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.

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!

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.

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!

With its unexpected and delightful crunch of whole peppercorns and spicy beef flavor, this easy-to-make home-cured sausage will wow your party guests.

The flavor is reminiscent of the onion dip in the plastic container served alongside potato chips at backyard barbecues, but it also has a jazzy, sophisticated taste and mouth-feel from the fresh yellow onions simmered to golden perfection and a dash of vermouth.

A well-worn family cookbook, Great Tastes from the Texas Coast, provides my late Mom’s guidance for antipasto success.

Perfect for fall parties, Tuscany-Texas Goat Cheese Spread is a burst of fresh flavors atop salty, creamy goat cheese.

Bounty from a fishing trip inspires us to learn how to smoke trout. Yum!

This Smoked Salmon 7-Layer dip from Bon Appetit is very festive and just right for a holiday party.

A rosemary wreath dresses up the standby party platter of cheese, salami and olives.

My colleague and friend Stephanie makes the most marvelous dip, and we pester her to bring a batch to us at least monthly.  It’s ‘formal’ name is Creamy Jalapeño Dip, but we mostly refer to it as Green Dip.  And sometimes, Crack Dip (because it’s addictive).…

Churrasco’s chimichurri sauce is sooooo good: foodie-worthy and simple to make.

Radishes with pesto-butter and sea salt are a garlicky-good appetizer.

My Aunt-Mom turned me on to this terrific and easy recipe for remoulade a few years ago. The recipe on the McCormick’s web site suggests serving it with boiled shrimp, which is how I first encountered it, but it is good in many, many other ways.

European colleagues of mine took potluck to a new level when they invaded my kitchen and created a marvelous vegan lentil soup with a grilled Norwegian “waiting bread”.

For us, Family Smorgasbord is a mashup of little bites of stuff we like. They don’t have to go together or have the same culinary roots. They just need to taste good.