Simple Retro Party Appetizer

When I was at the Winter Fancy Food show in San Diego recently, one of the seminars I went to talked about how people have less and less time available to prepare meals either for themselves or when entertaining.

At one time it was thought that as technology became more integrated with our lives we would have more leisure time, and machines would do all the work. Ha, ha! I think that this accounts for the success of this super simple appetizer that I put together for the open evening at the Leaping Lotus spring gala last week.

I wanted visitors to be able to sample some of the new Spanish pickles we have introduced to the store, and also some of the pimento olives. So I put some olives on party picks by themselves, and for variety I added a cube of Swiss cheese to the others. Within about 30 minutes all the olive and cheese picks had gone, and people were marveling at the combination of the olive flavor with the cheese.

Many bought the cans of Spanish olives which have a remarkably mild flavor compared to many I have tasted, with the express purpose of making the olive-cheese combination for their guests over the Easter weekend.

I called these a "retro" appetizer because there is something that makes you think of the sixties when you see them. I almost felt like adding some celery filled with cream cheese and sprinkled with paprika to complete the picture. They would definitely be great with a glass of Babycham!