An Italian style Spread

One of my mother’s friends sent a recipe to me for an Italian style spread that’s really yummy.
It’s a layered spread that starts with a layer of cream cheese mixed with goat cheese, spread and pressed into a bowl lined with plastic wrap.
The next layer is a blend of spinach, fresh basil, Parmesan and olive oil and garlic. It makes a dry pesto. This would work best in a food processor, but I was able to chop it finely in a blender.
On top of that you spread roasted pine nuts and finely diced sun-dried tomatoes.
Those layers are repeated and then the final layer is the last of the cream cheese/goat cheese mix.
The spread is chilled to blend the flavors, and then served with crackers. I’ve made this twice for my family, and I plan to make it for the two brunches coming up. It may become a staple at family gatherings. The pesto layer blended with the cheese is wonderful!

Veni, Vedi, Veci Iowa

Actually, that should be WE came, We saw, We conquered Iowa. My mother, one of my nieces and I visited a niece in eastern Iowa this week. It was a totally unstructured weekend. We ate, and shopped, and scrap-booked, played Spite and Malice, quilted, knitted, chatted, ate, drank, ate, and generally had a wonderful time.

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