Cumin-Roasted Potatoes and Bacon-Wrapped Dates

Wednesday I entered my kitchen for the first time in nearly a month. Well, that's not quite true--seeing as our "kitchen" is really just one wall of our "living room" in our tiny Manhattan apartment, I enter it all the time. But pull out the knives, turn on the oven and follow a recipe? It's been awhile.

But on Monday of this week, I took my last final, turned in my last paper and officially finished my first semester of grad school. How to celebrate? With a fab holiday party of course--as the prosecco flowed, everyone gobbled up bacon-wrapped, parmesan stuffed dates and cumin roasted potatoes topped with smoked salmon and creme fraiche. For the recipes, click the links. The dates can be prepared ahead of time--just store on a baking sheet in the fridge until you want to cook them. With the potatoes, be sure to follow the instructions and roast them cut-side down on the pan--they'll develop a lovely crispy-crunchy skin. Also, I skipped the caviar on the potatos--I am just a grad student after all.

School doesn't start again until late January, so watch this space! Over the next few weeks I'll be reacquainting myself with the kitchen and cooking up a storm (I hope!).