life in my empty nest

Thursday, January 10, 2019

Olive Pizza Appetizer

This is a recipe that I pinned ages ago, but decided to try when I needed to take an appetizer to a football watching party. Do you do that with pins on Pinterest? You pin something that looks really good, but the pin languishes on one of your boards until it occurs to you that yes, you pinned it for a reason.

So, to describe this I'm going to reference that veggie appetizer that was so popular maybe fifteen years ago with a cresent roll base. This is very similar, but the base is pizza crust and the topping is a mixture of green olives, black olives and kalamata olives. (I used refrigerated pizza dough) You need to be an olive lover to enjoy this, but if you are, the flavor of the three kinds of olives together is delicious. I also like that the cream cheese layer incorporates fresh chopped parsley. It really brightens the flavor.

If you love olives, give this one a try the next time you need a quick, simple appetizer that has a wow factor. The original pin and recipe can be found here.

Happy Thursday!

{ Linking with these friends}

Stonegable

Between Naps on the Porch

21 Rosemary Lane

Monday, January 7, 2019

Winter Reading List

This list is a bit late if you count the start of winter as December, but there are still a lot of cozy winter days ahead, where a good book is called for. Especially for those of you who can curl up with a book, in front of the fireplace, on a snowy day. My reading spot here in Florida may not have a fireplace, but I love to sit on the comfortable couch on my lanai, with a blanket and a cool breeze blowing off the lake. Or, on those warmer winter days here, when the sun is shining and the temperatures are perfection, the lounge chair at my pool is the perfect spot to read a book too.

I have struggled with finding good books lately, but have high hopes for this list. As usual with my reading lists, I include a lot of the different genre that reflect my taste. I hope you find something you like and will let me know if you did.

Happy Reading!

A collection of personal essays and recipes

A favorite author of the Jane Whitefield series. This story has a similar sounding plot.

I never miss a Lisa See novel

I loved The Widow and The Child, so looking forward to this new one.

I love this author and have read all her books, but this one didn't get great reviews. Has anyone read this yet?

I have one book to add that I recently read and that I have conflicting opinions about.

It's probably the best book I have read in a long time and it's getting a lot of buzz. I could not stop reading it and it was deliciously creepy. But, the sexual content was excessive and lazy writing in my opinion. (Hello Fifty Shades of Grey) If you liked Gone Girl, this book is for you. Also the ending, while thought provoking, could have been fleshed out a bit more. It ended with more of a fizzle than a bang and left me wanting more. Have you read it yet and what did you think?

Linking with Show Us Your Books

Tuesday, January 1, 2019

Top 3 Recipes 2018

To be honest, I don't post nearly as many recipes as I used to, and 2018 was no exception. But, like all my blog posts these days, I'm not writing for the sake of writing, but because I really have something to say. The same could be said for my recipe posts. If I make something delicious, I want to share it and even better if it fits in with my trend towards a healthier lifestyle. Sometimes my top recipe posts feature all sweet treats or main dishes, but in 2018, my readers seemed to want something with a healthier twist. These three recipes were not just one time experiments either. I make all three consistently, especially the Chickpea Tuna Salad. It's such a great alternative to a sandwich lunch and I'm always looking to cut carbs wherever I can. So, the top three recipes in terms of pageviews are below, from third place to first place.