Happy Trails For Us: My Reluctant Blog

As you all know by now, I am totally about the simple (but kudos to those of you who have done olives in multiple ways this week). And when I saw olives, I thought about a really simple small bite that one of our faculty members, Sr. Harriett, brought to an office potluck last holiday season. These were so tasty, a combination of rich and salty, that I asked her for the recipe. I have to admit I was not totally surprised when she brought me a copy of a page from the Betty Crocker Cookbook, yes that very one with the red cover and binder rings. When I looked in my own copy, circa my 1975 wedding, there it was, in a section called "Nibbles". And indeed that is what these are, nibbles, think martinis, think rumaki, think 1962.

Olive Cheese Balls

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites #9 - Olives" »

Deborah picked a fall classic flavor for this week and while I love pumpkin, I realized when looking at the recipe spectrum, how many of my favorite fall recipes using pumpkin were sweet, not savory. So finding a small bite, an appetizer, was the challenge. When I saw this recipe for Pumpkin Hummus, and realized that I also needed an appetizer for a party on the weekend, I knew this was going to be the one. The only thing I changed in this recipe from a November 2005 issue of Cooking Light was to add a can of garbanzo beans (chick peas) because it just seemed to call out for the taste and texture.

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites #8 - Pumpkin" »

I was better about getting this week's challenge done and posted to Slow Travel than I was about doing the blog entry; I will plead guilty to having had a really nice weekend up north in the Santa Cruz area.

I had some fun again reading pecan recipes and sorting through a few; my first choice was to stuff mushrooms with pecans, bread crumbs and cheese, but then I ran across this recipe for a savory cookie on the web page of the Georgia Pecan Commission. I had done something similar a few years back and recalled it was a hit for the holidays. So, after baking part of the recipe, I have frozen the remaining rolls of dough and plan to use them for Thanksgiving nibbles.
While waiting for the dough to chill, I decided to make a batch of curried pecans with the rest of the large bag that I actually had in my nut drawer. I brought both cookies and nuts to Santa Cruz to share with Rachel, Addison and their roommates, so they join me in thanking you, Sheri, for the ingredient of the week.

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites #7 - Pecans" »

Smoked Salmon Mini-Quiches

This was "my" ingredient week, and I took inspiration from the smoked salmon that we brought back from Alaska in June, nicely vacuum-packed and awaiting a reason to eat same. I am the big smoked salmon fan in our family, coming from a lox and bagels tradition, but David is not a fan of the cured salmon laying prettily atop cream cheese and said bagel. He does, however, like it smoked, and presented cooked in omelets, souffles, quiche, that sort of thing.

So I found variations on recipes for making mini-quiches and adapted them into one that I thought we would both enjoy. I also had a mini-muffin pan in the cupboard, another inspiration for the recipe. Unlike some of my other small bite recipes, the ones that could be more than a bite or two, this one is definitely a small bite.

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites #6 - Smoked Salmon" »

Polenta Bruschetta with Pesto Goat Cheese

I spent a lot of time this week looking at goat cheese recipes, and in the end I put together a few ideas from a few recipes to get this one; up to the day before the bruchetta mixture had been a tomato slice in my head. Again this is a recipe that can translate into a small bite (with plate and fork), or an appetizer (two on a plate), or for us, it was Saturday lunch. This morning the pesto goat cheese and bruschetta became toppings on sourdough toast.

Continue reading "Sunday Small Bites #5 - Goat Cheese" »