Once upon a time . . .

There was an olive bread appetizer recipe on The Pioneer Woman's fantastic blog. Being the olive lover that I am, this begged to be made for my birthday extravaganza last night. Why? Because I only turned 28 once, and I fully intended to spoil myself for making it. The combination of black and green olives, the slight hint of onion, the creamy texture contrasted by the crunch of the crusty bread ---- definitely a party in my mouth. So now I'm inviting you to make a party for your mouth; you won't be disappointed!

While I modified the recipe slightly, I think next time I'll follow hers more closely. I cut back on some of the butter and cheese, just because in her pictures the bread looked almost too full of the spread [I've now realized that being "too full" of this spread isn't possible.] It turned out to be not quite enough for the whole loaf of bread last night, which made us sad. But it's ok; there's always another day to olive bread it up! The recipe below is hers since the changes I made yesterday were relatively insignificant.Olive Bread
From The Pioneer Woman

1 loaf French bread
6 oz. pimento-stuffed green olives [I didn't actually measure how many I used yesterday as they came out of a 10 oz. jar.]
6 oz. black olives
2 stalks green onions [I used white with great results and just made sure to finely chop them.]
1 stick butter, room temperature
1/2 c. mayonnaise
3/4 lb. Monterey Jack cheese [I actually used a double cheddar; I think pretty much any cheese would work here.]

Roughly chop the olives and slice up the green onions into small pieces. Combine all ingredients except bread and stir until thoroughly combined. Spread this mixture onto French bread that's been sliced in half lengthwise. Bake at 325F 25-30 minutes or until cheese is melted and browning. [I flipped it onto low broil for 2-3 minutes right at the end to brown the cheese nicely.]

The mixture can also be made up to 2 days prior to using, which is really convenient. The Pioneer Woman has some awesome photos on her page and also a tip about how to flash-freeze the bread --- how handy! So thanks to The Pioneer Woman for this amazing recipe; it'll definitely be made around our house again!