I’m the type of person that encourages people to stop by my house randomly. I mean probably not everyone’s style, but I just love it. And hopefully my friends are kind enough and won’t judge me for the popcorn that is on my floor, which is the current state of my house, #DIYchristmasornamentprobs. But I always want to be prepared in the case that I need to entertain last minute, or when something I originally planned doesn’t work out.
Just like the bar cart, there are a few things that you should just always have hanging around so that you can whip something up in a jiffy. Here are my favorite things to keep on hand:
- Trader Joe’s Frozen Apps – I am OBSESSED with these. Most of these only take about 20 minutes to make in the oven, and then you just plop them on a serving plate or whatever you have around. I made these the other day and a friend swore that I made them from scratch. Jokes on her.
- Almonds/ Nuts – this is quite possibly the easiest thing to do. I normally have nuts in my pantry from all my cheese boards, and just place them in a bowl.
- Cream Cheese and Pepper Jelly – cream cheese lasts forever, well not literally forever, but for a while. Putting a block of cream cheese on a plate and pouring a pepper jelly over it (this pepper jelly or preserve can be leftover from your cheese board creation) and serving with some wheat thins. Your guests will think you are the bees knees!!
- Chips and Salsa – I live n Texas so I think it’s a staple item for me to always have a jar of salsa and a bag of chips hanging around. Just place them in nicer bowls and you are ready to entertain for hours!
- Chocolates – Trader Joe’s has some of my favorite sweet treats! Such as dark chocolate peanut butter cups and chocolate covered almonds. I keep these in my fridge at all times, because guilty pleasure, but also it’s an easy thing to throw in a bowl and entertain with!
Really you could find anything in your pantry, fridge, or freezer and find a way to entertain. My best advice is to take it out of it’s original packaging and just place it on a nicer serving set. And when I say nicer serving set, know that I’ve found majority of my entertaining items from World Market, the clearance rack at Target, and Home Goods.
Lastly, this isn’t an encouragement for you to just start randomly stopping by your friends houses, others may not love the quick pop in. But me, feel free to stop by whenever! I LOVE IT!
Happy Last Minute Entertaining!
Meaghan
PS. Who is PUMPED about Christmas and all the Holiday parties? I’m going to be posting some fun holiday entertaining ideas over the next few weeks!
Love this post! ♥️