I know, I know, where have I been the past few weeks? Without boring you with details, I can
confirm that there was a trip to Texas, a trip to DC, a re-signing of our lease
for another two years (its official, we are crazy) and a lovely New York
spring. Now we are in our first
heat wave of the summer (91 today!) and I have sold my soul to the local
appliance store for two new Frigidaire air conditioners that will probably
require at least $200 a month in electricity. Each. But at
least I’ll be comfortable.
Our first summer weekend now lies before us and to keep me
focused on something other than the heat, Robbie innocently suggested we start
an official “Summer 2013 Bucket List.”
That comment then led to a twenty+ item list of things we MUST do before
Labor Day or I will consider our summer a failure. He must not have gotten the memo when he married me that I
am a completist (I may have made that up – it probably isn’t in the DSM-IV, although
it should be) because now I have every move of our next three months
planned.
First thing we will check off is “Go to a baseball game” when
we see the Yankees play the Red Sox Sunday. Our next activity could be “Go to an outdoor movie” or “Ride
across the river in a ferry” or “Grill out” (the latter of which will be
interesting because we don’t own a grill which means we need to mooch off of
friends who do – cough – Tom & Kate – cough). Apparently not on the list are things like “Live in the
moment” or “Don’t get so caught up completing your Summer 2013 Bucket List.” There’s always next summer!
In anticipation of your summer, I recommend you grab some
blackberries and some frozen phyllo dough and make these cuties that could
arguably be considered summer-in-a-bite.
The recipe comes from a favorite blog of mine, Shutterbean, and I adjusted it minorly
because the original has arugula on each little bite but I felt that would be
too healthy. Happy Summer 2013!
Blackberry Lemon Goat Cheese Squares
From Shutterbean
6 oz goat cheese, room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon zest
2 tablespoons honey
1-2 tablespoons milk
2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1/2 to 1 pint blackberries
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
Preheat oven 400F. Line a baking sheet (or two) with
parchment & set aside. Mix the
goat cheese, lemon zest, honey and milk together – set aside. In another bowl
stir the blackberries with the balsamic vinegar and let sit for 10
minutes. On a lightly floured surface,
cut the puff pastry into 2-inch squares and place the squares onto the
parchment lined sheets about 2 inches apart -- you may need to work in
batches. Using a fork, score
a square into the pastry without cutting all the way through. Place a dollop of the lemon goat cheese
mixture on top of each square and top with a blackberry. Bake squares for 15-20
minutes, or until golden. Serve
warm or at room temperature.
