Showing posts with label entertaining. Show all posts
Showing posts with label entertaining. Show all posts

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Father's Day Cookout

Jesse, me, Josh, Pam, and Joe

This past Sunday to celebrate Father's day we invited the fam for a cookout as we did last year. We made smoked chicken thighs with our smoker. We also had smoked white fish with greek yogurt dill sauce, hummus and baba ganoush with flatbread, spinach and feta spanakopitta, and greek olives (all brought to you by Costco).

Mediterranean Spread
After chowing down we spent lots of time chatting on the screen porch until I was able to drag everyone out for a rousing game of horseshoes. We called it a day once everyone had a sufficient number of bug bites.

Father in law Jim and my Daddy-o Joe
Jim and Christopher

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Pear, Brie, and Wildflower Honey Crostini

It's no secret that I love cheese, it's becoming a problem for our food budget. Thank goodness my husband shares in the obsession.

Fruit, nuts, and cheese plate
Cowgirl Creamery is an artisan organic cheese shop in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of DC. Their signature is their triple cream Mt. Tam named for Mt. Tamalpais in San Francisco Bay.

This amazing cheese shop also serves sandwiches, among other things. My favorite was the Blue Ridge for awhile, with Fra'Mani Turkey Galantine, Torregio cheese, and herb mayo with local field greens. Before I caught on that they have that one every Thursday, I would be forced to try alternatives. A few Tuesdays ago I tried their vegetarian for the day, the Morning Dew sandwich. Wow. With local pears, Mt. Tam, wildflower honey, and local field greens, it was quite delicious and refreshing. Depending on the time of year, the pears might be subbed out for a different seasonal fruit.

Cowgirl Creamery's Morning Dew was the inspiration for this crostini I put together for a vegetarian brunch we hosted last weekend. And I found myself making it again as an after work snack just a few days later, it's that good.

Pear, brie, and wildflower honey crostini
I'm sure that this crostini would taste great with any brie, but if you can get your hands on Mt. Tam you will be in for a treat. If you're in the DC area, follow them on twitter @cowgirlcheesedc to find out what sandwiches they have each day. Of course if you're lucky enough to live in San Francisco where they're based out of, you can visit them there as well.

Money shot

Pear, Brie, and Wildflower Honey Crostini

Ingredients:

  • One fresh baguette, sliced thinly at an angle
  • Several organic ripe Bosch pears, peeled, core removed, and sliced about 1/8" (If pears aren't in season, you can sub another fruit, such as apples)
  • Fresh organic spring mix
  • local wildflower honey
  • Mt. Tam or other good quality triple cream brie
Prepare your ingredients, or "mise en place" if you want to get all fancy and french. You can toast the sliced baguette if you'd like, but I did not. Spread a generous portion of wildflower honey on each slice of bread. Gauge this on how sweet you'd like the crostini to be; you want to taste the honey but it shouldn't be the dominant flavor. Place a few sprigs of spring mix on top of each, then a slice of the cheese, and lastly about three slices of juicy pear. Marvel at how wonderful your cute little crostini look, and enjoy! Then continue making this great snack or appetizer until you run out of supplies.