Ah, Thanksgiving! A day for family, a day for friends, a day to appreciate all that we are thankful for – and a day to gorge ourselves on delicious food! There is nothing quite like Thanksgiving dinner. We look forward to it all November long. One of the great things about Thanksgiving dinner is the potluck aspect of it, where everyone brings a dish to make one wonderful, complete meal. For those of us entering or in the middle of our young adulthood, we are starting to want to contribute to the family shindigs ourselves. However, sometimes it can be hard to know what is a clever, easy dish to bring to the party! With school, work, and other commitments, it isn't always easy to be able to set aside much time for cooking, or to be creative about what to bring. So, I've decided to do some of the work for you! Below, you will find four easy dishes – two appetizers and two desserts – that won't take long to put together and that are guaranteed to be a hit at your family Thanksgiving gathering!

1. Caprese Salad

Caprese Salad is probably one of the easiest, yet classiest, appetizers to bring to a party. It is also really versatile, because it can be served a number of ways. Below you will find three different ways you can impress the party with caprese salad!

What You Need:

Mozzarella Cheese

Tomatoes

Basil

Balsamic Vinegar

Salt

*Skinny Loaf of Italian Bread

Classic Caprese Salad

The classic caprese salad is the simplest approach to this dish. For this version, you may either use grape tomatoes or larger tomatoes, such as Roma tomatoes.

Step One: Slice your tomatoes! If you chose grape tomatoes, slice them down the middle. This not only makes your dish look fancier, but makes the tomatoes go a bit further. If you chose larger tomatoes, cut half-inch slices of each.

Step Two: Slice your mozzarella! Your mozzarella slices should also be about half an inch wide.

Step Three: Layer your tomatoes, mozzarella slices, and basil leaves across a platter. It is up to you if you would like to have a full layer of tomatoes, followed by cheese, followed by basil, or if you want it to be more random.

Step Four: Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the salad, and then add salt. It is best to let this marinate for a little while before serving.

Caprese Skewers

For a more on-the-go approach to caprese salad, try making caprese salad skewers! This is a fun way to make a classic dish. For this version, you will need to use grape tomatoes. You may either use mini mozzarella balls (which are about the size of a grape tomato), or regular sized mozzarella.

Step One: If you are using mini mozzarella balls, you can skip this step! If you have regular sized mozzarella, you will need to cube it. Your mozzarella cubes should be about the same size as the grape tomatoes.

Step Two: Assemble! Slide a tomato, followed by a mozzarella cube (or mini mozzarella ball), followed by a folded basil leaf, onto a skewer. Continue this pattern until the skewer is complete.

Step Three: Drizzle balsamic vinegar over the skewers. It is best to let this marinate a little while before serving.

Caprese Bites

This is my personal favorite approach to caprese salad! For this recipe, you will need larger tomatoes, such as Roma tomatoes, and a skinny loaf of Italian bread.

Step One: Slice everything! You will need to slice your tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, and bread into about half-inch (or slightly smaller) slices.

Step Two: Layer a slice of bread, followed by a slice of tomato, followed by a slice of mozzarella. Top it with a basil leaf. Do this for all your slices of bread.

Step Three: Drizzle balsamic vinegar over your caprese bites, and enjoy! It is best to let this marinate a little before serving.

2. Spinach Dip in a Bread Bowl

You know what I will be thankful for this Thanksgiving? The fact that this spinach dip exists. Honestly, this is one of the best things I've ever tasted and you should totally make this. Actually, you should make two servings – because once you taste this, you're not going to want to share!

The original recipe is from Knorr, and you can find it on the back of the Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix packet, as well as online here. I've altered the recipe slightly to include directions for making your bread bowl.

What You Need:

1 box (10 ounces) of frozen spinach

1 container (16 ounces) of sour cream

1 cup of mayonnaise

1 package of Knorr Vegetable Recipe Mix

1 can (8 ounces) of water chestnuts, drained and chopped (optional)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

*Large loaf of bread

Step One: First, you'll need to cook your spinach. I usually get frozen spinach and microwave it. Once it is cooked, squeeze it dry, chop it finely, and let it cool.

Step Two: This step deals with your optional ingredients, the water chestnuts and green onions. I usually do not include the water chestnuts, but highly recommend you use green onion. If you choose to use either or both of these ingredients, chop these up next.

