Step up your entertainment menus with a mini Crock-Pot

Looking to upgrade your entertainment menus? A mini Crock-Pot is the perfect kitchen essential that will have everyone thinking small.

When you think of Crock-Pots, it may conjure up an image of a slow-cooked meal after a long day at the office, or perhaps your aunt lugging twenty pounds of mashed potatoes to your home for Thanksgiving dinner. It may even remind you of the 1970’s with your own mom chopping up ingredients into the pot before dashing off to her office job.

In today’s world of innovative food conveniences, you may ask yourself why you would even consider a smaller version of an age-old food gadget for entertainment? But, stop for a minute and try to think outside of the box, or the “pot” so to speak.

Whether you’re a fan of cooking big Crock-Pot meals or not, once you use a mini Crock-Pot for hot appetizers or hors d’oeuvre while entertaining, you will be hooked. Why? Because not only can you serve crowd favorites like queso or artichoke dips and keep them warm, you can also get creative with other hot noshes that your company will devour and rave about.

Many of us have been to get-togethers with a spread of cheese, crackers and a chip bowl where everyone congregates while waiting for the main course, or maybe even waiting for that one hot appetizer to come out of the oven.

Let’s face it. Entertaining even a small group is a lot of work and we sometimes can get lazy by putting out the usual food fare.

But if you’re an enthusiastic cook who wants to step up your entertainment menu – even for just a few friends or family, consider what you can do with a mini Crock-Pot. For example, try one of your favorite meal recipes as a hot appetizer, served on hors d’oeuvre toothpicks.

Just imagine serving guests delicious, make-ahead Caribbean Jerk chicken bites or New Orleans spicy shrimp. Or, what about miniature Fra Diavolo meatballs? And you don’t have to limit your menu to just hot dips and hors d’oeuvres.

For dessert, a mini crockpot of apple crisp to scoop over ice cream can be a big hit. Also, if you’ve ever had zeppole, which is a fried dough puff sprinkled with sugar, try pairing it with a mini Crock-Pot of caramel sauce for dipping. We’re talking crazy good desserts here!

Got your book club coming over? No problem. For an easy, but satisfying menu, set up a sliders buffet with King’s Hawaiian rolls, a small Crock-Pot of pulled pork and another filled with Italian meatballs.

So the next time you want to step up your entertainment menu, try a mini Crock-Pot for infinite food ideas.