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save me from buying pillsbury!

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i'm seconds away from buying every pillsbury product on the shelf so i can be done with planning thanksgiving appetizers. most guests are kosher (well, not strict but ideally most of the apps should be dairy free). here's what i have:

mixed nuts
rice crackers and lentil-walnut pate
pumpkin empanadas

we're a group of 8.

it is easy to make apple chips? cut up veggies? also, where can i buy ready made pastry dough?
thank you!

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  1. Puff pastry in the frozen food section will do the pastry thing, but it will have butter in it.

    You can buy your veggies already cut up. Google apple chips. You don't want to fill everyone up prior to dinner, so don't hyperventilate.

    1 Reply
    1. re: dutchdot

      The standard puff pastry actually does NOT have butter in it. It has shortening.

    2. Both Oronoque and Marie Callendar make decent frozen pie crust if you don't mind shortening. I'm not sure if Callendar's is dairy-free, but I'm pretty sure Oronoque is.

      1. I think wonton or eggroll skins are dairy free, as well as rice paper wrappers. You can make spring rolls which are nice and light, or a meat filling for the egg rolls/wontons. All OK things at room temp.

        Or sushi?? (I'd probably buy, rather than make, though!)

        For pastry, do you mean pie pastry?

        1. midtown, would something simple and easy like pita, broiled with oil to crisp it, conform to Kosher? If so, couldn't you serve something like a pita wedge/hummus platter...or isn't baba ghanouj prevalent in Israeli cuisine? I agree with dutchdot, though, since we're talking about Thanksgiving specifically, where the dinner is the event. Don't stress over appetizers; a few just to start the hospitality ;-). Good luck.

          2 Replies
          1. re: MaggieRSN

            If you want something "fancier," you could always wrap smoked salmon around melon slices or grissini (very thin breadsticks). But you already have plenty for this kind of dinner!

            1. re: Alice Letseat

              Yum, alice. The melon sounds good before a substantial Thanksgiving dinner!

          2. I'm very fond of pickle things. :) Olives, roasted and marinated peppers (or other veggies), cornichon dills, other small dills, pickled onions (there are some lovely cippolini onions that have been pickled with balsamic vinegar at our local Big Lots), all sorts of veggies get pickled. :)

            Chopped liver (chicken liver pate) is also a great appetizer.