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Depending on how long you need to get the turkey on the table, it’s not a bad idea to have some appetizers on hand to serve your Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving guests. Of course, you don’t want to have to spend a ton of time making snacks when you’re also preparing a feast. That’s where these last-minute fall bites come in. These Thanksgiving appetizer recipes will keep your guests satisfied until dinner, and they’re so easy to make, you won’t have to deal with any extra kitchen drama.
Cheesy Bacon Holiday Crack: Warning — biting into these sweet, spicy, crispy, cheesy chips is the point of no return, but it's worth it. (via Half Baked Harvest)
Bacon-Wrapped Brussels Sprouts: Two-ingredient apps are always a winner in our book, and this one is extra hearty. (via Savory Tooth)
Candied Walnut Bruschetta: Candied walnuts are excellent on their own; imagine how they taste with pears and goat cheese on toast. (via Pizzazzerie)
Roasted Carrot Hummus: Carrots and cinnamon are blended with classic hummus ingredients for a healthy dip to pair it with pita chips. The pomegranate and pumpkin seed garnish ups the presentation. (via Sunkissed Kitchen)
Crock-Pot Honey Garlic Little Smokies: Soy sauce and brown sugar coat these mini hot dogs, and a touch of sriracha makes them even more spice-tastic. (via The Blond Cook)
Caesar Salad Wonton Cups: Keep a package of wonton wrappers in the fridge, and you’ll never have to worry about what snacks to prep for your party guests. This recipe stuffs them with Caesar salad fixings, but the options are endless. (via Recipe Tin Eats)
Chili and Rosemary Roasted Nuts: Even if you don’t have a ton of time, you can roast up a batch of these smoky mixed nuts before guests arrive. (via The Real Food Dieticians)
Mushroom Crostini With Blue Cheese and Thyme: Sliced baguette is a total workhorse in the kitchen. Combined with sautéed mushrooms and aromatic blue cheese, this starter suddenly becomes ultra-fancy. (via Garnish With Lemon)
French Onion Soup Toasts: Turn French soup into a convenient appetizer with crusty bread, sautéed onions, and smoky cheese. (via Tara's Multicultural Table)
Raspberry Baked Brie: Crispy puff pastry, smooth goat cheese, and tart raspberry preserves are a match made in snack heaven. (via The Recipe Critic)
Smoked Cheese and Onion Straws: If you have cheese lingering in your deli drawer, it’s the beginning of a tasty appetizer. Sprinkle it into puff pastry for a twisty straw you'll reach for again and again. (via Lavender and Lovage)
Bacon-Wrapped Chicken Bites: The combo of chicken, bacon, and barbecue sauce results in an app that's almost impossible to stop eating. (via The Seasoned Mom)
Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms With Bacon and Cheddar: Smokey bacon and salty, nutty cheddar top earthy mushrooms for a new version of the stuffed app. (via Savory Tooth)
Garlic-Stuffed Olives-in-a-Blanket: If you have vegetarian guests coming to your party, you’ll want to have a tasty option for them. These do the trick nicely. As a bonus, most store-bought crescent roll dough is vegan. (via The Baking Fairy)
Best Cheese Ball: There's a reason why sharp cheddar cheese balls are a classic. Serve them with buttery Ritz crackers to reach snack nirvana. (The Cookie Rookie)
Get more festive holiday entertaining tips by following us on Pinterest!
Additional reporting by Sara Cagle
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More From Food
Welcome to Selfmade Finance School, our new money series with Block Advisors to help small business owners with their tax, bookkeeping, and payroll needs year-round. This week, we explore the tax implications of bringing family members into your business.
