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If you are looking for a last minute New Year's Eve appetizer, I've got the perfect one. These puff pastry pizzas are quick to make (10 minutes to prep, 15 minutes to bake) and they are super delicious!

They taste like mini pizzas with the added fluffiness and richness of puff pastry.

PUFF PASTRY PIZZA

Ingredients:

• 2 roma tomatoes sliced thin
• fresh mozzerella
• fresh basil
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan - we used a three cheese mix (fontina, asiago, and parmesan) from Wholefoods
• olive oil
• 1 package puff pastry dough
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Using a knife or pizza cutter, cut puff pastry into 2" x 3" rectangles.

Brush with a light coat of olive oil. Use a fork to polk about 8 - 10 holes in the center of the pastry where you are going to place the tomato slice.

Add your thin slices of tomato.

Add slices of mozzarella.

Add about a half turn of pepper, and a pinch of salt over the mozzarella.

Sprinkle grated parmesan on top.

Add thin slices of fresh basil.

Drizzle with olive oil.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 12-15 minutes.

Since it's almost New Year's, I'm serving mine with champagne shooters made with champagne, a touch of cranberry juice, and a blackberry for garnish. They're not only pretty, they're yummy!

Have a wonderful New Year's Eve! I look forward to sharing parties, recipes, crafts and all that great stuff with you in 2013!!

• Made on a grill
• Uses 1 cup of Dole products
• Includes no more than 7 additional ingredients
• Can be made in under an hour

I love a challenge, so I was happy to participate, but I wanted to come up with something  that would taste great grilled but would be a little surprising...

That's why I came up with these grilled strawberry banana basil empanadas with a touch of cayenne pepper! The bananas add sweetness, the strawberries bring tang, the basil provides earthiness, and the cayenne pepper that nice pop of heat.

I can't tell you how delicious they are. And what makes them so unique is the grilling. The slightly charred crust perfectly complements the sweet, tangy, soft, spicy insides.

These are definitely worth trying especially since they're simple to make.

To see the whole recipe, head here to Foodie.com.

Also, if you don't want to come up with a recipe but still want to be part of the contest, Dole is running a sweepstakes where the winner gets to be a Fan Judge of the Cook-Off, with a free a trip to LA and $500 in cash. Not bad...

Compensation was provided by Dole via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Dole.

Here's another recipe we created for the launch of Foodie.com. This is our special Chinese chicken salad served in pretty wonton cups.  Wouldn't these look great on a buffet table adding a nice splash of color?

The salad is tangy and crisp, made with shredded chicken, napa cabbage, radicchio, romaine, and carrots.

We baked the wonton cups in muffin tins (but if you want to be more decadent, you can always fry them).

To finish off the cups, we garnished them with cilantro and baked wonton strips.

Not only are they yummy, but I thought they were beautiful to look at.

To see the full recipe, head here to Foodie.com.

If you make them yourself, please email me a photo at jillian(at)catchmyparty(d0t)com. I'd love to see how yours turned out.

This cold sesame appetizer is our go-to recipe for any potluck that we're invited to. What's great about it, is it's simple to make, and can sit out for a while at a party and the flavors just keep getting better.  It got a great earthy flavor from the soba and sesame seeds, with a little bit of heat to make it interesting.

Ingredients:

• 8 oz. whole-wheat capellini or soba noodles -- once cooked, add a touch of sesame oil to keep noodles from sticking
• 2 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon chili oil
• 2 teaspoons lighted toasted sesame seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon lime juice
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/4 of  red bell pepper, diced

In a bowl, mix soy sauce, sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, chili oil, sesame seeds (leave a little left over for garnish), lime juice, and garlic.

Toss in cooked noodles, 2/3 of the cilantro, and 2/3 of the red bell pepper. Refrigerate. Right before serving, garnish with the remaining cilantro, red bell pepper, and sesame seeds.

Voila! Delicious!!