{watermelon goat cheese bites}

Today's super easy appetizer recipe is my favorite kind of recipe.  Is there cheese in it? Yes- creamy goat cheese that happens to be one of my favorites.  Does it look super impressive like it took you all day long to put together and makes people wonder if you moonlight at a fancy catering company in your free time, but really it takes about 15 minutes total?  Absolutely.  Plus it's a mini serving that can be consumed in one bite without a mess!

I recently picked up a a set of circle cutters from Sur La Table hoping they would inspire a variety of dishes, but up until now I have only used the largest size once to arrange a salad.  When I spotted this adorable appetizer of watermelon cylinders topped with goat cheese and garnished with a crisp cucumber I knew it was my chance to break out some unused kitchen gadgets!  Read below for recipe and instructions then proceed to impress people when you roll up to a casual BBQ with this masterpiece of a potluck dish.

 {this little set up is the best trick for filling a pastry bag.  simply place the bag in a tall glass and fold the top over the sides of the glass. fill the bag then fold back the top to avoid a big mess!}

 {piping the cheese onto the watermelon slices is what makes this dish look so impressive- you can certainly just spoon out the mixture, but the effect just wont be the same, although let's be honest -the cheese tastes great either way}

what you need:

• 1 small seedless watermelon
• 1 package soft goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons cream
• 1/4 fresh cucumber, cut into slices
• pastry bag with star tip
• 1.5 inch metal cylinder cutter

1. Cut watermelon in 1 inch wide round slices, then punch out circles using cylinder cutter.  Place directly on serving tray.
2. Mix together goat cheese and cream until combined into a smooth texture. 
3. Transfer cheese mixture to a pastry piping bag with desired tip attachment - I used a star tip for this one. 
4. Pipe about 1 tablespoon of cheese onto each watermelon slice.
5. Garnish with a small cucumber slice.
6. Serve immediately or store in refrigerator for a few hours before. 

{2013: top food & cocktail posts}

I truly can't believe another year is coming to a close- it feels like we were just writing our new year's resolutions from last year. After feeling nostalgic and scrolling through the past year in posts here on Mint Love, I thought it would be fun to round up some of my favorite posts in a few different categories starting first with cocktails & food - the most important things in life really!  I hope you enjoy a little walk down 2013 memory lane....

{The Terra Cocktail: a girly cocktail I created for my girlfriend's bachelorette party}

 {vegan blackberry, fig & coconut "ice cream" - I still have a hard time believing how good this was even though it has no cream!}

{The Rose Derby Cocktail: cocktails with honey syrup get me every single time}

{grilled summer dinner menu - this entire dinner still sticks out in my mind for how fresh, flavorful and seasonal it was.}

{The Mint Love Julep - since I don't prefer whiskey, I created this "mint love" version of a classic julep to enjoy along with the Kentucky Derby!}

 {Warm Kale Salad - topped with a poached egg, crisp apples & bacon this salad quickly became my go to salad this past fall/winter}

{Fresa Brava Cocktail- a spicy little cocktail from one of my new favorite cocktail books}

 {Momofuku Birthday Cake - after hunting down all the needed ingredients, I baked this cake to celebrate mine and chris' birthdays this year.  It was soooo incredibly good that I might make it a tradition to whip one up every year!}

{Basil Cucumber Caipirinha - this cocktail was my escape from the frigid temperatures in Chicago since (like all caipirinhas) it's basically summer in a glass}

 {Dressed Up Caprese- taking one of my italian appetizer favorites and adding more things I like to it such as pistachios and beets}

{Blackberry Sage Fizz - the perfect sparkling cocktail to welcome in fall/winter!}

Up next- a round up of my favorite parties of 2013!

{cacio e pepe two ways}

Even though Chris is half Italian and we have traveled throughout Italy, I had never had cacio e pepe up until very recently.  It's one of those minimal ingredient dishes that seems ridiculously simple to prepare, but in actuality takes acute precision to get it just right.  We were lucky enough to have an expertly prepared cacio e pepe at Mercato di Vetro in Los Angles on our last trip back which happened to my first time having the dish.  It inspired us to try our hand at preparing it on our own and I think we nailed it following this recipe.

Now that I know about cacio e pepe and have experienced it, I keep seeing the dish popping up everywhere.  I recently came across a version with burrata, butternut squash and kale right here.  Now let's get one thing straight- when you start adding things to cacio e pepe then it's not really cacio e pepe anymore, but I'll overlook technicalities like that when we are talking about adding three ingredients that rest safely in my list of favorite ingredients.  I loved how this dish had the same base flavor and kick from the original cacio e pepe part of the recipe, but brought in a little seasonal heartiness from the squash and kale.  It would be fun to serve both dishes at your next dinner party and let your guests compare for themselves!

{we sprinkled some of the toasted butternut squash sides on top for an added crunch}