensuring it is over-safe. Wrap in a clean dish towel.

Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and peppers, and sauté until soft, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes. Lightly salt and pepper (more is coming in the eggs). Add bacon and stir. Add egg mixture and softly move around the pan with your spatula. Keep moving the eggs slowly, and remove once it is no longer runny.

Transfer to a serving dish and set out with the salsa verde, grated cheese and tortillas (warm from the oven). Enjoy!

Fresh Tomatillo Salsa Verde

adapted from AllRecipes.com

1 pound tomatillos, husked
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 serrano chile pepper, minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cumin
Salt, to taste
2 cups water

Timing Note: This salsa is best if allowed to chill in the fridge. Plan for an extra 30 minutes before serving to account for cooling down and chilling.

In a Dutch oven (or large pot), combine all ingredients and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for approximately 10 minutes, or until the tomatillos are soft. Remove from heat, and blend until smooth using an immersion blender. If you do not have an immersion blender, ladle one scoop at a time into a blender and pulse.

Set aside to cool slightly, about 10 minutes, then allow to chill for about 20 minutes. Serve and enjoy.