Wednesday, November 27, 2013

Appetizer Tree

It is holiday party time.  And you know what that means.... the age old question of  "what should I bring?"  This post answers that question with one of my favorite holiday party appetizers...
The Tree
The Tree is actually simple to make but takes some planning.  What you will need is:

1 floral Styrofoam cone 12"-24" high, you pick (mine is 24" which makes a BIG Tree)
A LOT of toothpicks (I used 265 for the above pictured 24" cone)
1 disposable plastic plate (paper is not heavy enough)
A variety of toothpick friendly foods.  For the above Tree I used:

1 jar of blue cheese stuffed olives
1 jar marinated mushrooms
1 jar black olives
1 package salami
1 package peperoni
3 blocks of cheese cut into cubes (I used cheddar, pepper jack, and Swiss)
1 package grape tomatoes

Feel free to use any combination of foods you like.

Step one, rinse off the cone.  I ran mine under warm water.  I did not use soap because it would be difficult to get the soap out of all the Styrofoam pours.  It took a bit of drying to get all the water out of the cone.  You could instead wrap the cone in plastic wrap.  Using a fun holiday color like red or green plastic wrap would be festive too.

Step two, hot glue the Styrofoam cone to the plate.  This keeps the cone from sliding around on the counter or falling over.  If you only have a paper plate on which to glue the cone, you may want to add weight to the plate around the base of the cone like extra cheese or vegetables so the cone and plate do not tip over. The plastic plate I used was heavy enough.
 
The final step is to cover the cone with food.  Stick a toothpick in the food then stick the food to the cone with the toothpick.  Start from the bottom and work your way up going around the cone in layers.  You can make each layer or ring around the cone the same food like I did or mix it up, your choice.  If you start from the top the cone may get top heavy and fall over with a large cone like I used.

The cone will take way more food than you are expecting, especially if you use the 24" cone.  My cone used up almost everything listed above.  All that was left was about half a block of cheese, maybe half of the pepperoni package and half of the black olives. 

The party we went to was a going away party for some neighbors of ours moving out of state.  The tree was completely devoured (surprisingly the kids ate most of it).  There were a lot of compliments and it made a good conversation piece.  Make sure to set out a little bowl to hold all the used toothpicks or they will end up everywhere!
  
You could easily also do this with fruit. Just pick fruit that will not brown sitting out for a few hours. For a fruit Tree I would suggest red and green grapes, mandarin oranges, raspberries, cherries, strawberries, and similar items.  For a fruit Tree you could even add some dried fruit and some chocolate covered berries as well. 
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Featured on:
Epic Mommy AdventuresAll Things ChristmasBack to the Basics
I was featured on Tasty Tuesdays at West Street Story
Shared with:

71 comments:

  1. This looks like fun. I think I'll cover my foam with green celofane (sp?) and the go to town with the toothpicks!! Thanks for sharing!

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    1. I think I would need to cover it too. I was thinking parchment paper, but green cello sounds good too.

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  2. Let me know how it goes Mary. I am always surprised at how much people rave over it when no cooking is required.

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  3. That is an awesome way to serve appetizers! I am definitely trying this during the holidays. So glad I found you over at the Inspiration Monday Party.
    Marie@InteriorFrugalista

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    1. Thanks for stopping by Marie. Let me know how it goes!

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  4. Oh my goodness, what a cute idea!!! So creative (and delicious looking, too!) I love it!!! What a fun party idea!!! Thanks for the inspiration!

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    1. You are welcome Maria. I cannot take credit for the idea but I have made the most of it! Thanks for stopping by.

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  5. This is incredible! I'm about to share it on my FB page Widgy Cat!! I'm actually in the middle of doing a gum drop tree like this, but yours is waaaaay smarter! Love it! Thanks for linking up to our Inspiration Monday party…Julie, redheadcandecorate.com

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    1. Thanks for the compliment Julie. It is a fun project whether savory, fruity, or pure sugar :) Glad you stopped by!

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  6. Oh my word, this is totally incredible. I love this idea. Thanks so much for the tutorial and Thanks so much for joining Inspire Me. Hugs, Marty

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  7. This is absolutely amazing!!! I totally love it! :) Thank you so much for sharing at the All Things Christmas party - pinning and sharing! Have a wonderful and happy week!

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  8. Wowza! What an awesome tree! I'm pinning this for my Open House party.

    Thanks for sharing your appetizer tree at Motivation Monday. Have a great week!

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  9. This is definitely a Show Stopper. Found on the Pincentive Blog Hop and just had to hop over to check it out and PIn it.

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  10. What a great presentation for the table, your tutorial on the appetizer tree is very timely. Thank you for sharing with the Clever Chicks Blog Hop! I hope you’ll join us again next week!

