French Olive Tapenade

For those of you who don't know me well, I'm not a girlie-girl. AT ALL. I'm laid back. VERY laid back. I'm a sneakers and jeans type of gal who tries not to sweat the small stuff. I'm also big into collegiate athletics, especially Hawkeye football. If you did know me, you'd know that while those seem like pretty silly and unrelated facts, they are certainly pretty defining characteristics of my personality.

Now allow me to take you on a little trip down memory lane to about 4 years ago and my bridal shower. I'm sure you're wondering where the heck this is going, but hang in there. So keeping the above information about me in mind you can probably imagine how the idea of a stuffy, formal bridal shower isn't really my thing. Granted, I had no idea what my shower would be like since my bridesmaids and Mom did all of the planning but I knew they were going to make it something unusual...

And wow. Was I right. I remember showing up for my shower, walking in the room, and thinking, "Is this heaven?" Check this out:

These are photos from before I arrived and before they were done setting up, but I think you get the idea... ;)

Seriously, could this be any more ME?! After all, I'm the gal who wore sneakers under her wedding dress. True story! So walking in the door to this shower was overwhelming. 25 of my closest friends were there to share in the fun and I couldn't have asked for anything better! And how cute are my Mom and her friends?? My Mom is in the top middle, she's so stinkin' cute. The other women literally watched me grow up from an infant so it was wonderful to have them there as well.

The napkins, the plates, the favors, THE FOOD, it was all in Hawkeye black and gold. Not a fussy, frilly thing in sight. And the food, oh the food! One of my bridesmaids is the executive chef at an Italian bistro and he (yes, HE. Two of my four bridesmaids were men) catered the main dishes. My Mom did the rest of the treats with everything from football sugar cookies to olive tapenade. And that my friends is the whole point of this post. That olive tapenade blew my mind and has been one of my favorite apps to make ever since. I'm just surprised I haven't blogged it yet... so here we go!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup pimiento-stuffed green olives


• 1/3 cup black olive


• 1/3 cup kalamata olives


• 1 tablespoon olive oil


• 1 tablespoon Dijon-style mustard


• 2 teaspoons balsamic vinegar


• 1 clove garlic, mined


• 1/2 cup chopped and seeded fresh tomatoes


• 2 tablespoon thinly sliced green onion

Directions:

• Chop everything in a food processor (except the tomatoes and onion) or use one of those


• hand choppers like you can get from Pampered Chef.


• When you have the olives chopped as finely as you like, add the tomatoes and onion.


• Serve on toasted bread or use your favorite chip.

I know I told you the other day how much I love, LOVE green olives but I should have stated that I love ALL olives. This is one treat that I always enjoy and will surely get gobbled up quickly by your guests too!

And thanks for letting me share some memories, too :)