The New York Times has a great food feature for holiday entertaining: 101 Appetizers that won't bore you or your guests to death and can be made in 20 minutes or less. Here's a brief sample:
6 New York comfort food: Spread cream cheese or creme fraiche on small bagels or bagel chips; black bread is also terrific. Top with sturgeon, sable or lox.
7 Slice soft goat cheese and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped herbs, then with bread crumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until soft, about 10 minutes, and serve hot.
8 Might not be the new ketchup, but great stuff: purée skinned roasted peppers or piquillos with some of their liquid, salt and olive oil. Serve alone or with other foods - a piece of cheese, even.
9 Top buttered bread with shaved country ham, prosciutto or regular deli ham and bread-and-butter pickles.
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24 Portable Caprese: Skewer a small ball of mozzarella, a grape tomato and a bit of basil leaf. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and drizzle with oil.
25 A no-brainer: Cut slab of bacon into 1/2-inch chunks. Cook in a skillet, a broiler or a high-heat oven until nice and crisp. Skewer with a grape tomato.
26 Even jazzier: Cut just-ripe pears in 1/2-inch cubes; sprinkle with a little salt, sugar and cayenne. Spear with bacon.
27 Pair crispy bacon chunks with one cube of beet and one of goat cheese.
This one's worth printing out and keeping handy. Just don't get buzzed on Starbucks and holiday fudge and then try to make all 101 the same day. Pace yourself.
