In Praise of Small, Very Good Things

Finger foods pack so much flavor and festive spirit into a party-ready package. This lobster-topped beauty may beat them all.

- ODETTE WILLIAMS

YOU KNOW what I love about New Year's? It's not the resolutions that I've forgotten by the morning, or the midnight kissing. It's the finger food.

As a kid, I was obsessed with the "Australian Women's Weekly Finger Food Cookbook." I'd bookmark recipes and beg my mom to cook me a dinner made up entirely of the bite-size snacks. (My mother deserves a medal.) There was something magical about those celebratory nibbles.

They turned the everyday into an occasion.

From devils on horseback, a Victorian holdover, to the ubiquitous 1970s vol-au-vent, finger foods drift into and out of vogue, and sometimes back again. (For the record, baconwrapped, cheese-stuffed dates are a crime against humanity, but I am campaigning for a vol-au-vent comeback.) Still, I can confidently say that this lobster crostini is timeless. And whether you're in pajamas playing Yahtzee or hosting a soiree, this recipe will make the night special.