come and stock up our bar!

instead of having a "traditional" housewarming party, g and i decided to do something a bit different. we have nested for over 4 years now and pretty much have everything that we need. so, instead of getting various things for the house, we asked that our guests bring something to stock our bar! so friday evening, we had our "stock the bar party". a practical housewarming party.

we had approximately 20 people come see our new home. it was a great time with friends. and our wonderful guests brought us some very nice things! top shelf liquor, nice bottles of wine, complete ingredients to the perfect margarita, and other must-haves for any bar. most importantly, the company that we shared that evening was fantastic.

we provided hors d'oeuvres and i must share one recipe from the evening. it's a recipe that i got from a friend, and it's delicious.



baked caprese salad
it can also be found here.

Ingredients

* 1 loaf baguette, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices (about 30 to 36 slices)
* 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper
* 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
* 1 1/4 pounds fresh mozzarella, sliced
* 1 bunch fresh basil leaves, stemmed

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Arrange the sliced baguette bread on a baking sheet. Brush with some of the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Bake until the bread is pale golden and crisp, about 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Top each slice of bread with a slice of tomato and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top each slice of tomato with a slice of mozzarella and sprinkle with salt. Return the baking sheet to the oven until the cheese and tomato are warmed, about 5 minutes.

Arrange the toasts on a serving platter. Top each toast with a basil leaf. Using the brush, drizzle the remaining olive oil over the basil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and serve.