20 min Puff Pastry Party Food

Puff pastry is one of the staples in my freezer. It can be used for just about anything savory or sweet. Puff pastry should be in your freezer for moment like these.

Basically if it tastes good together then you can wrap it in puff pastry.

Cheddar Cheese Puffs – simple dressed up squares of puff pastry, just add a topping.

Cheese Straws – Use a good quality strong vintage cheese to step this up a notch.

Sweet Fruit mince swirls served with a sherry and ice cream.

Pear and Blue Cheese Cups – Make your own cups by adding puff pastry squares to a muffin tin and pricking with a fork then blind baking or use bread for the cup base.

Cinnamon Scrolls, sugar and cinnamon spread out over a sheet of puff pastry that you have coated in melted butter. Roll into scroll and freeze ready to pull out in an emergency. Bake until golden.

Sundried tomatoes and grated cheese puffs

Camembert cheese round wrapped in a sheet of puff pastry and served with crackers and some fig paste.

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Scandinavia is known for its sweaters, which usually include colorwork and are worked in muted colors of wool yarn. They’re nothing if not traditional, so giving that garment a modern twist is a fun approach.

Marita Clementz said in her book Knit Modern Scandi Sweaters that she wanted bolder, more colorful designs inspired by nature.

The book opens with a brief overview of needed supplies (plus the yarn she used to make her sweaters, which may be difficult to find in other countries), a discussion of yarn weigh, increasing or decreasing evenly across a project, color dominance, sizing and ease and general sweater construction. All of the garments are worked in the round from the top down, and several include short rows at the neck. She also talks about reading and adjusting charts.

The patterns follow, with lots of pictures and a large copy of the chart. Some of my favorites include Anemone, covered all over with large flowers that remind me of the 1960s; Lofoten, which features colorwork diamonds and is shown in three different colorways with three neckline options; and the cheerful zig-zagged Svalbard, inspired by the mountains and midnight sun of the island of Spitsbergen. I’m not finding the book on Ravelry as I write this but you can see some of the patterns in the preview on Amazon, linked above or the publisher’s website, linked below.

There are lots of floral motifs and geometric designs, and the patterns don’t do a ton of hand holding, so it would be good if you’ve knit a few sweaters before you try these. The skill ratings are on a scale of one to five: six are rated three, four are four and two are level five. (None are rated one or two.)

All the designs have seven sizes, which range in chest circumference from 34 to 53 inches, or 85 to 133 cm. Garments are shown on young adults and men and women (all the author’s family I think).

This book is a lot of fun if you like bold, colorful designs and cozy sweaters with a Scandinavian flair.

About the book: 128 pages, paperback, 12 patterns. Published 2025 by David & Charles. Suggested retail price $24.99.

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