Playing Hostess

Tonight is our book club night and this month's book was one of my favorites: The Glass Castle. I cannot recommend this book enough--I literally could not put it down.  It is a fabulous memoir by Jeanette Walls.  She spins such interesting tales and portrays her impoverished childhood in a fascinating and humorous way. Seriously, go pick it up (or for you tech-snobs with a Kindle, download it, not that I'm insanely jealous or anything...). 

I'm hosting the book club this month, so I'd thought I would share my appetizer recipes for tonight. I'm not exactly known for my cooking skills so trust me, these are easy-peasy to make. 

Cam and I braved the snow tonight to go grocery shopping. for it  We  also stopped and picked up wine because what book club is complete with a bottle or three? Definitely not ours. Once I made my selection, Cam pointed out that all four bottles I grabbed were Chilean or Argentinean. Apparently, my subconscious is already on vacation. I did intentionally grab two wines from vineyards we are looking to visit, so I'm excited to try those :)
 

Any Blonde Can Cook: 

Okay, I don't know the name of these, but they are from a friend's cookbook, Any Blonde Can Cook--which I think says it all. The cookbook is full of simple recipes that are 3-4 ingredients--just my pace. And, these are delicious. 

• Slice up a baguette and bake the bread at 375 degrees until it is lightly toasted (my oven it's about 7-10 minutes).  
• Remove from oven, and spread a layer of goat cheese on the slices.  
• Sprinkle walnut pieces over the goat cheese. 
• Drizzle honey and goat cheese over the walnuts.

Olive Tapenade Palmiers
This recipe is from one of my cookbooks, Small Parties. I have never made them before, but it sounds right up my alley: I love anything with olives.

•  Unfold 1 package (17.3 oz) of a frozen phyllo sheet (puff pastry), separate the two sheets, and use a rolling pin to roll each sheet so that no folds are visible.  
• In your food processor, mix together an olive tapenade (a blend of your favorite olives). When I make tapenade, I use 1 cup black olives, 1/2-3/4 cup green olives, 1/2-3/4 cup kalamata olives, 2 cloves of garlic, a little olive oil, a teaspoon of lemon juice, and a pinch of black pepper. You can do two different ones if you wish since there are two phyllos.
• Spread this olive tapenade onto each phyllo sheet.  
• Sprinkle 1 cup of shredded parmesan cheese over the olive tapenade. 
• Roll each phyllo up halfway, starting at one end (i.e., roll to the center of one phyllo) and then roll from the opposite end so that the two spirals meet in the middle.
• Slice each roll into 1/2 inch slices and lay each side down on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Bake each roll for 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until golden and puffed.  Allow to cool.

Fancy Brownies
I found this recipe at Big Red Kitchen, and think the picture of hers' says it all...

• Bake a box-mix brownies in a 9x13 pan according to the box's directions and let cool (leaving it in the pan).
• Spread vanilla icing over the brownies so that the icing is approximately 1/4 inch thick. I plan on making my favorite: cream cheese icing. Just cream together one 8 oz container of softened cream cheese, 1/4 cup softened butter,  1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, and 1 teaspoon of vanilla. 
• In a saucepan, melt 1 stick of butter and 4 oz of semi-sweet chocolate chips until it forms a smooth glaze. 
• Remove glaze from heat and pour the glaze over the icing-ed brownies evenly. Let glaze set and then slice up brownies and serve. 

Don't forget about entering the giveaway in yesterday's post!