How Ina Garten Makes Hors D'oeuvres Simple

If you've got some friends coming over for a last-minute dinner, you may find yourself wondering what kind of snacks to have out as they get settled in over drinks. You'd think someone like cookbook author and home entertainment expert Ina Garten would get pretty fussy. But it turns out, sometimes she cherishes her low-effort days too. 

She posted a short YouTube video outlining what it is she does when she doesn't feel like making fancy hors d'oeuvres, and her trick is that she simply puts out no-cook snacks; all of which are prepackaged goods. She suggests things like store-bought potato chips, salted cashews (with a little bit of extra salt sprinkled on top), and for something fresh; some heirloom cherry tomatoes. The key is to put them in attractive bowls, which makes the otherwise typical snacks look at least a little bit fancy. Never underestimate the psychology of presentation, right? And that's it, this isn't Ina Garten's roasted shrimp cocktail or her decadent deviled eggs. Just use the good old snacks that you probably have laying around already.

I'm all about Ina Garten's version of hors d'oeuvres. But you know, we here at The Takeout have been doing this for a long time, so I've got a few pointers to add. Instead of using run-of-the-mill chips and such, I'd recommend you go into the international section of your local grocery store and grab some snacks from there. Chances are, some of your guests won't have tried all of them. And if you want to go a little deeper, you can go to a specialty international market and grab any of the most popular snacks on the shelves. For example, when I put out Korean prepackaged treats, they're an absolute hit.

And if your store doesn't carry those types of snacks, don't fret. I've found that people get really excited when you put out limited-time flavors of snack brands they already know, since there's always something new on shelves. I'm talking about novel flavors of potato chips, seasonal flavors of Doritos; that kind of thing. And my favorite side effect from displaying both international and novelty snacks is that they're almost always a launching point for conversation. This'll subtly take some pressure off of your entertaining skills as you finish up the last bits of your low-fuss get-together dinner.