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Posts tagged as “snack”

Menu Idea: Tapas Tonight

Menu Idea: Tapas TonightGet creative ideas for a tapas menu for lunch or dinner From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)

In my house, warm weather, when nobody feels like looking or standing over a stove, calls for something quick and easy to eat. If the last thing that you can imagine doing is turning on the stove and you're craving something easy to nosh on that doesn't take a lot of time to assemble, try tapas.

Tapas are Spanish-style appetizers or small bites that are really fun to eat. It's one of my favorite things to enjoy at a restaurant—and going to restaurants that serve tapas is probably one of the things I've missed the most lately about "normal" life—where typically 2-4 per person makes for a good main course meal. And it's more fun when you have a variety to share with your partner or a group: some seafood, cheese and fruit; some hot and some cold.

Try these ideas a spread of Mediterranean-style tapas that you can make at home for a quick lunch or dinner.

Baked Pimento Cheese Dip

Baked Pimento Cheese DipBrowse recipes, menu ideas and more From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
The Super Bowl is this Sunday and, well, I'm not a football fan. A red-blooded Patriot I still am, yes, but no, I don't have a favorite football team, and I don't care who wins or loses the game. As a marketer and foodie, though, I am sure you could've guessed that I do enjoy watching the commercials and eating snacks. In the kitchen is where I can be found during any given Super Bowl with a drink in hand, pausing to watch a funny commercial now and again. Works for me. It's basically a prerequisite to have some kind of pretzels or chips and dip to snack on during the game (or commercials.) If you ask me, chips and salsa gets boring after a while. Guac, even if given a healthy dose of lime juice, is bound to turn brown. And while I enjoy a good queso, it, too, comes with challenges. The first challenge is keeping it warm. (A Crock-Pot can take care of that quite nicely, true.) The second challenge is that it can be drippy and messy to eat. Pimento cheese, on the other hand, is absolutely divine, easy to make, and easy to eat. I wasn't born or raised in the South and I never ate it as a kid. I found it a few years ago by accident when looking for something at the grocery store, and, boy, am I glad I did.

Pantry Raid: Fig, Toffee, and Walnut Granola

Pantry Raid: Fig, Toffee, and Walnut GranolaMaking Fig, Toffee, and Walnut Granola From Anna's Kitchen (www.fromannaskitchen.com)
I was craving something sweet one afternoon when I thought back to an episode of Barefoot Contessa that I watched a couple of weeks ago. Ina Garten made homemade granola bars for an episode about breakfast. Her bars featured apricots, cranberries, coconut, and slivered almonds along with oats and a base made out of sugar and honey. I was inspired to take a look at what I had on-hand in my own kitchen to make a batch of my own. I always have pantry basics, like oats and dried fruit, on-hand for baking. What I ended up making was something that, for granola standards, was really, really tasty. [wprm-recipe-jump text="Get the recipe below."]