Hosting for your crew during the holidays can get a bit stressful, especially if you’re cooking and baking from scratch. Appetizers are an amazing way to kick off an evening of eating and keep guests occupied while you’re getting the main dishes ready in the kitchen. Here are some of our favorite festive starters!
 

Citrus-Poached Shrimp Cocktail 
Our Citrus Poached Shrimp Cocktail is an easy recipe that’s perfect to prepare ahead of time. If you want to further simplify the steps, you can pick up a jar of your favorite cocktail sauce to serve alongside the succulent shrimp. 

Latkes 
Fry these potato pancakes early in the morning, lay them on a wire rack-lined sheet tray, and allow them to cool to room temperature. Once your guests start to trickle in, throw the whole sheet tray into the oven at 375°F for about 10 minutes to get them nice and crisp.

Cheese Fondue 
Add flair to your spread with creamy fondue. Your Smart Cooker works superbly as a fondue pot. Simply follow our Guided Cooking recipe for Cheese Fondue, and then turn on the Keep Warm setting. This will keep your fondue fantastically gooey, and you can now set the entire device on a side table and let your family serve it themselves. Just set out toothpicks with your favorite skewer foods, and get dipping!