Back from Europe, and hooked on Nutella

Matt and I just got back from 25 days of trekking around Europe. Highlights for me, (see if you can figure out which cities we visited!), were:

• Flamenco
• Tapas
• Gaudí
• Gelato
• Guinness
• Cheese boards, and......
• NUTELLA!!!

With that in mind, here is my current breakfast obsession:

Grilled French bread with Nutella and fruit

Butter that bread!!

There is something about grilling the bread on my flattop grill, rather than toasting it in the toaster. I think it's because the bread gets the chance to pick up some of those yummy "left over" grill flavors :)

Top it, generously, with NUTELLA*, and any fresh fruit you have around! Bananas, raspberries, strawberries.... YUM!
*Yes, you are right... that is not actual Nutella. It is Nutkao. It was on sale at Big Lots! OK??! But guess what? Generic Nutella is just as tasty as actual Nutella. Not only was is cheap (because what's not cheap at Big Lots!??) but we also had a 20% off coupon! Love it!

Potluck schmotluck

While we wait for further installments of The Northeast Vacay I want to share some pictures from a recent vegetarian potluck I attended. A few weeks ago my brilliant friend Katie suggested that we gather at her apartment for snacks and margarita's made with fresh squeezed lime juice (told you she was brilliant.) I did not have to be invited twice. I was a terrible blogger and forgot my camera. Luckily Katie was on top of her game and sent me these pictures she took.

I brought two dishes. A southeast asian inspired salad/slaw with peanut dressing and spinach balls.

It tasted better than this presentation suggests...

The slaw didn't have much of a recipe. I shredded half a cabbage, a few carrots, red and green peppers, and a few small hot peppers. Then I crumbled up a few sheets of nori over the top of everything and sprinkled it with white sesame seeds. The dressing was a slightly modified version of the one offered here.

Hand formed by Erik

The spinach balls were a great snack and I would heartily recommend them as an appetizer for the next amazing dinner party you hold. I followed a recipe by Modern Beet. I divided the recipe by 3 (!) and it still made a heck of a lot of balls. I'll be honest with you all and tell you that the recipe is sort of a pain - with the spinach cooking and squeezing and ball forming - but if you have a sous chef to help you it makes all the difference.

Here is a plate with our first course displayed in all of its glory.

Katie made the green peppers stuffed with chili and Greg made the chickpea crepe and spinach artichoke dip. Nom nom nom.

Food model aka Amanda

Second course was polenta lasagna made by our host, Katie. By this time our belts were busting.

Katie made the polenta from scratch, naturally

 Our last course was dessert. Amanda made poppy seed cupcakes with a fresh blueberry glaze. Delicious, but I don't have a picture sadly. Trust me, they were good. I think Amanda used this recipe from Joy the Baker, only she veganized it because she is so crafty. It was good and the cake was super moist. Just how I like my cake!

This potluck was good warm up for a fourth of July potluck you might attend. Unfortunately I will not be doing any fun potlucking myself. Instead I will be soaring through the air in a metal tube, heading west back to the homeland.

Are you making any special treats for the fourth? Anyone have good airport for recommendations for Atlanta or Salt Lake?