The question for today is this: Does hiring your family members make sense for your business? Let me be clear. This is not a piece about whether hiring your family members makes sense for your relationships with those family members. As someone who is part of a family business, I could fill up a lot more than 600 words on my opinions about that. For today's purposes, we focus on whether it makes sense from an overall "good business and tax implication" perspective. As it turns out, there is a decent amount of tax nuance when it comes to employing your family. Let's break it down based on relationship to the employee:
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Spouses Who Are In Business Together
Personally, if I had to be in business with my husband, it would not go well. However, many couples build viable, strong businesses together and I say, good for them! Depending on how you have your business entity structured, it will make a big difference on the tax treatment of you and your spouse working as partners. Because a business jointly owned and operated by a married couple is generally treated as a partnership for Federal tax purposes, the spouses must comply with filing and record keeping requirements imposed on partnerships and their partners. The election to file two Schedule C (Form 1040) forms, (one for each spouse) permits certain married co-owners to avoid filing partnership returns, provided that each spouse separately reports a share of all the businesses' items of income, gain, loss, deduction, and credit. Under the election, both spouses will be subject to self-employment tax and on net earnings from self-employment and receive credit for Social Security earnings.
One Spouse Employs Another
If you have a dynamic where your spouse is an employee of your business, then your spouse's wages are subject to income tax withholding, Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you are self-employed (not a corporation or a partnership), your spouse's pay does not have to be included in your federal unemployment tax account (FUTA) contributions and payments. However, if your business is a corporation or a partnership you must include that spouse's pay in your unemployment tax contribution calculation.
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You Employ Your Child
First, let's be clear. I work in my family business, but I am an adult, so I am treated just like a normal employee. However, if you, for example, run a family restaurant and want to hire your children under 18 to work for you, there are some tax benefits. But first, you should check with your state for rules on how many hours minors can work (in non-agricultural jobs) and reference the Fair Labor Standards Act for information on limitations on the kinds of work children can perform.
"This is an often overlooked or under-utilized strategy. Paying your children for true services they provide in your business can be a powerful tax-saving tool," says Cathi Reed, Block Advisors Regional Director. "If you are a sole-proprietorship or single member LLC, and the child is less than 18 years of age, the business is not required to withhold FICA or payroll taxes. The child can use his or her standard deduction against income you pay."
You Hire Your Parent
Oh dear. If you are brave enough to do this, know that you will need to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes on your parent's wages and make the appropriate withholdings, but you don't have to pay unemployment taxes. Now all you have to do is convince your parent that you are the boss. Have fun with that!
Is Hiring Family Members Worth It For The Tax Benefits?
"There are some positive tax advantages to hiring family members. It's important to treat a family member like any other employee. Hiring your children can result in substantial savings for businesses. Make sure your child has real, age-appropriate work to do and a reasonable pay rate, comparable to other employees. Consult with a Block Advisors small business certified tax pro to ensure that you are complying with all requirements," advises Reed. "Block Advisors, a team within H&R Block, is dedicated to meeting the tax, bookkeeping and payroll needs of small business owners year-round. To start working with the tax experts at Block Advisors, visit blockadvisors.com."
In my opinion, you should not hire a family member solely because of the tax benefits. You should always hire based on whether that person is right for the job and keep in mind how this hire could materially impact your relationship with that person and others in your family. Finally, as I mentioned, make sure you have a tax professional on your team when making these determinations. As you can see, things can get a little tricky!
*All details were sourced from IRS.gov and blockadvisors.com
The opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect those held by Kestra Investment Services, LLC or Kestra Advisory Services, LLC. This is for general information only and is not intended to provide specific investment advice or recommendations for any individual. It is suggested that you consult your financial professional, attorney, or tax advisor with regards to your individual situation. Comments concerning the past performance are not intended to be forward looking and should not be viewed as an indication of future results. Securities offered through Kestra Investment Services, LLC (Kestra IS), member FINRA/SIPC. Investment advisory services offered through Kestra Advisory Services, LLC (Kestra AS), an affiliate of Kestra IS. O'Keeffe Financial Partners and any other entity listed herein is not affiliated with Kestra IS or Kestra AS Investor Disclosures: https://bit.ly/KF-Disclosures