Last Minute Snack Tray

The doors to a Desi household are always open to guests, even guests who arrive unannounced or with very little notice. And of course, we always feed our guests! When surprise guests arrive, my mother makes chai and fries up some frozen samosas or makes pakoras. I on the other hand, the modern day American Desi woman, rummage around the pantry to see what I can put together in the few minutes it takes for the coffee machine to do its thing. Last Friday the girlfriends and I had planned a fun night out – karaoking then dancing. Unfortunately plans fell through at the last minute, so I invited one girlfriend over and we watched chick flicks. Since I had not planned on having guests over, there was nothing I could heat up and serve, so I whipped together a quick snack tray from the ingredients I found in the pantry.

Crackers with the following toppers:

.  Tomato bruschetta

.  Olive bruschetta

.  Salsa and grated parmesan cheese

.  Cream cheese, pepper smoked salmon, and capers

.  Cream cheese and honey

I also threw in some whole black olives. We were planning to have ice cream afterwards but the snack seemed to hit the right spot because we completely forgot about the ice cream!