Easter Parade

Easter means a lot of different things to people.

For some, it is the most spiritual time of year.
For others, it's one of few times they head to church.

For kids, there are myriad egg hunts.
For foodies, a hunt for a great brunch.

For big families, it's a time of rambunctious get-togethers.
For those who are alone, Easter can be a quiet time of reflection.

For little girls, it can mean a pretty new outfit to wear.
For traditionalists, it's Easter lilies in memory of lost loved ones.

For gardeners, it's spring; everything is fresh and life is new.
For fashionistas, the white shoes come out.

For retailers, another cha-ching in the candy aisle.
For the health-conscious, a minefield of artificial colors.

And so it is. Everyone celebrates (or doesn't) in his own way.

Growing up, Easter Sunday meant a trip to church, posing for pictures, and the backyard egg hunt. Sometimes there was also a hunt at our grandparents' country club (which I remember included plenty of those cellophane-wrapped pastel-colored candy eggs with white centers...thinking of them now makes my teeth hurt). I was probably at least 12 before I realized that the reason we kids stayed behind at church with Granny and Grandpa (while Mom and Dad raced home) was really so the Easter bunny had time to hide eggs, and not as much because our grandparents wanted to show us off to their friends.

I still have the 8mm films from many of our egg hunts, even more fun to watch when we ran them backwards and put all the eggs back in their places. I'm pretty sure we hunted hard-boiled eggs. I'm also thinking my mom was the only person who ate those -- Dad was allergic and as a consequence the rest of us believed these eggs were nearly poisonous. As part of the hunt, we always found a special basket just for each of us, and that's where the chocolate bunny and other goodies were stashed.

As a grown-up, I took over the Easter meal after inheriting Granny's dishes and a little box crammed with index cards on which were her hand-written recipes. While I don't always get out her good china, one thing I always make is a strawberry ice cream dessert that we had at her house. It's pink, sweet, and surprisingly easy to make. And since I've got the ring mold she always used -- and the flat spatula she always used to get the ice cream out of the ring mold -- I've got no excuse not to.

One day, I intend to experiment with the formula to figure out how to use fresh fruit, maybe add some blueberries, and possibly even freeze it in my little hand-cranked ice cream maker (I think it would have a different consistency that would be easier to eat).

Strawberry Ice Cream Dessert

• 10-oz frozen strawberries in syrup (I haven't been able to find 10-oz packages so I just use a whole 16-oz package these days)
• 1 pint sour cream (use the real thing)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon vanilla

Thaw the strawberries and break them up with a fork (Granny's instructions say to use an old-fashioned egg beater...but I don't have one!). You don't want whole berries since they get very hard when frozen. Stir in the sour cream, sugar and vanilla. Pour into ring mold (of course you can use any type of mold or dish you like!). Freeze.

In 2007, on Granny's china with homemade cookies.

Loosen ring by running a little warm water over the back side of it. Run a flat spatula around the edges and unmold onto a plate. Cut into slices and serve, garnished with fresh berries and mint leaves. We serve small slices with shortbread, sugar cookies, pound cake or cupcakes!

With coconut cupcakes in 2010.
My Dessert Boy loves it.

We'll have an egg hunt (plastic eggs instead of real ones -- I tried hiding real eggs one year and they boys refused to pick them up..."nothing good inside"). If it rains, either the kids and eggs get wet, or we do it in the house. I'm leaning toward getting wet. Easy for me to say...I'm not hunting. :)

Happy Easter!

2004 -- first Easter. Bunny feet!

 

2006 -- you did not see me eat this!

2013 -- big kids...and a lot of dandelions!

2009 -- bucketheads





Let's Eat : Garlic-Roasted Cauliflower

Haven't you always loved cauliflower?

Yeah, me neither. White. Not that much flavor. Odd-looking. Too bulky to fit into the vegetable keeper. Traditionally overcooked and covered in some kind of suspiciously fake-food cheese sauce to make it more appealing. Something to definitely pass over at the salad bar!

Well, I've changed my mind about cauliflower. Once I tried Garlic-Roasted Cauliflower from Ina Garten's "How Easy is That?" cookbook, it was all over. This recipe has amazing flavor, thanks to the garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, fresh parsley and toasted pine nuts. The first time I made it, my husband and I ate an entire head of cauliflower. The next time, we let the kids taste it and nearly fought over the last few pieces.

Before roasting --

And the finished dish! I can almost smell it...yum.

Maybe the best part of this recipe is how easy it is to make. A little chopping and a little tossing is all it takes. Here's her recipe, modified to reflect the way I make it:

Ina's Garlic-Roasted Cauliflower, Sharon's Way

1 head of garlic
1 large head (or 2 small ones) cauliflower, trimmed, cut into large florets
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoons pine nuts

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice 
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2. Separate the cloves of garlic and peel them. Cut large cloves in half.

3. On a sheet pan, toss the cauliflower with garlic, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Spread mixture out in a single layer and roast, tossing after 15 minutes and adding the pine nuts at that time. Continue cooking for 10 minutes or so, until the cauliflower is tender and garlic and pine nuts are lightly browned.

4. Scrape the cauliflower into a large bowl with garlic and pan juices (I do not normally have any pan juices, but Ina thinks I should!). Add remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil, parsley, pine nuts and lemon juice. Sprinkle with another 1/2 teaspoon salt, toss and serve hot or warm.

Now a regular vegetable in our repertoire, cauliflower has been forever transformed from "ew" to "ah!" -- my whole family is actually excited when it's on the menu. Which helps to prove my theory that there really aren't bad vegetables...just bad ways to fix them. Roasting is a delicious way to fix so many vegetables, and I hope you'll try this one!

