Is it fall yet? The leaves say, “Yes,” but the temperatures say, “No.” Regardless of if the weather is feeling it, my friends threw a fall party. Ummm YES! No Halloween costumes required, but lots of yummy food and drinks.

• My favorite thing to make when I’m hosting or going to a party is Italian flatbread. It’s easy and it’s yummy – two of the best things in my opinion. All you need is a plain flatbread (I’ve bought focaccia and because it was thick, sliced it in half to double the recipe), pesto, 10 ish black olives (I cut them in half), 10ish sundried tomatoes (I cut them in half), prosciutto,  and fresh mozzarella cheese (I bought mine in one of those big round balls and used it all, but remember, I doubled the recipe).
  • You spread the pesto on the bread. Then layer all the goodies on top. I start with the cheese, mostly because I love cheese and go from there. This recipe could easily be made vegetarian by leaving out the prosciutto.
  • I bought all my ingredients at Aldi except the sundried tomatoes, those I purchased on Kroger.
  • If you make this recipe again soon enough, you can use your left over olives, tomatoes and prosciutto, depending on how much you purchase.
  • I’ve served this flatbread as a side when I was serving Italian food, but as I did this weekend, took it by itself to a get together.
• There’s something about the cooler temperatures that encourages me to drink hot tea. I love coffee, but the acidity can make it tricky to drink a lot of it, but holding a mug with a hot beverage in my hands is one of my favorite things. Enter: tea. It’s the best of both worlds. Right now I’m alternating between Trader Joe’s Vanilla Cinnamon Black Tea and a fruity green tea from Fresh Thyme.
• Christine Pohl’s Living Into Community has not been quick read for me, but it’s been a GREAT read. Pohl walks through four practices of healthy Christian communities. I’ve already applied several of her ideas and have been consistently challenged by her insights.
• Vertical Church Band’s song, This We Know is on repeat right now for me. It’s SO good. During an election season that had made me so weary, it’s words are an encouragement to what I believe to be true – the story will end with Jesus’ victory!

“This we know, we will see the enemy run. This we know, we will see Your victory come. We hold on to every promise You’ve ever made; Jesus, You are unfailing.”

Hopefully your Monday is full of the good stuff… Not like mine, which includes Jury Duty. Oh and HAPPY HALLOWEEN! (Can you tell I’m not a huge fan?)