Alright alright, and I'm back in the game!

My lovely roommate recently entered her "late 20's" and in honor of her special day we had some people over for cocktails and appetizers.

When I asked her what she wanted to eat, she said two things.

1. Spinach artichoke dip (but you all have seen that)

2. Something yummy.

A few months back I helped cater and serve a wedding in Brooklyn, the head chef and culinary genius made these delicious and easy apps to get people started - fill up their stomachs with some food before they're given the chance to fill it with booze.

Second appetizer on the menu: crostini with herbed ricotta and slow roasted tomatoes !

So pretty.

I didn't follow one exact recipe.

I opted to toss the cherry tomatoes with red chili pepper olive oil, and a little garlic powder

I cooked the tomatoes for 3 hours at 300 degrees stirring them occasionally

While the tomatoes were finishing up I mixed a whole container of ricotta cheese with

Basil

Red chili peppers

Thyme

Oregano

Spread a liberal amount of ricotta on toasted bread

Add some some slow roasted tomatoes...

and enjoy a delicious and finger friendly appetizer

Happy Birthday Allison!

I've said it once, and I will say it a thousand times, every time I bake it leads to one type of disaster or another, but I'll keep trying.

So here we go, take 539.5

(The .5 is because I gave up once)

I wish I had space for my very own mixer, but alas it's just another suburban bonus as I hunker down and make

Chocolate Chip Coconut Bars

It's almost hard to tell the difference between the uncooked and cooked version of this treat, but let me tell you they were delicious, albeit extraordinarily sweet!

Throughout the weekend I acquired a few leftover ingredients:

- Chicken

- Spinach cashew pesto

- Baguette

- Ricotta

I had a friend from childhood coming over for lunch, Mel was still house and dog sitting with me, and were were getting hungry.

So now what?

With these ingredients combined we made spinach cashew pesto chicken salad, on toasted bread with ricotta, added a few raw walnuts, and we had ourselves a lovely lunch.

Every day needs a snack.

Sausage pinwheels

Goat cheese and craisin pinwheels

Spinach Artichoke dip

Wine

This spinach artichoke dip was a first for me

1. I used fresh spinach cooked down

2. I substituted mayo for some left over cream cheese

3. Alright there were only two changes

As always I add a little bit of fresh lemon juice and red pepper flakes to give the dip some "pop"

Cheers to a successful weekend!

Snack away!