This is close to a recipe for party rye that my grandmother used to make. Her comment on the back of the recipe card: “Men like these & they are made from ingredients you usually have on hand & can make up fast in emergencies. I always keep a package of frozen party rye.”

This was back when I was too young to attend the kinds of parties she made these for, so I don’t have any memory of eating them. Instead, I have a memory of my mom burning her own attempt to make them, then throwing them out in the backyard for the birds, only to see our little cairn terrier gobble up the entire batch.

The original concept for this dish is to use the tiny squares of rye toast which can be found in many groceries. Unfortunately, my local grocery store is not one of those locations, so I tried another variety of tiny, non-rye toast squares. The flavor turned out well on this batch, though I don’t know that I cooked them long enough. My grandmother didn’t give instructions for that (which might explain why my mom burned hers).

Still, these could be fun for a party with some more tweaking of the baking time, and maybe playing with some of the ingredients. The main flavor comes from parmesan cheese and salad dressing (I used this Italian vinaigrette). Adding some other herbs, maybe some spices, and/or another type of cheese could be ways to customize these to go with whatever else you’re cooking.

If you already have the toast, cheese, and dressing on hand, they’re super quick to whip up, just as my grandmother said — so they might be a useful appetizer for a Thanksgiving or holiday dinner when you have a lot of other dishes to juggle.

1 package party toast or party rye
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese, grated
3/4 c. salad dressing (Italian works well for this)
1/2 c. onion or 1 large shallot, chopped
salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
Worcestershire sauce (to taste)

Mix the seasonings together and put on top of party rye on a baking sheet.

Bake until toasted/brown around the edges. (I tried 350F for about 12 minutes and this wasn’t enough to dry out the toasts, so try a longer baking time.)