When you go to a wedding, there are all these tasty appetizers you wonder about.  “Hmmm, how did they make that?”

“That tasted awesome, I wonder what was in it.”

Unless the wait person is tremendously savvy, they are clueless as to the ingredients and cooking instructions.  So, if you want to recreate the dish, you’re on your own. Trust your instincts.

Eight or nine years ago, one of my coworkers got married.  It was a cool setting, a lush green outdoor patio in a time of the year in Pennsylvania when everything looks good.  My wife and I were sitting with friends as the appetizer dishes circulated.  One stood out.  The core was a green grape.  Around it was blue cheese and crushed pistachios.

Sounds pretty simple to recreate, and it actually is.  This is a great dish to impress your family with, or to share when you have guests over. It doesn’t take a lot of time, but it is messy.

Get a bunch of green grapes.  Buy crumbled blue cheese.  Purchase pistachios already crushed, or you get them shelled and whole and pound them with a mallet yourself if you need to get some aggression out.  
 
Roll each grape in the crumbled blue cheese, lightly tamping the cheese around it, so it adheres to the skin of the grape.  You may need to lightly warm the blue cheese. Then roll it
through the pistachios. You are done.  

Eat a few, see how the taste.  If they need some additional work, figure it out, and sample a few
more.  They taste great and people are impressed with your skill when you roll them out for Super Bowl parties.

“Hey, how’d you make these?”

“Aw, it took several hours. I was working in the kitchen like a mad man.”

 Liar.

But they don’t need to know.

Tacos are easy to make.  But they also get repetitive.   They seem to taste the same,
regardless of your ingredients. When you’re tired of tacos, here’s a little twist.

Two weeks ago, with nothing in the fridge and some hamburger meat we’d just bought, I figured to make some tacos, since we had most of the core items necessary:  Soft tortillas, grated cheese, lettuce, sour cream and tomatoes.  We lacked sauce, onions and guacamole.  What was needed was an idea on how to give hamburger meet some added flavor that made it seem like you’re tasting a unique taco.

Well, it didn’t quite turn out that way, but it was still different and good.  Without a proper sauce for any dish you are used to making, it’s time to improvise. So I went to the
cupboard, found some chili powder, then thought about what else works with chili, and sprinkled in some cumin powder and dried onions (instead of fresh ones, which would be preferable).  Make it your own way.  If there’s something you like to add that’s spicy, toss it in, and see what you come up with.

In this case, as we sautéed the meat with the chili powder, dried onions and cumin, we added a bit more chili powder to the simmering meat as we tasted it.    It needed more pizzazz, or you might as well just make cheeseburgers.

You could make tacos with corn, black pepper, Old Bay Seasoning, or any one of a number of spices or herbs in your cupboard.  Try them out.  You’ll get your own tasty tacos.