Happy Monday! Are you as psyched about your week as my dog was about letting the breeze hit her face riding in the car last weekend?
Trying to capture her funny faces as she sticks her face out of the car window is hilarious. People that aren’t entertained by dogs perplex me. My knucklehead puppy makes me laugh all the time!
Before I get to this fabulous appetizer recipe…
I’m backing it up a couple of days to chat about the food, fitness, and fun of my weekend. On Thursday night (I know, not technically the weekend yet!) I attended a yoga class at the new PUMA Women’s store at South Coast Plaza Mall in Costa Mesa on behalf of FitFluential.
Holy moly, that shopping center is gorgeous! My cousin Michelle lives somewhat close a bit north of there, so I invited her to come get her yoga on with me.
The yoga class was relaxing with a lot of pose holding, and afterwards everyone mingled as PUMA offered champagne, snacks, discounts and gift card giveaways.
Fallen Angel pose
There were a couple of other ladies there on behalf of FitFluential – a few of which I recognized from social media – so it was nice getting to meet them in person. I think we’re all trying to meet up for a hike sometime soon. I just love the healthy living blogger community!
The other workouts of my weekend included a family hike on Friday evening at sunset…
…Saturday morning yoga + a HIIT session, as well as a long walk along the beach on Sunday morning during my rest day. 
Saturday night A and I attended the Marine Corps ball, which celebrates the birth of the USMC annually. This year marks 240 years since the Marine Corps was born.
I got exactly zero decent pictures of us to share (fail!). It did feel a bit different to be at a ball for a unit that my hubby is a Reservist in and not an active duty Marine, but it was nice to meet some of the people that A works with in the Reserves.
Sunday was a total homebody day, with lots of football watching, time spent experimenting in the kitchen and puppy snuggles…
And of course, there was lots of good food over my weekend! On Friday night I made Sarah’s butternut squash enchilada casserole for dinner…
On Sunday I made homemade pretzels for the first time, and they came out great! I followed the recipe for these pumpkin beer pretzels, which I mentioned in a recent post. I’m not a beer drinker in the least bit, but I was drawn to something about these pretzels. They don’t taste like beer, the pumpkin flavor is very subtle, and the salty cinnamon sugar topping gave the pretzels a yummy little something extra.
I was in soft pretzel heaven! I also came up with a new doughy, cheesy recipe (coming to the blog soon!)…
…and made banana chocolate chip muffins (<–throwback recipe from the first few weeks that I started blogging!).
I think my hubby has eaten half a dozen muffins since I made them on Saturday afternoon! My favorite way to enjoy them so far is to halve the muffin, then top it with banana slices, raspberries, and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. Yum! 
Over the weekend I really enjoyed this new autumn weather we’re getting. Sunny days in the 70s and cool, brisk nights = November perfection in my book!
And speaking of autumn, today I’ve got a seasonal recipe for you. It honors my all-time favorite type of apple: the McIntosh.
The McIntosh variety were my favorite kind of apples growing up on the east coast, but once I moved to California, I didn’t see them out here for years. Now all of a sudden this fall, I’ve found some McIntosh apples in a few of the stores I frequent, and they are the best.
Can you tell that I’m apple crazed? I realized that this is the third apple recipe in a row that I’m posting. For any apple haters out there (Do those people even exist?), I promise that my next recipe will contain no apples. 😉
To make these crostini, we need to bake some baguette slices brushed in olive oil.
Meanwhile, thinly slice the apple, then bake it in a sauté pan with honey and cinnamon until tender and apple pie-like. Maple syrup would work too if you prefer.
The goat cheese mixture gets made by combining creamy goat cheese, lemon zest, chopped fresh sage, and a touch of olive oil.
We combine it all together to form a sweet but savory dish. First your tastebuds get hit with the sweetness of the apple, cinnamon, and honey. Then you crunch into the toasted baguette. The creamy goat cheese and herby sage gives you your next flavor pop, just as the lemon zest gives it a nice zing. I tell ya, it’s like a people pleasing taste explosion.
It makes for a yummy appetizer that’s easy to throw together, especially if you’re having a few people over and want to put together a couple simple dishes for everyone to munch on… though I wouldn’t blame you if you want to keep these all to yourself!
Cinnamon Apple & Sage Goat Cheese Crostini
Ingredients
- 7 oz French baguette
- 1 medium McIntosh apple cut into thin slices (or any other apple that bakes well)
- 3 oz creamy goat cheese
- 2 TBSP honey
- 1 TBSP + 1 TSP extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 TBSP fresh sage chopped
- 1/2 TSP cinnamon
- 1/2 TSP lemon zest
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice baguette thinly, into around 16 slices. Brush the slices with the 1 TBSP of olive oil, and place on a baking sheet. Bake until lightly browned and crispy, around 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the apple slices in a sauté pan with the honey and cinnamon. Heat over medium low heat until apples are tender and apple pie-like (around 10 minutes), stirring around often.
- To make the goat cheese: Combine the goat cheese, lemon zest, chopped sage, and remaining olive oil in a bowl. Stir until evenly combined.
- Once the bread is done baking, remove from heat. Brush each crostini with the goat cheese mixture, and place a few baked apple slices on each crostini. Enjoy them while they're warm!
Nutrition
Tell me… What’s your favorite type of apple? What was the best thing you ate last weekend?
I love that first picture of Harley! She’s such a cute pup. You lucked out with her. 🙂
And you were super productive in the kitchen this weekend! Everything looks so good, especially these crostinis. I’ve never tried sage with apples but I love the sound of it. All I need is some of these and a glass of wine and I’m set! 🙂
Totally, a crisp white white would pair great with these crostini!
Glad you guys had fun at the event! That crostini looks so good. I love sage in the fall.
I don’t use sage as much as I should – going to start using it more!
I am SO impressed with your pretzels! Holy wow! Also, that yoga class looks super fun! You and your cousin are so cute in that pose. Also, very nice fallen angel!
Thanks girl! I have to say, I was really proud of myself with those pretzels too. I’m dying to make them again. They were SO good!