Roasted Tomato & Goat Cheese Toasts

Erin is currently out of the office and since I LOVE goat cheese and she HATES it, I thought I'd share one of my favorite summer recipes with you for Make-It Monday.  It's delicious and looks fussier than it is! Here's how to make these delightful little bites...

1. Take a log of goat cheese out of the fridge and let it warm on the counter while you're cooking away.
2. Roast the tomatoes... If you've never roasted tomatoes, it's easy.  Read this.
3. While the tomatoes are roasting, slice a baguette as thinly as possible.  Place on a cookie sheet and drizzle with olive oil.  Place cookie sheet in the oven with the tomatoes and toast until lightly golden, about 10-15 minutes.  Then remove from the oven and place on a platter for serving.
4. Spread the room temperature goat cheese on the toasts.
5. When the tomatoes are done, remove from oven and place one or two on top of each piece of toast.  Press gently so the juicy insides squeeze out onto the cheese.
6. Drizzle plate with olive oil, garnish with micro-basil or thinly sliced basil.
7. Enjoy!!!

Royal Wedding Watching Breakfast

I've shared this recipe before on The District Domestic, but it's one of my favorites and will be perfect for the Royal Wedding Watching Party I'm attending at 3am!  If ginger and pecans aren't your thing, try my recipe for Chocolate Scones.  Read more about the Royal Wedding food on Epicurious.com.

Ginger Pecan Scones 3 3/4 cups flour 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 cup sugar 3 tbsp baking powder 1/2 cup butter, cut into small pieces 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger 1/4 cup chopped pecans 1 1/4 cups whole milk

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

In the food processor, combine the flour, salt, sugar and baking powder.  Add the butter and process until the butter has been cut into the flour mixture and you can still see little pea-sized pieces.  Add the ginger, pecans and milk.  Process only until the mixture comes together.

Turn the dough out onto a well-floured surface and flatten to 1 inch thick.  Use a cookie cutter or biscuit cutter to make into rounds.  Brush the tops with milk and sprinkle with sanding sugar, if you like.

Bake on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15-20 minutes or until the tops are lightly golden brown.

Serve with whipping cream and fresh fruit, or just dig in with a little butter right when they come out of the oven.

Enjoy!

Naturally Sweet

I'm loving this ADORABLE idea from one of my absolute favorite blogs - Twig & Thistle.  It's the perfect Valentine - creative, lovey-dovey and well... sweet!  Click here for more ideas and FREE downloadable templates so you can recreate these Valentine's at home!

A Plum, Lavender and Butter Affair!

As promised here's a "sweet" recap from the baby shower that Jackie and I hosted for Erin this past weekend.  All of the desserts were homemade - you can find the recipes on The District Domestic.  We'll be showing how to make the pomanders in a DIY next week - stay tuned :)