This month’s Southern Living magazine sports several easy “recipes” for Christmas wreath appetizers that got me in the mood to revisit this simple but attractive finger food for a holiday buffet.

Bringing back to life a long-dormant family recipe for marinated shrimp, which tastes as fresh and welcome today as it did 50 years ago.

Skordalia is a magical Greek sauce with a “nectar of the gods” feel to it when you first experience it.

A simple but delightful recipe for a piquant and savory spread.

A quick and easy recipe for cilantro pesto, with 26 ways to use it.

The Glover Gardens recipe for classic deviled eggs, created by Kim of Glover Gardens and niece Joie and tested and approved by The Grill-Meister.

Smart children prove the concept of knowledge transfer on the 5-minute appetizer formula.

This is a story about how a gift of homemade jelly made its way into an appetizer, and a formula / template recipe for throwing together a 5-minute appetizer.

Jalapeno-Bacon Poppers have a great balance of spicy-tart-salty flavors and the wonton is a great delivery device for this tasty appetizer.

Dressing Bites are a wonderful way to repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers, making for a very satisfying nibble.

We love avocado toast! Not because we’re trendy, frivolous or extravagant, but simply because we love fresh food that’s bursting with vibrant flavors.

Chimichurri is a great sauce for fish, chicken, shrimp, steak, pork…you name it. It’s great as a dip for crudités. It’s a perfect condiment for a panini.

The smoked salmon pita with avocado-dill spread is the essence of summer, whether at a picnic or a ladies’ luncheon.

Avocado-dill spread is a super-simple, creamy, tangy condiment that stands up to spicy food and holds its own. In other words, it’s a keeper!

Combining black bean salad with lump crab creates an elegant, delicious and easy starter course.

Bruschetta is so simple, so summery, so garlicky-good. Ripe red tomatoes meet their life partner in soft green basil, with garlic and oil to seal their commitment.

We took a walk on the wild side and used blacked fish on nachos. Here’s how it went down … it’s not a recipe as much as a set of loose guidelines, kinda like jazz is.

My mom used to make little toasts like this, but the recipe has been lost, so I made up a new one. The Grill-Meister was a big fan.

From Food & Wine: “This recipe offers irrefutable proof that the best dishes are often the simplest.”

The best crab cakes ever, from the most popular recipe on foodandwine.com. The “test kitchen” at Glover Gardens proved out these results – yum!