10 easiest appetizers and cocktails

I recently had the pleasure of presenting two culinary demos at First Canadian Place to 400 savvy home cooks during the lunch hour. I launched into five “Instant Parties” (that consist of an appetizer and a cocktail) that have appeared in Chatelaine over the past year.

In other words, I sliced, stirred, shook (a martini shaker) and cooked my way through ten recipes in under a half hour. There were lots of oohs and aaahs from the audience as they took in the Chatelaine kitchen’s quick and delish recipe ideas, while munching away on chocolate-dipped potato chips (recipe below).

Believe me, this was no miracle. Our recipes are just that easy – and that delicious.

Here are the five Instant Parties I presented, all of them perfect for the easy entertaining:

Chocolate-coated kettle chips with maple rye ginger cocktail

Spiced almonds and sangria spritzer cocktail

Balsamic and prosciutto figs and an amaretto sour

Asian tuna tartare and the apple sparkler

Roasted chestnuts and Christmas ale