C'mon Spring!

There was ice on my little pond this morning. ICE! It's March 26th for goodness sake. I want sunshine. Green plants! Flowers! Flip-flops, not boots! I want my pond to look like the picture above, not a tiny ice-skating rink.

But Barista is home for "spring" break, so we've had fun, despite the dreary and oh-so-cold Ohio weather. She is deciding between two (yeah!) grad programs at Ohio State next fall so we've been doing a lot of talking about the programs so she can make her choice by the April 15 deadline. (Not such a bad problem to be forced to choose between two great options at OSU, mind you!)

Tonight we're going to dinner at some friends' house in Grandview. Barista would like to find an apartment in the quaint area and they may have some good advice. . . plus they're fun to be with! I offered to bring some gluten free appetizers, and have landed on the idea of a tray of three "small" offerings -- bacon-wrapped, almond stuffed dates; crab dip with GF crackers, and large, green olives. Recipes are below.

Bacon-wrapped stuffed dates
Cream cheese (may be light), cut into 18 (1/2 by 1/4-inch) pieces
18 pitted dates
18 salted and roasted almonds
6 slices bacon cut crosswise into thirds

Heat oven to 400 degrees.

Stuff 1 piece of cheese and 1 almond into each date, then wrap one piece of bacon around each date and secure with a toothpick. Arrange dates, bacon seam down on a shallow baking pan.

Bake 5 minutes, then turn dates over and bake until bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes more. Drain on a paper towel. Serve immediately or at room temp. (Note: mine took much longer than this for the bacon to get crisp!)

Crab Dip

1 (12-ounce) container whipped cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1/2 lemon, juiced

2 teaspoons white wine

Dash Frank's hot sauce

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

1 (6-ounce) can crabmeat

2 tablespoons minced fresh chives, plus more for garnish

In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Worcestershire, lemon juice, wine, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Fold in the crabmeat and chives. Top with additional chives. Serve with crackers and veggies.