Helping Hands with Wedding Appetizers

When my dear friend informed me her caterer could no longer create the cocktail event appetizers for her daughter’s outdoor wedding just a week before the event, due to a family emergency, I tried not to panic along with her. I know how stressful weddings can be because I have married off two of my children. It is most certain that something, whether big or small, will go wrong somewhere along the line. Learning to stay calm when that something does occur is a whole other animal. But my sweet friend was calm; I was the one panicking for her, at least on the inside. So of course I must help with a solution and the only solution I could think of was to do them myself. How many guests? How many appetizers? How hard could this be? Pinterest became my friend. I quickly sent her several options and had her choose her favorite four appetizers. Five hundred hors d’ oeuvres, no problem!

First up was cantaloupe, prosciutto, and chopped fresh tarragon. If you haven’t tried this combination, it’s a must for a quick and easy appetizers. The sweetness of the cantaloupe along with the saltiness of the prosciutto is a perfect match. This recipe came from the Simply Delicious website. Her recipe called for parsley but I substituted French Tarragon, which is a perfect complement to cantaloupe.

Next would be blackberry, basil & mozzarella on a skewer. I decided to place them in a pin wheel style for added aesthetics. Placing a sliced strawberry in the middle helped hide all the ends of the skewers. I found this recipe on Butter with a side of bread’s website.

Next up were bite-size cucumbers with herb cream-cheese and tomatoes. Not only do these taste delicious but they look pretty too. I used English cucumbers and peeled the skin off about every half-inch leaving a beautiful stripe of contrasting light and dark green stripes. This recipe came from Bake a Bite.

I also made a delicious dip that received so many compliments and I was asked several times for the recipe. The problem with giving the recipe is the fact that I started with a basic recipe and embellished it with so many different herbs and spices (but of course never wrote down what I was adding or the amount of ingredients). Someday I will have to try to recreate it so I can share it with you. But for now, it remains Bethany’s exclusive wedding dip.

The wedding was absolutely breathtaking and everything seemed to go off without a hitch. It took numerous helping hands to accomplish this, but then again, that’s how a wedding should be; many friend’s and family lovingly joining together to witness the beautiful union of two people who are passionately in love.