Planning The Menu For Holiday Parties (NAPSA)—Planningfor holiday parties can sometimes be overwhelming—especially if you want to be sure your guests aren’t bored by the sameold fare. These tips can help you plan the right mix: First, consider how much time you want to spend on food preparation. Do you want to prepare everything yourself? If so, identify your “signature” dishes—the items that friends and family expect, the party staples—such as a spinach or crab dip, or a special salad. Use these dishes to begin your planning, and add additional items from there. If you don’t have the time or desire to prepare anything from seratch, start with some substantial prepackaged favorites like frozen chicken wings or the new refrigerated Hillshire Farm appetizers in microwavable tubs. These new appetizers feature bitesize meatballs in marinara or Lit’] Smokies” already simmered in BBQ sauce. Just heat in the microwave and serve in the festive holiday bow] they comein. Another trick is to take a favorite item and dress it up a bit. For example, start with Hillshire Farm Lit’] Smokies, but rather than serve them in BBQ sauce, use them in a kebob with colorful vegetables. Once you have your signature dishes or main party food set, fill in with additional items like chips, dips, vegetables and sweets to complete the table. For more ideas and recipes, visit www.hillshirefarm.com. Signature dishes, such as Lit’l Smokies Kebobs, are a good place to start when planning the menu for any kind of party. Lit’1 Smokies Kebobs 1 red or green pepper, cleaned and chopped into 1” squares 1 Ib. Hillshire FarmsLit’l Smokies 1 lb. asparagus, cleaned and cut into 2” pieces 1 can pineapple chunks, drained 3 dozen cherry tomatoes (optional) 1 bottle prepared sweet-and- sour sauce Toothpicks Skewer 1 square pepper, 1 Lit’1 Smokie, 1 piece asparagus, 1 piece pineapple and 1 tomato per toothpick. Place on baking tray and, with a pastry brush, apply sweet-and-sour sauce. Bakein 350 ovenfor 15 minutes.
