Easy Holiday Appetizer #1

I like to entertain. I do. But, I hate to be stressed out over complicated dishes to prepare. I also dislike too many ingredients in one dish, especially when I'm making several things for a large crowd. So, let's make an appetizer that you can whip together in less than 5 minutes! I'm serious! This pretty thing is what I will call.....um....how about Cranberry Island, no, no, um...Cranberry oooolala? I don't know, let's just call it The Cranberry Thing.

First get some good goat cheese. Yum. I love this stuff. It costs about $4. If you have a goat then for Heaven's sake go make some.....only if you have a female goat....and she's giving milk, don't try to milk a male goat, that would be baaaaaaad. Sigh , sorry, you knew it was coming.

Take the chilled cheese out of the wrapper and form it into a ball.

Like a snowball. Now slap that pretty white puppy on a small dish. I use this glass candy dish that was a wedding gift, then I put it in the middle of one of my grandma's glass platters where the crackers will be arranged in a perfect circular pattern. Ha ha ha haha. No seriously.

Now, place a guard or soldier or something near the cheese so people will know they WILL DIE A PAINFUL DEATH IF THEY EAT ANY OF THE WHITE CHEESE BALL!! And then stick it. I mean stick the cheese ball in the fridge.

Moving on. Get a bag of cranberries. They are super cheap in the stores right now. My friend, Kelli, called me and told me I needed to blog about a cranberry dressing I made for a salad the other night because she thinks I need more ideas for my blog posts and with cranberries being so cheap the salad dressing would be a good thing to write about. Yes, even my friend's lives revolve around my blog...muwhaha, muwhaahaha.

Put about one and a half cups of berries in a bowl and add about 2-3 tablespoons of water.

Now stick it. I mean put it in the microwave for 2 minutes. Check if the berries are starting to crack, give it a stir, then nuke some more, stir, nuke, stir, nuke. It usually take maybe 4 minutes. You can do this on the stove top too, but I'm a modern woman with a microwave and I like to say, NUKE IT!

Here's what you're looking for. You have the bursted berries and the not so bursted berries. It's thick you know, like cranberry sauce........uh it is cranberry sauce. While it's hot stir in sugar to your sweetness, like 3-4 tablespoons, I like it more tart. Add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a dash of salt. Stir it in and stick in the fridge to cool.

When it's cool, ladle the cranberry sauce over the cheese and top with some almonds or walnuts or pecans or as my 4yo would say LEAVE IT LONE...LEAVE IT LONE!! Serve with your choice of crackers and make sure you put a cute spoon or delicate little knife along the edge. Watch as people ooooh and ahhhh over its beauty and then eat it all gone. The End. You're Welcome.

Presentation is EVERYTHING!

Yesterday was just one of a string of crazy days that I've had something to do besides yell at my boys for spraying pee all over the toilette seat. My name is April, I sit in urine every day.

This morning I got up, made breakfast for my two littles and sat down to type out a sweet little post about how to make fast, simple and delicious appetizers.

I opened my computer to find a HUGE crusty booger stuck to the screen and the letter D key missing. God only knows where the key is and now I have to press really hardddd every time I needdddd the letter D!


I don't know about you, but greeting my computer that way sure didn't make me want to write about food.


So, I will tell you all about this thing later. And, NO it is not an ice cream sundddddday.

Three Brothers

Finally! My husband took me to Three Brothers , a great little spot in Labadie MO. It was well worth it. I had the tilapia with pan roasted new potatoes and Clay had the pork tenderloin with smashed new potatoes they both came with grilled asparagus. We tried the jumbo shrimp in a creamy tarragon sauce, I wanted to pick up the plate and drink the rich sauce, but the shrimp was a bit over cooked. They serve warm sesame bread knots with olive oil and parmesan cheese to dip in, and who doesn't love warm bread? The red wine comes in a huge glass that if given the opportunity you could take a quick dip in.

They didn't have any house made desserts so we tried the tiramasu which was very rich. I love to be able to taste the strong espresso and still be able to distinguish the lady fingers and that was very apparent in this dessert.

The atmosphere is above charming. The dinnerware is chique. The drive out there is beautiful. A great date night for any couple. They have a bar area which you see in the picture that I linked, the linen covered tables are a few steps above the bar.

I was surprised to see such a nice crowd there. If you ever need to get out of the city and have a nice quiet meal this is the place to go.