Jamie loves happy hour.  What’s not to like?  An array of low maintenance deliciousness and refreshing drinks like sangria or cocktails.  We like loading up our bread boards with cherries, fresh sweet melon, naan topped with fruit, brie and arugula (yum) and of course a variety of cheeses and crackers.  The perfect fare that screams “kick your feet up, relax and enjoy”.  So easy.  But I’ll let her tell you…

I bet you guys were surprised to see another post from me so soon, weren’t ya?  P.S. this is Jamie.  As promised, this post will be about happy hour!  Apart from following my mom and dad around all day, happy hour with my mom is one of my favorite things to do on the weekends when I am home.

I’ve been bugging her all summer to invite some of her friends over for happy hour, yes I admit it, I love hanging out with my mom and her friends.  They’re absolutely crazy in the most fun way possible.  On Friday, my parents and I went with some friends to go see Secret Life of Pets (If you haven’t seen this yet, stop reading and go see it now, it is great) and we ran into one of her favorite rowing buddies (also one of my favorites, what a coincidence!!!) I finally convinced her to text her crew (HAH get it?)  and have them come over for an impromptu happy hour the next day.  It was a little last minute, so not everyone came, but naturally, my mom and I made food for an army.

And now to go along with our theme “Happy” by Pharrell

I decided to experiment, and made strawberry bruschetta, which turned out to be a hit!  We went to Trader Joe’s and bought a baguette of regular French bread, sliced it up, brushed it with some olive oil, and popped it into our toaster oven.  While it was crisping up, I diced up about a cup and a half of strawberries, mixed them with some olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, salt and pepper, and stuck it in the fridge til it was time to serve.  When it was time to eat, I spread each piece of toast with either goat cheese or brie cheese, topped it with the strawberry mixture, and sprinkled over some basil and goat cheese.  Stupid. Easy.

To go along with it, my mom and I made another watermelon and cantaloupe caprese salad, and crispy and garlicy smashed potatoes, one of our new obsessions.  We haven’t totally figured out how to perfectly smash them, but I’m sure we’ll figure it out soon.

And we made Bellinis!  My mom had a chilled bottle of Prosecco so we took out some flutes, poured in some peach nectar then the Prosecco and threw in a couple of fresh raspberries (ratio 2oz:4oz peach nectar to Prosecco) YUM!

By the way those cool wooden boards…made by my Dad.  Oh yeah.  If you’re lucky I’ll write down his special tuna dip recipe next time!

Hi Claire 🙂

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Happy Hour Happy Food

Ingredients

Yummy Happy Hour food

• Take advantage of summer fruits!
• Berries peaches, melons the list goes on and on
• Your favorite Cheeses I like Cotswold, Brie
• Guacamole
• Chips
• bruschetta or crostini

Brochettes of melon, prosciutto and mozzarella (adapted from Epicurious)

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup packed fresh basil leaves plus sprigs for garnish
• 1 medium shallot quartered
• 1 small about 2-pound cantaloupe, halved crosswise, seeded, cut into 6 wedges, peeled
• 6 small fresh water-packed mozzarella balls or one 8-ounce ball * drained
• 6 thin slices prosciutto cut in half lengthwise, gathered into ruffle
• 6 8- inch wooden skewers

Strawberry Crostini

• Super easy and the recipe is in the text above!

Instructions

Don't really have a recipe for anything! Its just stuff I like to eat!

Flatbreads pizzas

• We used naan we just got at the farmer's market, grilled them quickly and placed slices of fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, grilled peach slices on them and back on the grill to melt the cheese. You could use brie or really any cheese you want. We topped them with fresh arugula that we dressed with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle of pepper. DUNZO EASY

Melon Salad we don't bother with the skewers we just throw it all in a bowl.

• Cantalopes have been sweet! Cut melon into bite sized pizza and place on platter or bowl. Add small fresh mozarella balls and prosciutto that has been shredded into bite sized shreds.
• Make the basil oil by combining the shallot, basil and olive oil in a processor. Process until basil and shallot is minced.
• Drizzle oil on melon and cheese. Sprinkle on some coarse salt and cracked fresh pepper. Another DUNZO.