Easter Party Appetizers for Kids

Ester recipes Dipped Apple and Pear Slices You'll sliced apples and pears and a can of vanilla frosting.

Melt frosting for 15-20 seconds at a time, stirring until melted.

Dip pear/apple into melted frosting. Then dip into desired topping. It helps if you have small bowls to put your separated toppings into. Place pears/apple on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Put pears/apples into refrigerator so frosting can harden.

Fruit with yogurt dip
1 carton of vanilla yogurt
2 1/2 tablespoons of brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Mix ingredients together, serve with fresh cut up fruit or small whole fruits like grapes and strawberries. If you use apples, pears, peaches, nectarines or bananas, put them in a bath of 1 cup of water and one tablespoon of lemon juice for a few minutes, so they don't turn yellow or brown.

Serve the fruit on coconut that's been dyed green. Or arrange the fruit in concentric circles for a nice presentation.

Veggies with cucumber dill dip
1 package cream cheese softened
1 cup mayonnaise
2 medium cucumbers, peeled, seeded and finely grated or chopped.
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons fresh dill minced or ½ teaspoon dried dill
Mix all ingredients until smooth and chill

Serve with a variety of cut up vegetables. Select vegetables of the same color scheme. For example: yellow and green are pretty Easter colors. Vegetables could be blanched asparagus tips, yellow summer squash, yellow bell peppers, yellow pear tomatoes, blanched yellow string beans, pea pods, endive leaves, zucchini strips, celery sticks.

Stuffed Cherry tomatoes Just the right size for kid's mouths. Slice off the top of the cherry tomatoes and scoop out the insides. Lay cut side down for a few minutes to drain. Set on a serving plate and push down slightly so bottoms flatten and tomatoes don't roll. Fill with cottage cheese or cottage cheese mixed with parmesan cheese. Garnish with a bit of parsley.

Sliced apples with peanut butter dip. slice the apples or buy pre sliced apples. For a twist slice the apples horizontally rather than in wedges. remove the core but leave the slice whole. Spread with peanut butter and top with another slice of apple to make an apple and peanut butter "sandwich."

Serve all dips with stick pretzels. Kids love them by themselves. The peanut butter and both dips compliment pretzels