hrj

I think it's been a long time since I managed to shake off a cold/flu/whatever this thoroughly this quickly. No lingering lung involvement. No lingering sinus involvement. Back to a full morning workout two days later. Either I got lucky on this year's strain, or the complete-and-utter-bed-rest cure really works. Tonight I did some cooking for scotica's b-day party tomorrow. Tiny squashes (supposed to be those cute little mini-pumpkins, but there weren't any to be found) baked with a filling of applesauce, cranberry mustard, and dried cranberries. My old standby of crab-stuffed mushroom caps (except that since I used mustard in the squash filling, I swapped in horseradish for the usual mustard here). And a variant on some cucumber-based salad concepts converted to finger-food. Peel cucumbers and slice into cylinders about 1" long. Use a melon-ball implement to scoop out the middle, leaving a "cup" shape. Fill with one of the following.

Mock Caprese (because it swaps fire-roasted pepper for the tomato): take marble-sized fresh mozzarella balls, wrapped in a fresh basil leaf and a sliver of fire-roasted bell pepper, and stuff into the cucumber cup. (If you're making this for someone who isn't tomato-averse, press together a half mozzarella marble with half a cherry tomato, wrap in basil, and stuff into the cucumber cup.)

Greek style: cut feta cheese into flattened squares, just large enough to fit in the hole in the cucumber. Place the cheese in one side of the cup and stuff two small Greek olives into the other side.

Just before serving, one may spritz the cups slightly with olive oil and balsamic, if desired, but keep the outsides dry for handling.