Cold appetizers are served before the main course of a meal. They are quite easy to make and store. They can be as simple as serving a plate of cheese and olives or some exotic foods such as aioli sauce with sliced bell peppers or cucumber sandwiches. Some of the popular cold appetizers are veggie pizza, pita salad, shellfish dip, antipasto platter, bacon-almond spread, cheese pumpkins, smoked-trout spread, etc. Stuffed Mushrooms Tapenade Ingredients

• 1 cup, pitted black olives (sliced)
• 2 lb small mushrooms
• 2 tablespoons, capers
• 10 anchovies fillets (drained)
• 1 tomato
• ¼ cup, olive oil
• ¼ cup, lemon juice
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 branches of parsley

Preparation First we will prepare the Tapenade. Rinse 2 tablespoons of capers and dry on a paper towel. Place the capers, dry anchovies, and sliced olives in a food processor and process of a few seconds. Clean the sides of the bowl using a spatula. When a smooth paste is formed, keep the processor on and add oil gradually through a fennel of the lid. Then, add the pepper and lemon juice to taste. Remove the bowl from the processor and keep the mixture in the refrigerator. Let it stand at least for 2 hours before serving. Stuff the mushrooms. Core the tomato and cut it into quarters. Discard the seeds and flesh. Slice the skin portion into long sticks. Cut each stick diagonally to get the diamond pieces. Remove the stems from the mushrooms. Clean them with a slightly wet paper towel. Peel and place them in a plate. Fill each of the mushrooms with 1 teaspoon of Tapenade. Garnish with a piece of tomato diamond and a parsley sprig. Cheese Pumpkins Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons, finely chopped peanuts
• 8 tablespoons, smoked Cheddar cold pack cheese food (chilled)
• 16 tiny pieces of fresh parsley leaves
• 4 butter-flavored pretzel spindles or sticks (broken in half)

Preparation Line a small serving plate with a waxed paper. Roll each cold pack cheese food to make a ball. Place them on the waxed paper-lined serving plate. Refrigerate them for about 10-15 minutes for easy handling. Draw ridges around the balls using the end of a toothpick, so that it looks like a pumpkin. Dip the bottoms of the cheese balls in the chopped peanuts. Just before serving, insert the pretzel halves into the cheese balls, so that they appear like the pumpkin stems. Decorate them using parsley leaves to give an appearance of pumpkin leaves. Store them in refrigerator. Smoked-trout Spread Ingredients

• 1 lb smoked trout fillets (skin scraped off)
• 1/3 cup, finely chopped shallot
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter (softened)
• ¼ cup, finely chopped fresh dill
• ½ teaspoon, hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon, fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup, cold water
• ¼ teaspoon, black pepper

Preparation Flake the trout and blend 2 cups trout with shallot, butter, lemon juice, pepper, dill and hot sauce in a food processor until it becomes a smooth paste. Keep aside the remaining trout. Add water to the trout puree in a slow stream in the food processor and process, until water is absorbed in the puree. Transfer the puree into the bowl and fold in the remaining trout. Fill this mixture into a ceramic mold or bowl. Cover the surface with wax paper, then tightly cover it with a plastic wrap and chill it at least for 6 hours. Due to this process, the flavors are developed. Bring the spread to room temperature before serving. It can be served with whole-grain crackers.