Great Party Appetizer

This idea came from my sister in-law who put out a fantastic pre-Thanksgiving spread. Simple, delicious, and only slightly costly.  (In the future, I'd try to find shorter skewers!)

Caprese Skewers
Equal parts of:
    -small tomatoes (grape or cherry, sliced in half if larger than bite-sized)
    -small, fresh mozzarella balls (called bocconcini)
    -fresh basil leaves (tear larger leaves in half as to not overpower other components)
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper
wooden or plastic skewers

Carefully skewer a tomato, cheese ball, and basil leaf on each skewer. Depending on your presentation needs, alternate order of ingredients. (Note: the cheese sometimes leaves streaks on the skewer, so I always follow the cheese with the tomato or basil leaf to help keep the skewer looking clean.)

Just before serving, sprinkle all skewers with olive oil and vinegar. Grind fresh salt and pepper over skewers.

Warm German Potato Salad

recipe adapted from one on the Epicurious website


Ingredients:
1 pounds red potatoes, wash and leave peel on, cut into 1/4" slices
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup red onion, chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (we used red, worked well, too)
3 t. coarse-grained mustard (Dijon-style worked well, too)
2 t. sugar
2 t. salt
1/2 t. pepper
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped

Instructions:
Wash and slice potatoes, place in steam basket above boiling water for 10 minutes. Chop onions and fresh dill, set aside.

Fry up bacon slices. Resist eating any of the bacon or take precautionary measures, such as frying up a 7th slice for you to snack on to ensure you have enough bacon for the recipe.  (The large pot with steaming potatoes in back was one of our favorite wedding gifts!  The stock pot is huge, but the accompanying steaming basket and pasta basket have been really helpful!)

Once bacon is cooked and cooled, crumble or slice and set aside.

Drain bacon grease, but leave 1-2 T. grease in the pan. Saute the onions in the bacon grease until they get a little see-through.

Add in vinegar, mustard, sugar, salt, pepper. Stir well and cook for a few more minutes, trying to simmer down/reduce some of the mixture.

Combine potatoes and mixture in a bowl. Add in bacon and dill just before serving.

This salad kept for a few days in the fridge. I think the bacon grease cools down and forms sort of a gooey appearance, so be sure to re-heat before serving if you've kept it in the fridge.