There are great products available in the market that can make even a novice cook capable of preparing impressive looking and tasting holiday items.  I won't tell anybody if you don't, that many of these items make your food look and taste fancy, but are actually really easy to make. Let's look at some options.

Puff pastry is easy to find in the freezer section of your grocery. There are puff pastry sheets and shells. They have different uses, but both are fancy and easy to use. The sheets are great for making items that vary in size because you can fold things inside. You can fill them with sweet or savory items. They are what surround fillet mignon in beef Wellington or spinach and mushroom filling .  

There are also puff pastry shells, which bake up with a hole in the center. These are perfect for filling with either sweet or savory fillings. These are probably not a great choice to serve on a buffet as the filling may make the crust soggy, but they are perfect for a sit down dinner. They are also a great container for holding a wonderful chocolate mousse for dinner. They can be filled with fancy fillings such as lobster thermador or simple pot pie fillings.

Phyllo dough -- phyllo, which means "leaf" in Greek, are tissue paper-thin like sheets of dough made from flour, water and a bit of oil. You may also see it spelled filo or fillo, but it is the same thing. Phyllo dough is not difficult to work with, but there are a few things to remember to make life easier. Find phyllo dough in the freezer section of your grocery store.

Phyllo dough needs to be brushed or oiled between the very thin layers. That's what gives it that flaky, crunchy texture. You can fill it with both sweet and savory fillings. We use it to make apple strudel or fill it with savory fillings. We often have a phyllo dough recipe in our appetizer classes so people can see how easy it really is to use.

Phyllo dough tartlet shells -- phyllo dough tartlets are a great option for appetizers or desserts. They can be a little ‘ticky' to make. Luckily you can purchase them in your grocery store. Around the holidays they are very easy to find. Some stores have them in the baking aisle while others have them in the freezer section. They come in various flavors and often red and green colors. Wal-Mart has them year around in their freezer section. They are a great way to put together a fancy appetizer very quickly.

Anything made in mini muffin pan -- have you ever noticed that just about anything served in a small bite can be fancy. I like to make interesting items in mini muffin pans to ‘fancy up' even the most simple recipe. For our upcoming Fancy Appetizers class, I took one of my staple dinner items, baked spaghetti, and fancied it up by baking it in a mini muffin pan. We're going to top it with a great caprese topping. I've been told these are the best appetizers I ever made. Who knew they could be so easy?

We would love to hear what items you like to use from the store that make your cooking and entertaining life easier.  Share your comments for others to see.

You may also be interested in Affordable Options for Holiday Entertaining

For other recipes and ideas see Mesa Food Examiner.

Contact us at judy@simplyimpressive.com or see our class schedule at www.simplyimpressive.com.

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