This time of the year, I can never seem to really focus on anything but the pending holidays. I absolutely love the whole “holiday season” from well before Thanksgiving until after New Years. I love cooking, baking, and entertaining… And, no other time of the year can compare! I imagine that most of you can relate.
So, with all of my holiday excitement (in addition to all of the other excitement and craziness in my life right now), I wasn’t nearly as diligent as I should have been about announcing a November Kitchen Bootcamp challenge. The more I thought about it, though, I realized that many of you are probably equally distracted at the moment and might not have the energy to do both a November and a December challenge. That’s a lot to add to the holiday season!
To keep things simple, I’ve decided to combine the November and December challenges into one single holiday challenge. And, I’ve chosen Hors d’Oeuvre and Appetizers (Chapter 32 from The Professional Chef†) as the topic! Since some holiday entertaining is inevitable (especially for us food bloggers who can never go anywhere empty handed, if not actually hosting the party!), it seemed only appropriate that we would tackle some party food.
Personally, I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. Appetizers are one of those things that I typically overlook entirely. (Unless I’m hosting a party… and even then mine aren’t too exciting!) Though I love to order appetizers when we go out to eat, I’m more of a main dish, sides, salad, and dessert person when I’m the one cooking. This challenge will definitely get me out of my comfort zone a bit… But, that’s really what it’s all about!
So, here are the details… Since this is a special holiday challenge, I’ll be posting the roundup on Wednesday, December 29th (just in time for the last minute New Years party planners!). Please submit your blog posts by Tuesday, December 28th to be sure they are included in the roundup.
†Disclosure – Please note that the link to The Professional Chef provided on this page is an Amazon affiliate link.
You are the best!! I am such a mess in the kitchen I know this will be a big help!
Great idea! And I actually think this is one I can tackle. Given the timeline I have no excuse not to. :)
Appetizers and hors d’oeuvres are the things that really got me interested in cooking and baking (strange, I know). Love the little bites of yummy goodness that you can pop into you mouth and move onto the next. Cocktail/appetizer parties make my heart beat faster!
That’s a great idea Jen! I am actually having an appetizer get together on Saturday night (we usually have crab fest or steak fest, but last time we almost filled up on appetizers so we decided to forgo the main meal!).
I have chicken pesto meatballs to make – every time I make them they are a hit – I’ll post soon!
I agree with you Jen, I usually, actually never, make appetizers. I just don’t even think about it! I will have to see if I can find something yummy to share!
I could live on apps and hors d’oeuvres. I love having a lot of little bites of something different. I know I will be making a lot of apps over the next few weeks and am excited for this challenge!
This one should be easy with thanksgiving in a couple weeks! :) I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with too.
Ohhh I can’t wait.