Step Three: Combine all dip ingredients together. Cover your dip and chill in the refrigerator about two hours before serving.

*Step Four: If you would like to serve your dip in a bread bowl, you will need to hollow out your loaf of bread. Cut a hole in the top of the bread, and slice out the inside. Make sure not to just grab the inside and mush it up, as the inside bread is what you will be using to dip. Take the bread you have pulled out, and slice it up.

*Step Five: Once your dip is sufficiently chilled, transfer it into your bread bowl. Serve with the sliced bread on the side for dipping.

3. Thanksgiving Chex Mix

Out of everything I've ever brought to a party, homemade Chex Mix will go down in history as one of the most popular. There are so many great things about creating your own Chex Mix. Unlike getting a bag of pre-made Chex Mix, your mix is completely customizable! Depending on what you choose to put in your mix, it really can be considered an appetizer or a dessert – although today's mix will definitely fit more in the dessert category. Chex Mix is also very kid-friendly, making it great for big family gatherings like Thanksgiving.

This Thanksgiving Chex Mix is my own original idea. I wanted to incorporate as many fall flavors and colors as I could. As I mentioned above, homemade Chex Mix is customizable, so this is really just a guideline. Feel free to add your own ingredients, or take out some of mine, to your own taste.

What You Need:

Apple Cinnamon Chex Cereal (or regular Cinnamon Chex Cereal)

Cracker Jacks (I like to use these because it covers both caramel corn and peanuts, however if you don't want to include peanuts, you can just get regular caramel corn.)

Harvest Blend M&M's – Large Bag (These are fall colored, making them perfect for the theme, but regular M&M's will taste just as good.)

Craisins

Mini Marshmallows

Mini Pretzels

Chocolate Chips

Candy Corn

Vanilla Yogurt Covered Raisins (I like to use these instead of chocolate covered raisins, such as Raisinettes, because we already have two chocolate components – the M&M's and chocolate chips – but chocolate covered raisins are fine too!)

Reese's Pieces

Step One: First, mix the "big" ingredients in a large bowl. Mix half the box of Chex cereal, half the bag of mini pretzels, and the whole box of Cracker Jacks in the bowl until evenly distributed.

Step Two: Add about half the bag of mini marshmallows, and mix until evenly distributed.

Step Three: Add the small ingredients – the craisins, raisins, M&M's, chocolate chips, candy corn, and Reese's Pieces. Use as much of the small ingredients as you would like. I usually use about half the bag, to three-quarters of the bag, of each. Mix until evenly distributed.

Tip: I like to mix and serve my Chex Mix in a bowl with a lid. As the mix settles, the smaller ingredients like the candies tend to sink to the bottom of the bowl. Having a lid makes it easier for mixing again later on, as instead of having to mix by hand, you can just put the lid on and shake the bowl.

Another great thing about Chex Mix? You can customize it for virtually any holiday or event based on a few simple changes to the ingredients. Check out the Chex website for more ideas!

4. Cannoli Dip

Cannolis are one of my favorite desserts, but for some reason, they just taste even better when served as a dip. Cannoli dip is a great party dessert, and very easy to make as long as you have a mixer. Here is a recipe I follow when making cannoli dip, from Allrecipes.com.

What You Need:

2 cups of Ricotta Cheese

1 (8 ounce) package of Cream Cheese

1 1/2 cups of Confectioners Sugar

1 teaspoon of Vanilla Extract

1 cup of Mini Chocolate Chips

*Cannoli Chips (Not included on the original recipe as the recipe is just for the dip, but you will need these to scoop your dip when it's complete!)

Step One: Beat the ricotta cheese and cream cheese together in the mixer until smooth. Then add the sugar and vanilla extract. Continue to stir until the sugar is completely incoporated.

Step Two: Add the chocolate chips. The recipe calls for one cup of chocolate chips, but if you're a choco-holic like me, feel free to add more than that!

Step Three: Transfer the dip into a bowl and cover. Chill in the refrigerator for at least ten minutes before serving.

Tip: To scoop your dip, you will need cannoli chips. Shop Rite usually sells cannoli chips, located in the bakery section. If your local supermarket does not sell cannoli chips, you can usually buy empty cannoli shells from the bakery counter of the market and break them up into pieces yourself to use as chips.