Croquet!

by katie

It’s easy to forget, but Annapolis is really a college town.  We have two colleges here that could not be more different, but somehow exist together in harmony.  There’s the United States Naval Academy, of course.  And there’s also St. John’s College.  The culture at the Naval Academy is probably well-known to everyone.  St. John’s, however, is a horse of an entirely different color.  It is crunchy granola activist bookworm central.  Naturally, I mean all those things as a compliment.  Every spring, these two institutions of higher learning drop everything, pick up croquet mallets, and have at it.  It’s something we all look forward to.  The 32nd annual match took place this past Saturday during some of the best weather anyone can remember.  I had so much fun, in fact, that I forgot to take pictures of the actual croquet!  I did get at least one shot of the St. John’s library.

Our street usually has a reserved space on the St. John’s lawn, and we all bring a little snack to share.  It was busy at work last week so I called my mom in a mild panic on Wednesday to get ideas for what to bring.  As usual, she had the perfect answer: party roll-ups!  I’d never made these before, but they were so easy, and turned out so well, that I will definitely be adding them to my go-to list.  One of the best parts is that they can be made in advance.  I made two varieties – one with salmon and dill cream cheese, and one with prosciutto and basil cream cheese.  I just picked the ingredients I thought sounded good.  You could definitely mix these up, using whatever you have or whatever sounds good to you.  I took some photos of the process so you can see just how easy these are.  Recipes for both kinds are below.

Spread the herb cream cheese on a flour tortilla.

Add a layer of fish or meat (smoked salmon in this case).

Roll the tortilla up as tightly as you can, and then wrap in plastic.

After refrigerating overnight, slice each roll into 1-2 inch slices.

Here are the recipes:

Smoked Salmon Roll-Ups

2 blocks of cream cheese, softened

1/4 chopped fresh dill

2 T dried minced onion

1 large package of Scottish smoked salmon

1 package of flour tortillas (10″ size, I used the plain flavor)

Mix the softened cream cheese, dill, and minced onion until well blended.  Spread a few tablespoons of cream cheese mixture on a tortilla to get an even coating.  Place a few slices of smoked salmon on top of the cream cheese.  Roll tightly and wrap in plastic.  Repeat until you run out of ingredients.  Place the rolls in the refrigerator overnight.  When ready to serve, remove the plastic and slice the rolls into even pieces (discarding the ends).

Prosciutto and Pepper Roll-Ups

2 blocks cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

2 T dried minced onion

2 packs of sliced prosciutto

1 jar roasted red peppers, drained and sliced

1 package flour tortillas (10″ size, I used the sundried tomato basil flavor)

Mix the cream cheese, basil, and minced onion until well blended.  Spread a few tablespoons of cream cheese mixture on a tortilla to get an even coating.  Place a few slices of prosciutto on top of the cream cheese, followed by a sprinkling of sliced peppers.  Roll tightly and wrap in plastic.  Repeat until you run out of ingredients.  Place the rolls in the refrigerator overnight.  When ready to serve, remove the plastic and slice the rolls into even pieces (discarding the ends).