    Cheers,
    Kathy Shea Mormino
    The Chicken Chick
    http://www.The-Chicken-Chick.com

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  11. I love the added dimension! -Marci @ Stone Cottage Adventures

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  12. Wow! I love this! I think this is totally worth the time to put together for a Christmas party!

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  13. What a fantastic idea! So festive AND easy! There are no ends to the combinations of what you could use...sweet and savory together! Thanks so much for sharing this very cool idea!

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  14. Yeah! -but could you combine fruit and the ingredients listed here? I'm thinking grapes-strawberries-maybe trated apples with cheese and cold cuts???

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    1. This is one of those times when your imagination is your only limit. You just wouldn't want sweet and savory things dripping on each other if the combination is unusual. Maybe do half (top to bottom) sweet and the other side savory. Or all different kinds of chocolate. Ok now I am getting hungry. Thanks for the comment and stopping by!

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  15. This is amazing! And it takes up a LOT less room on a table than a flat tray. Genius!

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  16. I LOVE this idea. It looks so yummy and it's so customizable based on your tastes and theme. We'll be featuring this over at Someday Crafts tomorrow :)

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    1. Thanks Miranda. I linked up on your site as well and became a follower. Glad you stopped by!

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  17. That looks fantastic! Such a great idea!

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  18. What a brilliant idea - would be good with fruit as well. I want to try this one!
    Thanks for the idea
    Wren x

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  19. Love it! What a great idea, I bet it was a hit!! Stopping by from Farmgirl Friday

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  20. OH MY.
    Seriously?! As if Christmas couldn't get anymore AWESOME.
    I think I would invite myself over to your holiday party if I knew this would be there! ;D
    Thank you so much for sharing at our Holiday link party.
    Have a wonderful rest of the weekend!

    -Jane @ urbanejane.com

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  21. Oh I have to do this! thanks for sharing~

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  22. Wow…I admire your patience - this is a lovely way to display finger foods - Happy Holidays!!

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  23. I`m so doing this. Looks delish and amazing. Will share with you and link to yours too. Thanks for the inspiration.

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  24. This is awesome! I think once I got if finished I wouldn't let anyone eat from it just let them admire the masterpiece. LOL!

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  25. You were featured on All Things Christmas! We hope that you will come back and link up again! Check it out at http://craftdictator.com/2013/12/09/all-things-christmas-4/!

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  26. Love this! Thanks for sharing such a wonderfully creative, festive and most of all yummy craft. Happy Holidays

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  27. This is such a fun, creative way to serve appetizers!! I am pinning this for my next get together. I love that it doesn't take up room on the table since it goes up!!

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  28. wow that would take a lot of time, effort and thought! But would be yummy eating! Thanks for linking to Snickerdoodle Sunday!

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    1. It went quicker than I thought. The hard part was to not nibble away all the ingredients before the party!

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  29. I love this!!! Definitely giving it a try for Christmas eve

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  30. I. LOVE. IT. !!!
    My family comes to our house for C'Eve and I am going to make one of these. I'll use red paper to cover the cone.
    I'll have bowls of dip and they can go to town on it all.
    Can't wait to try it. Thanks so much....
    xo bj

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  31. I love this! I want to make this! Now I just need a party to go to! Visiting from Treasure Hunt Thursday...

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  32. Thanks so much for linking up this recipe at Tasty Tuesdays last week. I chose to have it be one of my features for this week!! Hope to see you around Tasty Tuesdays over at West Street Story again soon!
    http://www.weststreetstory.com/tasty-tuesday-39-2/

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    1. Hi Jen. Thanks for featuring me! Have a great day.

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  33. My Aunt Joyce used to make one every year. I love yours!

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    1. Thanks Dee. I remember these as a child. Then a couple of years ago one of the grandmothers in the neighborhood made one and I had the childhood flash back. This post has been so popular that I think this is one of those lost bits of holiday tradition that may make a comeback. Have a Merry Christmas!

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  34. WoW, that's some tree. I'm sure it's a big hit at the party. Thanks for sharing. -Andrea @ scrapality.com

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  35. What a great idea! I love that it's a more healthy option than my usual chocolate, cake and lots of icing platters I usually bring lol.

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  36. Very cute. I can't wait to try it for our party

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  37. How long did it take to assemble the 24" cone?

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  38. I wonder if it would look pretty with the food spiraled up on it?

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  39. We get invited to a few panties every year. Always tough to decide what to bring, not this year! Can't wait for Christmas now!! Of course I'll tweak this a bit, always tweak recipes. Maybe red & green picks, or, fancy colored cellophane tips. Will take pics & posts. Thanks.

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  40. I love this! I've done a donut tree in the past at Easter brunch. I use mini donut holes and use wax paper to coverify the cone. Easy peasy!!

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