green and black olive tapenade

Green and Black Olive Tapenade

Jump to Green and Black Olive Tapenade Recipe

 

Tapenade is a delicious spread made primarily from olives, capers, herbs, and olive oil. It’s most often used as an appetizer with crackers, good bread or crudites but can also be excellent on sandwiches or as a topping for grilled chicken or fish. I think it’s especially lovely with good mozzarella, provolone, or mild goat cheese to balance the intense flavor and acidity, but then I’m one that tends to think the right cheese makes everything a little better. All it really needs is a cracker, and you have a fantastic snack.
 

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cheese broils

Cheese Broils with Crab

 

It’s New Years’s Eve and we really whoop it up big around here! If whooping it up means eating appetizers for dinner, having a couple of cocktails, watching New Year’s Rockin’ Eve and nodding off around 11pm. Sometimes I make it up until midnight but Bob never, ever does so we try to toast to the new year in New York or Chicago depending on how perky we’re feeling. The one thing we seem to do without fail is to make my dad’s cheese broils with crab meat piled on top. He used to make dozens upon dozens of them for our annual Christmas Eve open house and they were always a crowd favorite. These days, our Christmas Eve is usually spent at my cousin Priscilla’s house with lots of great food but, alas, no cheese broils so I make them on New Year’s instead.
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Kale Chips by Hailey

Hailey loves to help me in the kitchen. She would rather be cooking with me than doing just about anything else. When she does something to lose a privilege, not being able to “make a mixture” is worse than no TV or playing on mommy’s iPhone. Isn’t that so wonderful? Yeah, you know me better than that. As much as I preach “cook with your kids” and truly believe in it’s value, I really just want to be left alone with my pots and pans. So, I’ve had some growing up to do. The sense of accomplishment she feels is well worth the extra effort and I’m very proud that she, at the age of 4, knows the essential ingredients in salad dressing. Continue reading “Kale Chips by Hailey” →