Kathleen McGivney

Fig crostini with Stilton and honeycomb

Fig crostini w/Stilton & honeycomb, originally uploaded by kmcgivney.

It's been a while since my Break Your Resolutions party, and I just realized I'd neglected to post the recipe for the most delicious - and most challenging - appetizer at the party. Behold, fig crostini with Stilton cheese, honeycomb, port wine reduction, and honey.

I got the idea for this crostini from this recipe, but adapted it heavily - no puff pastry, no walnut crunch, no second baking step. The main thing I used from the original recipe was the cooking technique for the figs, which was fairly straightforward and turned out absolutely delicious.

This was the favorite at the party. One guest shouted, "ohmigod, the figs, the figs!" I'd probably tweak it a little next time and use a softer bread, but otherwise it was great - the flavors worked very well together.

Recipe after the jump.

Announcing the Tri-State Lotus User Group

As Mitch Cohen, Jim Casale, and Ed Brill have already mentioned today, we're happy to announce the relaunch of the New York Metro Lotus User Group, now renamed the Tri-State Lotus User Group. The kickoff meeting for the relaunch of the user group is on Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 PM at the IBM facility at 590 Madison Avenue in New York City. Ed Brill and Carl Tyler will be our featured speakers at this event. Registration and networking will begin at 5:30 PM, and there will be light refreshments and giveaways. As Jim mentioned, we're also running a logo design contest and the winner will be announced (and receive a prize) at the meeting.

We plan to hold quarterly meetings around the tri-state (NY/NJ/CT) area to accommodate more people, and we will be running an annual full-day meeting that will be like a mini-conference - multiple tracks, lots of guest speakers, vendor giveaways, lunch and snacks included - all FREE to attendees.

Registration is open for the April 21st meeting, so please register if you'd like to attend. The meeting is in three weeks, so please feel free to pass this information on to as many people as possible! We hope to see you there!