2 Easy Crowd Pleasers To Bring To Your Next Dinner Party

So for the past 7 years of dating/being married to my husband Grant, I’ve (happily) spent each and every Thanksgiving at my mother-in-law’s house. What has usually consisted of a gathering of upwards of 30 people most years was dialed down to much less this year, and while it definitely was a little different, it was still a fabulous holiday!

Most always my hostess-with-the-mostest mother-in-law slaves over the entire dinner from top to bottom all along, but this year we thankfully were able to convince her to let us contribute, at least a little bit! All of us signed up to bring food (signupgenius.com is perfect for this!) and after lots of positive feedback from both dishes my husband and I brought, I thought I’d share them with you! Both of these dishes were so easy, so delicious and perfect for making year-round.

BRUSCHETTA

I personally could devour an entire bowl of bruschetta all on my own and it is seriously so easy to make so volunteering to bring this one was a no-brainer. Here is the recipe for what we follow to make it for just us 2, so double or triple it as needed! We love to make this one together with Grant on the bruschetta prep and me on the bread.

INGREDIENTS

2-3 Tomatoes Fresh Mozzarella Pearls Fresh Basil Leaves 1 tbsp Olive Oil 1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar 1 tsp salt (or to taste!) 1/2 tsp pepper (or to taste!) 1 French Baguette Extra Olive Oil on Hand for Baguette!

DIRECTIONS FOR BREAD

1. Preheat oven to 450°F

2. Slice up baguette into thin pieces (about 1/2 inch thick)

3. Place slice on baking sheet (I love lining with aluminum foil for easy clean-up)

4. Brush olive oil onto one side of all slices

5. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until golden brown

DIRECTIONS FOR BRUSCHETTA

1. Dice the tomatoes all pretty a put in a nice sized bowl

2. Chop up a few mozzarella pearls and add to bowl (the amount is really personal preference, we do a good bit to have a solid ratio of cheese and tomato)

3. Chop a few leaves of fresh basil (this adds such a good freshness so add as much as you’d like!)

4. Add olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper

5. Taste test with baked baguette slices (yum) and adjust as needed!

This the kind of appetizer that I eat so much of I’m barely hungry for dinner—which in my opinion is the best kind of appetizer ;)

OVEN-ROASTED CARROTS

When Grant’s mom requested we bring a fool-proof side, I knew oven-roasted carrots was the right pick. Every last person at Thanksgiving dinner told us how much they loved them and we loved how simple it was to make (are you sensing a theme? I am no chef and love easy!!)

INGREDIENTS

Carrots 2 tbsp Olive Oil 1 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp Pepper

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425°F

2. Wash and peel carrots

3. Cut as you wish—we like to cut big carrots in half and then chop diagonally (don’t ask me why)

4. Put all carrots into a big ziploc bag and add olive oil, salt and pepper

5. Close up ziploc and shake shake shake it up!

6. Once all carrot pieces are well-coated, place onto baking pan lined with parchment paper

7. Bake for about 20 minutes (I always like to taste test to make sure I have the perfect softness/texture!)

It’s super hard to mess these up which is what I love most about them :) They are the perfect side for just about any meal—I love them most with steak and mashed potatoes! While I am definitely no pro in the kitchen, I really love sharing simple and delicious things with you! I hope you love these easy peasy items as much as I do and stay tuned for more yummy things hitting the blog soon!