i know why i stopped updating

its because i cooked so damned much easter weekend that the thought of having to make 3 different posts to cover all the pretty food was just too much for me! never fear, i am back. why? because my CSA is making me so freakin happy right now that i HAVE to post pictures of some of the awesome food i have been making. did you know i got fiddleheads last week? and bunched beets? holy crap that was exciting! but that is for another post (particularly since those pictures are still on my camera at home right now). If you don't belong to a CSA, I highly recommend you join - so far i have convinced my friends emily and bryan to join my farm, as well as my coworker jen, and so far everyone has been really happy about it (as has sarah, who suggested enterprise farms in the first place to me!)

so right now i want to talk about appetizers. appetizers are something i generally struggle with - figuring out what type to make, getting the right balance of tasty but not too filling, with enough variety, and then, of course, having the actual TIME to make them so that they are the right temperature at serving during appetizer time, which, lets face it, is when i am frantically trying to finish cooking those last-minute food items.

easter weekend, the whole [immediate] family was in town - and by that, i mean my sister, my brother, his girlfriend mary, and i were all home, and aunt joan and uncle bill were around. so saturday night, we had AJ and UB over for dinner, and i thought it would be nice to make some appetizers. this of course annoyed my mother to no end, because it meant i was in her way in her kitchen, and filling peoples stomaches, but oh well.


appetizer #1: puff pastry. i HAD to do *something* with puff pastry, it is the king of appetizers. but i didnt want anything too filling, and obviously needed to be savory instead of sweet. i settled with the simple puff pastry hearts and flowers with parmesan cheese on top. except i cheated and used pecorino, because that is what my parents have in a giant wheel from italy. i'm really not kidding about the giant wheel. not bad, but i feel like puff pastry is better for dessert things.


Appetizers #2 & #3: stuffed olives. super simple, but nice flavor. here, i stuffed green olives with blue cheese. yum. nice thing: you can do these way in advance. next to them is another thing that was fun, though i probably should have salted and olive oiled them. it is mini mozzerella balls, wrapped with basil and roasted red pepper. really good flavor combination (but again, the mozzerella needed salt, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil wouldnt have hurt)


appetizers #4: this was really yummy. baguette, with a slice of green apple (which i had to slice without my mandoline! so sad!), a slice of brie, and walnuts. really good flavor combination on this as well. i think maybe i could have done a honey drizzle, but not really necessary.

end result: the appetizers were really tasty. and we stuffed ourselves on them. but i feel like they were lacking something. i think i need to step it up a bit next time. that, and actually plan in advance instead of thinking of ideas right before running to the store.