Easy and Savory Appetizers

Happy New Year!

On New Year's Day my parents made one of my favorite meals - roasted pork loin, mashed potatoes, and my grandmother's secret family recipe for sauerkraut. I decided to make something we could munch on while everything was cooking.

I have seen these Crescent Roll appetizers around, so decided to make up a few of my own.

The first version was inspired by this appetizer, Bacon-Onion-Cheese Tart, a pizza crust topped with caramelized onions, cheeses, and bacon and then baked and cut into squares. I took the Crescent Roll dough and rolled it out flat. I spread a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese onto it, layered on some crumbled bacon, and then topped it with some shredded Parmesan cheese. I rolled it up, sliced it into one inch pieces, and baked on 375 for 10 minutes.

The second version was so easy, and my favorite of the two. I simply spread Alouette garlic and herb cheese onto the dough, rolled, sliced, and baked.

I loved these and imagine they could be made (rolled) a few hours in advance of a party, and then just sliced and baked.

When photographing, my mom asked me to take a picture of her mother's favorite Christmas ball, the Skier. This ball has been in our family for at least 80 years -

I hope everyone has a happy, successful, and delicious 2010!