December, the month for entertaining. During December let's share our finger foods and appetizers ideas.

I personally take appetizers with me every Christmas eve to friends, so I'm really looking forward to some new ideas. Last year I took Harvarti cheese chips and dip and of course no one could believe this was "diet food".

As always don't forget to include detailed instructions as well as the nutritional counts.

Canadian Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

Approximately 15-20 mushrooms
Butter
4 oz. cream cheese
6 slices of bacon cooked and cut into bits
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Grated cheddar cheese

Remove stems from mushrooms and set aaside the caps. Chop stems and saute them in butter with garlic and onion powder.
Soften cream cheese (I used microwave for 20 sec), and add the sauted stems and bacon bits and mix well. Turn mushroom caps upside down (I use a pie plate), and stuff mixture into caps. Top with a little grated cheedar cheese. Bake 350 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

Total recipe approx. 26 carbs

I make this recipe every year for my Christmas Brunch, but I also make it for an appetizer for evening guests.

Feels like your cheating when you eat them, yum.
I had some that were stuffed with blue cheese, ham and a little red pepper. They were really decadent!!!

Sharon, thank you for starting this thread. I won't be bringing appetizers to many parties, but finger foods are good for lunches and snacks, too


I have two variants on stuffed mushrooms, though I can't give quantities. I'm sorry.

The first is a cream cheese one, similar to yours (and I think it's an old NYTimes one):

sautee the mushroom stems in butter, stir them into cream cheese and stir in a bit of sherry!


The second is sausage and very finely grated parmesan cheese. Brown the sausage, mix with the parmesan and stuff.

pork rinds and blue cheese dips! i bring it for me and it's always one of the first things gone! everyone loves them!

This is a great dip as well as being delicious as a “sauce” for steak or vegetables.

Mushroom Tapenade
Makes about 1½ cups

1½ lbs. mixed, fresh mushrooms, button, portabello, shiitake, oyster, etc.
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
¼ tsp. salt
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 anchovy filets
1 Tbsp. drained capers
2 tsp. minced fresh rosemary or thyme
½ - ¾ cup extra-virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Remove any tough stems from the mushrooms. Toss with the 3 Tbsp. olive oil and salt. Spread out in a single layer onto a baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes. Some will be shriveled and this is fine. Let cool.

Place in a food processor with the garlic, anchovies and capers, rosemary or thyme. With the motor running, slowly add the olive oil to form a juicy paste. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Calories: 2148
Fat: 221 grams
Carbs: 30 grams
Fiber: 8 grams
Protein: 28

this is my favorite recipe.
1 can waterchestnuts drained
3 tbsp soy sauce
strips of bacon cut in 1/2

marinate chestnuts in soy sauce for 1 hour.
wrap in bacon and secure with toothpicks
broil until crisp.
yummy...........

Hi Shelley, these are good. I have never made them, but have had them visiting.

Do you happen to have the carb counts for those who would be interested. (Save everyone working them out).

Thanks for posting this.

i looked up water chestnuts on the carb counter because i was planning on making these throughout the holidays - i love them too

they're more carby than i thought - 4 water chestnuts have 3.48 grams of carbs (!) i could eat these like nuts (ie. way too many), so i'm not so sure i'll make them now. (i cannot eat these in moderation)

Why dontcha use jicama or daikon instead? Twice the fun for much less carbs!

Karen

just tonight i was thinking about using daikon instead

could use a melon baller to keep them round

i think i'll make some tomorrow

I can't post! sorry it took so long to answer.
Anyway, I checked out waterchestnuts on my mastercooks and I got a count of 1 - 2 for each. I guess it depends on the size of the nuts. The cans I buy have 20-25 in a 10 ounce can.
I don't care for daikon, but jicama would be good. Do you know the count on jicama?

I think you could probably find it in the carb counter at the top of this page. Water chestnuts are probably there too so you can make an accurate comparison.

Karen

i looked up jicama on the carb counter, & it's 10.58 grams per 1 cup sliced, minus 5.88 grams fibre = 4.7 grams per cup.

Hi! I haven't posted for a long time but I am still lc'ing. The loss has been very slow, but that's better than a gain. With Christmas season approaching I am wondering if anyone has somthing fancier than cheese, meat slices and deviled eggs to take to a finger-food Christmas Party.Any ideas would be appreciated.