Snack

I made these once for a political fundraiser at my friend Melita Easter’s house, attended by the governor of Georgia, who stood there and practically ate the whole plate. The secret is butter, a tip I picked up in culinary school that takes this Southern staple from delicious to sublime and renders people unable to use the sense God gave a cat to stop eating. If you don’t have a specially designed plate for serving deviled eggs, with cuplike indentations to keep the eggs from rolling, simply trim off a sliver from the bottom of the cooked white before you fill the eggs with the yolk mixture. Garnish the platter with leaves of butter lettuce or herbs and nestle the filled eggs in the greenery. Very fresh eggs are difficult to peel. Buy and refrigerate eggs about seven days in advance of cooking. This allows the eggs to take in air, which helps separate the membranes from the shells.

The Eastern seaboard—especially the Chesapeake Bay—is riddled with shallow muddy inlets of brackish water, the perfect home for blue crabs. Grades of crabmeat depend on which part of the crab the meat is from and the size of the pieces. Jumbo lump is the most expensive and is composed of the largest pieces of white body meat. Lump crab is next and is harvested from the back fin. Flake is the smallest pieces of white body meat. Claw meat is the darker meat from the claw and is the least expensive. Look for fresh or pasteurized crab in your seafood department and avoid the canned, shelf-stable product. Serve this dip with water crackers or toasted slices of baguette.

When I was growing up, our nibbles were most often the cheese straws made by my grandfather, whom I called Dede. Dede was a tall, strapping man who knew the secret of a long, happy marriage to his iron-willed wife. As he put it, his blue eyes twinkling, he always got in the last word: “Yes, beloved.” Dede would layer his cheese straws in a tin lined with sheets of butter-stained waxed paper smelling of sharp cheese and peppery cayenne. Everyone loves these cheese straws—I once caught a party guest stuffing his pockets with them. A cookie press is needed to make these savory crackers. I prefer the version that resembles a caulking gun, although a turn-crank one will do. Some hard-core cheese straw makers invest in the electric version!

Mama found the original of this recipe on the back of a box of Bisquick, a premixed baking product containing flour, shortening, salt, and leavening. According to General Mills, the recipe continues to be one of their most popular. Mama added pecans to the sausage balls, which she served during the holidays and at cocktail parties. I made a few additional changes and developed this “from scratch” version. This recipe works best if you grate the cheese yourself rather than buying it already grated, which is coated to keep the pieces from sticking together. You can add additional cayenne if you like, or use extra hot sausage.

In south Georgia, farmland not used for peaches is often planted to pecan groves. Evenings in the fall, we would search for the elusive nuts hidden among the fallen brown leaves, the bare trees black in the evening shadows, the sunset sky a colorful vermillion. We’d return home and store our harvest in large sacks of netting. After shelling and cleaning, Mama and Meme made these nuts for the holidays.

Meme loved asparagus, which she called “asparagus salad,” although there wasn`t anything to preparing it other than opening the familiar shiny silver can. Even though I know the flavor of canned asparagus (really, there isn’t any) cannot compare to freshly cooked, I enjoy that taste memory. The ends of fresh asparagus can be tough and woody. I prefer to slice off the last inch or two of the stem instead of snapping it off where the spear breaks naturally. Not only is it more visually appealing when all the spears are exactly the same size, but they will also cook at the same rate. As these are best fried at the last minute, I suggest you serve them as a first course at a small dinner, not as an hors d’oeuvre at a large party.

Southerners always seem to have candied and spiced pecans around to nibble on during the holidays. My grandmother always made sweet pecans crusted with egg whites and sugar, using the nuts she and my grandfather had collected in the fall. So this version, with extra-virgin olive oil and herbs, is a real departure for my family. Recipes such as this, with a short ingredients list, are completely determined by the quality of the ingredients. The shorter the list, the better the ingredients must be. Pecans are the star, but the choice of olive oil and salt is crucial to the success of the dish. Use the finest possible. This recipe is splendidly simple, just perfect with apéritifs and for cocktail parties.

Snacking is as much a Mexican pastime as it is an American one. These snacks, which are sold by street vendors, go great with beer and cocktails. Served as a trio or on their own, they are incredibly addicting!

Quesadilla literally translates to “little cheese thing.” In Mexico, these little cheese turnovers are eaten as snacks throughout the day and can be left plain or stuffed with a filling. The filling is a combination of regional and personal preference. In all cases, these portable turnovers are quick and easy to make with ingredients you are most likely to have on hand—making them the perfect snack!

I used to eat these all the time as an after-school snack. Who knew I was actually paying homage to another generation? Make them with or without the pickles; it doesn’t matter.

Shrimp is something that I don’t often serve at parties simply because it costs too much. But, this recipe uses the tiny little shrimp that are usually pretty cheap. Use frozen shrimp: the canned ones taste too fishy, or if you don’t like shrimp, you can leave them out.

This delicious dish can be prepared completely ahead of time. You can serve it at room temperature, but I like to reheat the vegetables before I serve them.

Tapenade is essentially puréed olives with other flavorings added. This is a pretty mild version, but if you like the sharp taste of Kalamata olives, feel free to add more.

You can serve this salad as a side dish, but it’s so packed with stuff that it can easily be a meal. I love this kind of dish because I can have it as a meal one day and then snack on the leftovers for a few days (right out of the container, of course).

These are a little more work than the other dishes for this party, but they are so yummy we couldn’t skip them. They can be made several hours ahead and refrigerated, or they can be frozen for up to 2 months and baked at the last minute.

This is the world’s easiest dip to make and it’s delicious. Even if you aren’t having a Cinco de Mayo party, this is a great dip to make when you are just hanging out with friends.

These mini tostadas are ideal because you get all the flavors in one bite. You can use any kind of chips, but the scoops that are shaped like little bowls hold everything together well.

The combination of shrimp and green chiles is fantastic on these quesadillas. It doesn’t matter what size shrimp you buy because you’ll have to cut them up anyway, so save some money and buy the smallest frozen shrimp they have.

I am usually not a particular fan of dates. Normally, I think they are too sweet and sticky, but in this dish the smokiness of the bacon offsets some of the sweetness and the combination is delicious. They’re also easy and fast to make.

What is tzatziki you ask? It’s a cucumber sauce that they serve as a spread for pita bread in every Greek restaurant. And, if that doesn’t help, it’s the white sauce that they put on gyros. If you still don’t know what I mean, make it and you’ll find out.