One Mama Jama of an Antipasto

 I got my first jellyfish sting on vacation. It hurt. I poured vinegar on it and I smelled like a salt and vinegar chip for the rest of the day. Did I mention I got stung when my husband whipped me off the tube and I flung across the water in the middle of the ocean? Did I also mention that due to being whipped across the jellyfish it stung me in four different spots on my body?  I am sure I mentioned that I slipped falling off the boat when it hit shore because I was trying to get off it so fast. I didn't mention that? After the jellyfish ordeal a drink was in order. I found these new diet Ocean Spray sparkling cranberry juices. They are the perfect low calorie mixer. I don't have a photo because I was too busy crying about my sting to take one. They come in four packs. They sell them in grape pomegranate and they also have a regular version too.

One of my favorite things to do on vacation is the last day cook everything in the house smorgasbord. This time I had some sous chefs and we went at it. Cora made some pork cutlets, Colleen made some grilled eggplant and I roasted some peppers and toasted some crostini. We threw that in with a salad and made one mama jama of an antipasto. It was delish. 

James wanted more......

This was just too cute to not be shared.

You should really take a stab at roasting your own peppers. They are 8000 times better then the packaged kind and are SO easy to do. You can roast them on your grill or right on your gas stove top. Turn fire on high and just place them on the grate. Once they start to blacken and blister flip to blacken and blister the other side. Do this until all sides are blackened, then put into a brown paper bag or  covered Tupperware container for 5-10 minutes. Next peel the black skin off the pepper and remove the stem. Store in a Ziploc bag or Tupperware container for up to three days. I like to store mine with 2-3 smashed cloves of garlic. Some people put olive oil but I am supposed to be dieting so we don't do that here. You can use the peppers on a sandwich, in sauces, rolled into baked chicken, on salads,  or layered into eggplant parm like I am tonight.



PS. I bought this ridiculously good apple fritter bread from Target. OMG, so good. I am waiting for it to stale up a bit so I can make some amazing french toast that you will drool over.