girl 's night fancies !

Girl's night to me is like the ultimate foodie possibilities party. Especially when you have friends like I do. Let me tell you, these girls are unreal. They love everything gourmet, they're adventurous, they've lived over seas just to do it and experience the European lifestyle.. really, they're a total dream come true for an odd bird like me.

So, Ginny and Steph came over the other night for our weekly ritual of catching up, wine drinking, sharing life and eating... A.K.A. Girl's Night. (original, we know)


Keeping with our latest series here on Recitherapy, I had to use what was already at my disposal. So I'm going to walk you through two of my favorites from that night, and share photos of the other hors d' ouevres.

First off... stewed rosemary nectarines over honey cottage cheese. (these might have been my favorite of the whole night)

You'll Need:

• nectarines, washed and sliced... i prefer skin on, but peeled will work as well
• a sprinkle of granulated sugar
• rosemary simple syrup
• cottage cheese
• honey
• water

Toss your sliced nectarines in a small saucepan. Fill your saucepan with just enough water to almost cover the nectarines. Sprinkle in some sugar, not too much, and place over low heat.

Stir every 5 minute or so and let them get nice and warm and soft. Once they've been stewing for about 20 minutes, stir in some of your rosemary simple syrup, depending on your likeness to rosemary. :)

Let simmer for another 10 minutes or so, then remove from the heat and let them sit. Once they've been sitting awhile, remove the nectarines with a slotted spoon and place in their own dish. Pour the juice into a syrup server or creamer to use as a garnishing syrup. Dish out some cottage cheese into pretty ramekins and drizzle with honey. Then when your guests sit down to enjoy, dish the nectarines out and drizzle with your syrupy goodness. Voila!

This was so delicious and a really refreshing, summery, stone fruit delight... a good way to break up the savory hors d' oeuvres without being too sweet. :)

Next up: simple creamy marinara spaghetti served in parmesan crisps!

You'll Need:

• whole wheat spaghetti
• your favorite marinara sauce, fresh or store bought
• a dollop of greek yogurt
• fresh basil
• grated parmesan or asiago parmesan blend cheese
• empty, clean egg carton, this will be your mold for the crisps.

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Line a baking sheet with preferably parchment paper or foil. Parchment will work so much nicer but I didn't have any. Sprinkle out circles of the grated cheese and press firmly until the cheese is smashed together well. Keep a good inch between each circle.

Place in the oven and bake for 8-10 minutes, until they're just turning golden. Watch them carefully, they burn easily! Take them out and let them cool for only about one minute, then remove them with a thin spatula and place them over each upside down egg hole. This will make them take a dish shape.

While those are molding, take out your leftover spaghetti noodles from pasta the other night, or boil some fresh. Plop them out onto a cutting board and dice the noodles up small, for easier assembly and bite sized ease.

Just before your girlfriends arrive, toss the noodles into a saucepan with your favorite marinara sauce and warm on medium heat. Once it starts to simmer, stir in your dollop of greek yogurt. Then peel away those beautiful little parmesan crisps and get ready to fill them!

Grab out a small portion of your pasta with tongs and place inside the parmesan crisps. Don't overload them because you want them to be easy to eat in one or two bites. Then sprinkle with more of that same grated cheese and top with fresh basil leaves. DELICIOUS! (and beautiful, aren't they?)

 golden grape tomatoes and goat's cheese with fresh herbs

 fresh made rosemary focaccia underway!

 the little wine station

 almost there...

making use of every little quirky nook in this table

olive oil, sun-dried tomatoes and kalamata olives, balsamic up top, parmesan crisps added, dark chocolate sea salt covered almonds, our sumptuous stewed nectarines... just waiting on focaccia to come out of the oven!

 and there it is... perfect as ever.

 thrown on the cheese board and looking so inviting...

a delicious spread. salty, sweet, creamy, crunchy...

It was a beautiful night, with all the essential elements of a glorious, gourmet, over the top hors d' oeuvres girl's night. And we managed to keep in line with our "what we bought, what we made" list...

what a success!

enjoy your weekend... and have some friends over!

;)

xox