If you have been assigned to bring “something” to this weekends BBQ or want to have a unique presentation at your own BBQ, go beyond the potato salad, chips and veggie tray and think appetizers. Because we are use to thinking of the same typical foods at your standard BBQ, bringing something different will get you a round of kudos for your imagination.

• Bruschetta– This is a wonderful appetizer because of its versatility. If you are not familiar with bruschetta, think toasted, sliced baguettes or french bread with any variety of toppings. If you are the one grilling you can use the grill to toast your bruschetta appetizers.

• Toppings– This can be a mix and match type of thing. A good start for BBQ bruschetta is a soft cheese, flavored cream cheese such as onion and chive or artichoke and spinach are good choices. Add other toppings such as dried cranberries and walnuts to the onion chive bruschetta or Roma tomato, green onion and a sprig of thyme to the artichoke and spinach bruschetta. Another option is to chop mushrooms, garlic and olives and mix together as a topping. Experiment on your own for combinations or check out web sites such as marthastewart.com or bettycrocker.com for other topping ideas for appetizers. If you don’t have the time to create individual bruschetta put out your topping selections for people to mix and match on their own.
• English cucumbers- Because of the lack of or very few seeds, English cucumbers are a good choice as an appetizer base. Add a soft cheese like a goat cheese plus sun dried tomato spreads for healthy and easy appetizer.
• Kabobs – Poultry sausage matched with an apple slice and roasted red pepper make for a good backyard appetizer.
• Cheese Crisps – Another versatile, carry around and won’t roll off as I walk and talk appetizer. Cheese Crisps are easy to make. Place about a tablespoon of loosely packed shredded cheese and bake for about 7 minutes at 375 degrees until the edges get golden brown. Once cooled, they are a great holder for toppings such as guacamole, sour cream and salsa. This is another appetizer that you can use your imagination to create different topping options.
• Fruit Trees – This can be a bit time consuming to create but can make quite a statement. Using floral foam, create the basic shape that you would like as a display. This could be a cone shape, circle, something a bit more fancy or even letters. You will also need a stand for your shape. Both the floral foam and the stand can be found at craft supply stores.

Next pick the fruit that you want to have on your shape, grapes, small pieces of melon, strawberries and cherries. You will need to think about the weight of the fruit and size of the shape and size of the base. You might need to experiment a bit. The visual appeal will be lost if your shape keeps tipping over. Different flavors of cheese matched with fruit are a good choice. Varieties of olives also work well.

Once you have made your selection of food, put it on a toothpick and push it into the shape. People will make their selection by pulling out the toothpicks. The shapes are also reusable.

Other sites to visit for ideas are busycooks.about.com and foodnetwork.com.