I have always been intrigued by canapes from the 50s and 60s. In the television show, Bewitched, Samantha would bring out trays of neatly arranged canapes for guests. After poring through several period cookbooks, I selected a few recipes that seem to be representative of food trends of the era and are likely to taste good as well. All of the canapes were tasty, but the best were the shrimp and chive canapes while the anchovy cheese canapes were a close second.
I selected six appetizers from my research into recipes and mid century food trends, and also food that remains appealing today. Recipes are available at the links below. For the canapes, I used appetizer loaves of bread. These small bread slices may be substituted with crackers, thin slices of baguette or cut outs of toasted bread. Each has an individual serving that is pre-set. These canapes avoid situations, like when Tom Hank’s character in You’ve Got Mail, where he scrapes an abundance of caviar for himself, while Meg Ryan’s character admonishes him for hoarding the garnish.