Signs of a Fantastic Weekend

1. I found this photo on my phone today, and it makes me so happy.

2. I finished grocery shopping at 8:30 am yesterday. No hassle in the parking lot, no crowd, no line at check out, no traffic coming home. Hallelujah.

3. Yoga at home helped me prevent a repeat of yesterday's horrible experience at the gym. And it felt sooooo good!

4. Yesterday was street cleaning, so I dreaded finding a place to park, but I spotted a place right across from our apartment! Street cleaning - 0; Julie - 1.

5. Reading my usual favorite blogs today I stumbled upon a shout out from PB Fingers!!! She linked to my In the Park Workout, perfect for a good-weather weekend. Julie from PB Fingers also had a fantastic-looking workout yesterday, so check it out while you're there. :-)

6. Wedding season officially began for us today! We actually don't have many weddings--two this year and one next year so far. Compared to our friends who attend up to seven or eight weddings a year, we're feeling quite unpopular. But today we had a great time celebrating the happy couple!

I swear the color-coordinating was completely unintentional.

7. Simple recipes make life good. Especially when you get to take them to Friday night fun time with friends! We spent last night at a happy hour with Jenn and some friends, and I needed to figure out a way to use up the fig jam that we bought earlier this week. Since it doesn't contain preservatives, it'll only last about another week or two. Enter the Internet. Apparently fig and pork (fig and pig!) go well together, so I decided to make these little crostinis.

Fig and Pig Crostini Appetizers
Ridiculously simple, this appetizer can be made in advance and is perfect for happy hour, wine time, dinner parties, or brunch!

(Terrible photos, sorry. We're getting new phones soon, and my first priority is a better camera!)

• One French baguette 
• One package (about 5 oz) prosciutto, thinly sliced
• Sliced Manchego cheese (we went heavy on the cheese--about 1/2 pound--but you could tone it down depending on your love of cheese)
• 1/2 cup fig jam
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Thinly slice the baguette at an angle (about 1/2 inch slices). Brush each slice with olive oil and arrange oil-side-up on a baking sheet. Bake for 8 minutes, or until golden brown. Set aside to cool completely.

(At this point, once the crostini are cool, you can bag them up for later. Yesterday I brought all the ingredients over in separate containers and arranged the plate once I arrived.)

To serve, you have two options: 

1) Make them all ahead of time. Spread the fig jam first, then top with a slice of Manchego and a little prosciutto. Why would you do this? Well, perhaps you're passing hors d'oeuvres and don't want people to have to fuss with making their own. Okay. Otherwise, though, go with option 2. 

2) Arrange a plate of toasts, sliced Manchego, and prosciutto with a small bowl of fig jam. Be sure to include a spreader for the jam. Some folks may skip the bread and stick with ham, cheese, and jam--do not judge these people. More bread for you.

Super simple, right? But the flavors are fantastic together! And I'm pretty certain you can throw some different ingredients in there to make equally delicious combinations:

• Brie & prosciutto
• Goat cheese & pancetta
• Blue cheese & bacon

Is your mouth watering? No? Just me?

What's awesome about your weekend so far?