I NEED a Snack

Need something gourmet for your guests in a JIFFY this weekend?  Drew and I tend to have really last minute get-togethers with friends.  You know, when you realize on friday night at 6:30 pm that you have no plans?

To avoid lameness, we whip up quick snacks and start bribing our friends to come over for games, coffee, and food.  They hear the options, and usually when food is mentioned, especially fun appetizers, they take the bait.  It's literally bait.  

So here is one of our favorite "last minute" food ideas for your rainy Friday night in, with close comrades. 

This Caprese salad is the best thing EVER!  My Italian husband can make some italian hors d'oeuvres and this is a go-to for maximum freshness!

So this is what you need:

1 garden fresh tomatoe

1 log of mozerella

6 basil leaves

1 bottle of balsamic glaze

Slice up your beautiful log of mozzarella.  Mmmm!  So good right?  Try not to just start eating the mozzarella log all by itself.  Now slice your tomato and stack on top of your basil wedges.  Top each little stack with basil leaves.  We grow these little guys in pots on the porch, so they were somewhat 'free' as well.  Lastly, make a pretty swirl on top with your balsamic glaze!  I tend to go arty-fartsy on this step and draw pictures with glaze, etc.  Just enjoy the fun!

TA-DA!  Look at you be fancy.

No tomato or basil?  No problem!  Another variation is Mozerella topped with a pear wedge and balsamic glaze.  We also love mozerella topped with  peach slices and balsamic glaze.  In the winter time, when fresh basil is hard to come by, we use a dab of pesto sauce that we keep on hand in the fridge.  Yummy!  My all time favorite store-bought pesto is Costco's Kirkland brand.  It's amazing.

These are pictured on a Pottery Barn tray, but feel free to also serve guests fun foods on wooden cutting boards, or even parchment paper on a wedge of tree stump!  So cute.  However, as soon as the picture was snapped, we ate them in 15 seconds flat!  So keep in mind they tend to go pretty quickly.

Happy Friday my LOVES!

This recipe saves you $40 a month!

So this recipe is the bomb.dot.com.  Yep.  You can save $40 a month in grocery costs.  But more importantly, once you taste these babies, you'll never buy store-bought again.

Introducing your own home-made tortillas.

You will need.

tortilla press (link below to purchase)

Buy on Amazon

Water 1 cup

Flour 3 cups

olive oil 1/3 cup (or whatever cooking oil you prefer. We've also used coconut oil)

cumin/paprika/salt (a pinch of each)

So how are you saving that much money?  Let me just tell you.  My family loves Mexican.  It's on the menu at least once a week at our house.  We eat tortillas like candy.  We stack tortillas in Mexican lasagna, roll them in fresh dip, break them into pieces and eat them with guacamole.  And then of course there are fajitas, quesadillas, and anything else you can think of.  We have small group get-togethers and football parties that are themed Mexican food.  It's a big deal.

Of course, I wanted to always be purchasing the "healthy ones".  You know, only a few non-GMO ingredients, no fillers, fresh whole wheat flour?  Yeah.  Those specific tortillas are $4.99 for a package of 6-8 tortillas.  And we were buying at least 2 packs a week to support our Mexican addiction.  $10 a week, $40 a month, $480 a year?  That's the break down of what we were spending on nasty pre-packaged cold tortillas that still had quite a bunch of weird ingredients.  I don't think so kids.  I need maximum healthiness for minimal coins.

Well then we tasted these tortillas and realized we hadn't been just compromising budget, we had been compromising taste!  These puppies are warm and soft with a hint of smoke (the paprika) and sea salt.  And, so good for you, with a whopping THREE organic fresh ingredients.  One batch yields 14 medium sized tortillas!

Instructions:

Mix ingredients.  Form into round balls--about the size of golf balls.  Place dough balls, one by one,  in the middle of the hot press.  Spray press as needed with non-stick spray.  Press down hard and allow each tortilla about 5-12 seconds in the press before removing.  

Note.  You may want to read the basic instructions that come with the press.  My magic number is 8-10 seconds in the press because I like a really soft tortilla.

Done.

Boom.  You saved $40 a month and your whole family will be eating these by the dozen.

Great Grandma Mary's Cranberry Relish

Oh my loves.

It is with great joy I bring y'all my Great Grandma Mary's cranberry relish recipe. 

She was one of those amazing people you never ever can replicate.  Her garden was vast, her guest rooms filled with missionaries.  Her heart filled with love for others.  She was always willing to serve.

When our car pulled into the snowy drive in Corning New York, she would run down the drive and whip the car door open.  She'd hug the snot out of you before you could even get the seat belt un-done.  She'd go on and on about how tall we were and her laugh would ring out in the freezing winter air.  She had a delicious laugh.

  She'd usher us all into the house, through the mud room and into her tiny kitchen.  The kitchen would be laden with gigantic brown sugar cookies.  In the fridge was an antique yellow-ware bowl full of carmel pudding.  The tiny peninsula had a small glass bowl full of the last of the autumn's concord grapes.  The hall closet was sure to have the old orchard box, subdued with wooden toys and old sewing spools, perfect for tiny hands to play with.  

The leather-bound guest book and jars full of mints sat on marble top table in the living room.  We'd read old posts and laugh and cry and Grandpa Ira would sneak us mints.  The next morning I'd eat my gigantic bowl of oatmeal while she would name the birds sitting at her wooden bird feeder.  Black-capped Chickadees, finches, Eastern Blue-jays, and winter wrens.  She'd read and read and believed you should never stop learning.

I could reminisce for days to y'all about the wonders of Great Grandma Mary and her house.  She's with Jesus now.  And I can't wait for my day in Glory when I get to introduce her to my Drew and my daughter.  She'll probably just hug the snot out of them.  

Great Grandma  Mary's Cranberry Relish.

1 apple 

1 orange with peel

1 can crushed pineapple

1 cup pecans

1 bag of cranberries

1 box red raspberry jello 

IN a food processor--pulse the apple, orange and pecans until coarsley chopped.  Place in a large bowl.  Add in pineapple.  Process cranberries and add those in as well.  In a separate bowl, add 1 cup boiling water to jello, stir and add immediately to the large bowl.  Stir and chill 24 hours covered.

Serve with your Thanksgiving Day favorites.

And remember.

Your influence can last a lifetime.  Your legacy can be remembered by the first, second, third and fourth generations.  So love with your whole heart.  Remember and tell the stories of others.  Use every holiday to share your heart and your home fiercely.  Life is about loving on others and caring for those sacred relationships.  And don't forget to hug the snot out of someone.

Love Y'all.

Ashley