The hors d'oeuvres dinner party

Fruits
Cut fruits into individual servings. This tray can include pineapple, strawberries, blueberries, apple slices, pear slices, grapes, watermelon and melon. It can be complemented with fresh fruit dips.

Vegetables
This tray can include celery, radishes, baby carrots, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, mushrooms and bell peppers of all colours -- all cut into individual servings. This tray can be complemented with a variety of dips, hummus, baba ghanoush, ranch dip, black bean dip, etc. Display these veggies by balancing the colours on the tray.

Seafood
This is the tray to impress. Admittedly this will likely be your most expensive component, but few selections will draw attention like a seafood tray. You can include shrimp, crab legs, mussels, smoked oysters, fresh oysters, smoked salmon, baked salmon or any of your other favourites. The tray can be decorated with lemon wedges, hot garlic butter, seafood and tartar sauce.

Breads/flatbreads/crackers
Variety will provide your guests with a great selection to experiment with. This tray or basket should include a variety of fresh breads, flatbreads and crackers. Serving the breads warmed in the oven is a nice touch.

Once you have decided upon which elements you are going to include on trays, the next step is to plan the individual hors d'oeuvres. While most hors d'oeuvres are typically served on flatbreads and crackers, a great addition is to experiment with building them fresh from the ground up, that is, to replace the crackers or breads with cucumber slices, tomato slices on sliced cheese or on slices of fresh fruit.

When planning your individual hors d'oeuvres, a good mix is to prepare three hot and four cold selections to complement your trays. If you are stuck for recipes, your answer is as close as your favourite cookbook or the fabulous selection in the Food section of CanadianLiving.com. There is a myriad of options available and preparation can be quite easy. Consider that most hors d'oeuvres will have the base (cracker, bread or vegetable) and a topping such as cream cheese, hummus or paté, topped by olives, oysters, cheese or any topping of your choice.

The final thing to consider is time and experience. Any hors d'oeuvres dinner party can be complemented by fresh store-bought sushi, spring rolls or other favourites. By mixing in a few different items, you will not only keep them guessing, but keep them coming back for more. Bon appetit.

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