Hi Friends! Happy Tuesday! We are savoring the very best of summer this week, and sharing some appetizer ideas that will send your taste buds soaring!

This week, I would like to thank my sister Stacey for sharing these ideas with me, they heartily won the approval of my family! I like to make things that are simply delicious! And especially when they are “Simple” to make! Today we have 2 very easy appetizers to make! I hope you will enjoy them! Easy Caprese (don’t you just like saying that?) and a smoked salmon appetizer.

As summer ends in a glorious burst of color and warmth, the tomatoes are at their finest! What a better way to celebrate this season than picking those delicious red ripe juicy tomatoes and serving them in a simple salad appetizer that makes them the star of the show!

So without further ado, let’s begin! Look how simple the ingredients are below!

Ingredients

• 2-3 red tomatoes (any kind is fine, I chose larger but you could go smaller if you like)
• 1 lb Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
• 8-12 Fresh Basil Leaves (you will need 1 leaf for each tomato slice)
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper to taste

Wash and cut your tomatoes into slightly thick slices, around 1/4″. Cut your mozzarella the same way.

I used an oblong rectangular platter because it frames this appetizer so nicely. Any shallow platter will do. Drizzle olive oil on your platter.

First a tomato slice, then a piece of mozzarella, and finally a basil leaf. Repeat until your platter is full.

This is so fun!

And finally drizzle a little more olive oil over the top. Serve with balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper.

Isn’t that pretty?

My husband says the flavors are so bright and light, it just tastes like summertime!

Now the other easy appetizer is so easy, I didn’t even take an ingredient shot. But I need to share it with you because it is so so good, and we’re friends, you and I, and it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t share it with you!

You get a nice piece of smoked salmon, and serve it with Cream Cheese that has been flavored with onion and chives, and or garlic and herbs (Kraft makes both flavors, the onion is amazing!) Put some of the flavored cream cheese on a crisp Ritz cracker, (or any cracker) and a nice little piece of the salmon on top. And Kapow! You are in flavor town! It’s decadent and simply fantastic!

Hey! Who is that photo bomber to the right? I think she likes salmon!

On my table, I also added a small bowl of crisp fresh veggies, a bowl of watermelon chunks, a black bean hummus, a salsa, some tortilla chips, a bowl of lovely Greek pita which I cut in triangular pieces for dipping, and a platter of little lemon poppy seed muffins. Oh and of course some cheerful flowers!

You can have a nice little snack or make it a meal if you wanted! It’s a little lighter, but not on flavor!

I sometimes get in a rut of making the same things over and over. Do you ever feel that way? So writing this blog has really been a game changer for me, helping me rethink everything. Trying new ways of food, fashion, fitness, and just plain old fun! It’s funny, but sometimes you just need to step back as though an observer and look at things in your life with an eye for how you can shake it up a bit. Just as the flavors in this spread are so alive, life holds so much, like a never ending fountain of new discoveries and ideas bubbling up! I don’t want to miss any of it! And I am so glad to get to share this time of life with you! Isn’t it a blessing?

I hope you have a fantastic week, and a lovely Labor Day weekend!

I’ll be back Friday for another Fashion Friday.

Love Always,

Amy

“The need for change bulldozed a road down the center of my mind.”  ~Maya Angelou