Well, it’s now official!! WE ARE ALL MOVED IN!!!

Maybe not so much unpacked just quite yet, but we’re working on it (slowly, but surely). The fun bit is that my folks are coming for a quick visit to check out the place, the neighborhood, and help us get all the more settled in (while bringing even more furniture for us to insert into our home), which is super nice of them! But so far, it definitely feels like home, and I think that’s the biggest thing when you buy a new home right? It needs to feel like home, right? Well, it definitely does as we continue to make our mark on it…plus I started baking again after a 3 week hiatus so it DEFINITELY smells like home!

As for today’s recipe, this was one of the last ones I had made for the familia when we here still hanging out with the in-laws and it was a RESOUNDING – um YUMMY! Even Frankie, who is not the biggest olive fan was digging into the whole thing! I gotta say, that’s my biggest drive for cooking. I get to change the opinion of people I cook for with the things I make. Case & point: My mother in law really dislikes fish and asparagus – HOWEVER, she LOVES my addictive asparagus and, most recently, I made fried fish tacos and she had seconds! WIN!!! I will take it! Plus, my other main success story is Frankie & his own abhorrent dislike for fish, but when you date (and eventually marry) a woman who grew up eating seafood in Hong Kong, you can’t get around it with me. SO! We spent YEARS working on his now fervent love of sushi because that was a deal breaker for me (just as I have learned to like and actually am quite picky about beer, which was a deal breaker for him) so much so that now when we try new sushi places, we only go to the ones with awesome Omakaze reviews! I mean, this is also a guy who instantly thought 1st anniversary: Kyoten Sushi! UM YES PLEASE! (Also I win again…lol)

Anyway, I will be sure to post more photos of us breaking in the house on my Instagram if you’re interested, but if you’re more down to just enjoy a snack dinner, a glass of wine, and a good movie, this is the recipe for you!

— Cooking Maggie

Baked Feta Cheese

Ingredients – Serves 4-6

• 8 oz block feta
• 1/2 cup pitted green olives
• 1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
• salt & pepper sprinkled on top
• Serving: Crostini / baked French Bread

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350 F.
2. Add feta to a small baking dish.
3. Add olives and sun-dried tomatoes to the baking dish around the feta.
4. In a small dish, mix olive oil, garlic, and spices together, then sprinkle on top of the feta and olives and tomatoes.
5. Bake for 20 minutes, then broil for 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve with crostinis or baked, sliced French bread (in bite sized pieces).