In collaboration with blogger and recipe developer Margherita, of La Petite Casserole, we’ve made sure your palate will be thanking you going into 2018. With three appetizer recipes that take mere minutes to prepare, Margherita has the New Year’s recipes you’ve been looking for. To start, no party is complete without a delightfully cheesy element: Cheese And Jam Squares. You can top it with a hazelnut to make it extra festive. Next, it’s always important to have a vegetarian-friendly option, so we have a White Bean Hummus with Oven Roasted Tomatoes. Blended in the thinkkitchen Electric Food Processor, you can place the hummus and tomatoes on your favourite country bread or baguette, crostini style. Finally, the Potato Tortilla, which will have people flocking. You can serve this egg, onion and potato delight in pizza slice-like wedges.

Choose one, or make them all, your fellow merrymakers will delight in these savoury bites.

Happy New Year to all, and to all a good bite!

I once said “I will never write a blog”…but I’ve also said “ never say never”… and here I am! Let me introduce myself. My name is Margherita, I am from Florence and 100% Italian. I became Canadian for the sake of love. I started cooking when I was a child because of the pleasure I found watching a cake rise in the oven. Then, year after year I started to cook because of the pleasure it brought me to have my friends come over, and watching them sit at my table and devour everything I had prepared. Dinner after dinner, the pleasure of thinking about which recipes to prepare and how many people to invite over has become my favourite way to express myself. Each recipe I create shares a little bit about myself and about my story. You can find out the contribution of my family, my husband and all of my friends who have supported me during all these years, the same who have tested and eaten up all my dishes! There is one point I want to make clear: I’m not that good with dealing with precise quantities, such as mg, ml, cc, etc… To me, taste is more important than grams! Find more of my recipes at www.lapetitecasserole.com.

To start, it’s important to understand the different components of wine. Wine characteristics include the level of sweetness (which relates to the level of dryness), the level of acidity, the tannin levels, the fruitiness, and the body (alcohol levels). To make it easier to pair a wine with cheese, find a wine that is lower in tannin so it will not dry out your mouth and won’t be as bitter, fruitier, less acidic, lower in alcohol therefore a lighter wine (these are typically more white wine characteristics).

You can match the wine with cheese based on similar characteristics, so pair a higher acidic wine with a higher acidic cheese (usually a fresh cheese and younger wine). You can also match them by pairing them with the opposite flavors, for example, a stronger cheese with a sweet dessert wine, because we all know that opposites attract! Another easy tip to go by is that if it’s from the same region they will most likely work well together.

If you want to keep it simple, serve one or two wines that have a broad range of pairings and set out an assortment of cheese. One wine like this is Riesling wine; it’s a dry white wine with a low alcohol level from the region of Germany. It has many factors, including its acidity, sweetness, tropical fruits, and mineral backbone, that allow it to pair quite nicely with a wide range of cheeses.

To ensure a good night, it’s not only about the selection of wine and cheese but also the tools you have to serve your assortments. First, a good wine opener is essential as it’ll allow for easy corking, and prevent any mishaps while trying to open a bottle. Our Truelve Corkscrew and Cutter has never made this task easier.

Next, make it easy for your guests know what their choices are and which wine goes with which cheese with our cheese party maker. You are able to write what everything is making this task a no brainer. You also need the right utensils for displaying and cutting your cheese. Our Tradition Cheese Board as it comes equipped with the right knifes for your cheese. Don’t forget glass markers so your guests know which glass is theirs if they want to set it down for a bit.

Classic Appletini

You can’t go wrong with a classic apple martini, the perfect drink to sit back, relax and enjoy your evening with.

Directions

Shake ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Strain into a chilled glass and garnish with an apple slice.

Variations:

Caramel Apple Martini: Add 2 parts Butterscotch Schnapps and 2 parts Apple Schnapps and no Vermouth

Honey Crisp Apple Sangria

Sangria is the perfect party cocktail to make in advance as the longer you let it sit, the more the flavors of the fruit infuse.

• Amalfi Pitcher
• Knife
• Cutting Board
• Wine Glasses
• Apple Divider

Direction

Wash and chop the apples into pieces and thinly slice the orange.

Place the apples, cinnamon sticks and oranges in a large pitcher. Add wine, apple cider, brandy, orange and lemon juice. Allow time to sit in the refrigerator, the longer the more the flavors will infuse into the sangria. Suggested time is 6-24 hours. Add sugar to taste if you want it to be sweeter, add 1-2 tablespoons of sugar, honey, or agave.

Spiked Cider Tea

This list wouldn’t be complete without at least one cider recipe, so stay warm this coming season with a spiked cider tea; there’s no better drink to keep us warm at night!

Directions

In a pot, add the cider and vanilla. Bring it to a boil then remove from the heat. Add the tea bag and steep for 3 minutes

After 3 minutes, remove the tea bag and stir in the gin, Serve with a lemon slice.

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