Let's Eat : Try Some New Things!

I may have mentioned that I don't do resolutions. And that's unlikely to change (can't take the pressure!). But I do like to cook things, so as the new year gets going I'm trying some new recipes as we get back on track after the holidays. I've gotten lazy about planning meals even though I know that having a plan is really an important key to getting food on the table every night. After the planning, then having good ingredients on hand is next, and I've slacked on my shopping too. Which is weird since I like shopping, in the right stores, and I like planning...but the holidays and a lack of a regular schedule got me all mixed up!

So here are a few of the new recipes I've tried so far this new year:

• Orange Shortbread Cookies (King Arthur recipe using candied orange peel, which I just happened to have on hand) -- yum! Keeper.
• Avocado "Hummus" (Giada recipe from her newest book) -- interesting. Stays green, in spite of having avocado in it. Needs a little more spice. I put hummus in quotes because it's made with white beans and no tahini, so not exactly hummus in my book. Once I perfect this one to my own taste, I may write about it again. It has potential.
• Whole Wheat Bread (recipe was in the comments of some blog I was reading...never to be found again) -- but that's okay, since it was an epic fail. it resembled a brick. Operator error, I think. Kids wouldn't even pick it up to try it. They actually looked frightened. Tried it again using a different recipe: Honey Whole Wheat Bread (via 100 Days of Real Food) -- better! At least I'll eat this one, even though the kids remain suspicious of all homemade bread. 
• Whole Grain Cranberry Muffins (found via Pinterest) -- another winner! Even Brett, who is The Most Difficult Kid to Please Ever With a Muffin (see related post) ate one every day until they were gone. Don't skip the glaze -- although it's easier to just mix OJ and powdered sugar than to follow the recipe there. Keeper.
• World's Best Chicken (found via Pinterest) -- and while the jury is out on world's best, it has mustard, and the kids ate it. Wow...that's a first! Super-easy and I had all the ingredients (there are not many).
• Nutella Cookies (another Pin) -- few ingredients, and it cleared out our Nutella supply, but these went together quickly and everyone liked them. I used white whole wheat flour and added a little coconut oil to help bind the dough. I'll repeat these if I'm ever willing to run out of Nutella again...

As I wait for my energy to rev back up for even more new recipes (and for a good time to grocery-shop my favorite stores), we'll keep cleaning out leftovers and bits of holiday remnants (a lot of which is chocolate, so how bad could that be?). I'll probably keep collecting more recipes, too, since they're everywhere I look.

I've got a couple of new cookbooks to keep me company and so I'm planning for some nice healthy things to come of it. Like this one, which was a new recipe for us last year and which has become one of our favorites. At least it has for the adults in the house and everywhere I've taken it...why not try it out yourself for 2014?

Farro Salad (I'm not reprinting the recipe here because this link shows it so nicely!) -- The Farro is good and chewy (I like to use Trader Joe's 10-minute farro, but I've also used the pouch of pre-cooked from Target), while the vegetables are crunchy and it's all got a warm dressing poured over the top made from sautéed onions, olive oil and balsamic vinegar. How would you possibly go wrong with that? And it's pretty enough for a pot luck!

 

 

As one of the TV chefs used to say (I think it was Jacques Pepin), "Happy Cooking!" Or in his case it was more like "Appy Cuking" -- ha.

Let's Eat : Beef Stew

Brrrr!

Anybody else a little chilly?

For many of us, it’s winter. For some of us, that’s unusual; others were expecting it (although maybe not quite as cold as it’s been this last week!). In Texas, we’re often running around in short sleeves and even shorts as the Christmas shopping escalates. The mall might be cool enough for a jacket but the outside air usually isn’t. So this recent cold-weather blast was an excellent opportunity to experience our holiday sweaters, hot spiced cider and crock pots filled with homemade soups and stews.

At our house we had one of our favorites, Paula Deen’s Old-Time Beef Stew. Link to her version, or use this one (slightly adjusted for my family’s tastes, and with the added comfort-food layer of mashed potatoes). It looks like a lot of ingredients, but it's not much work and you may already have most of what you need.

Old-Time Beef Stew over Mashed Potatoes

For the stew:

• 2 pounds stew beef
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 clove garlic, peeled
• 1 or 2 bay leaves
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• Dash ground allspice or ground cloves
• 4 large carrots, sliced
• 3 ribs celery, sliced
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch

Brown the meat in hot oil. Add beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, bay leaves, onion, salt, sugar, pepper, paprika, and allspice. Cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours.

Remove bay leaves. Add carrots and celery. Cover and simmer 30 to 40 minutes longer. Combine 1/4 cup water and cornstarch until smooth. Mix with a little hot liquid from the pot and return mixture to the stew. Stir and cook until bubbly.

For the potatoes:

• 3-4 large baking potatoes
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Milk as desired
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sliced green onions or chives

Peel the potatoes and cut into 1-inch chunks. Boil until tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain and mash with fork, pastry blender or potato masher, adding oil and milk to get the desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper to taste; mix the chives into the potatoes if you like.

To serve, place a serving of potatoes into a bowl. Ladle stew over the top, and if you still have the chives you can sprinkle them on top. This will serve 6-8 depending on how hungry they are!

Here's the stew, garnished with a few green beans!

Now that you have a warm dinner, how about that winter playlist? It doesn’t have to be Christmas carols, although those are great for December. If you think about it, there are lots of wintery songs, appropriate whenever there is a chill in the air:

·         A Marshmallow World [nice with some hot cocoa]

·         Baby, It’s Cold Outside

·         Frosty the Snowman [we all know he was made from Christmas snow…but the song doesn’t actually say that]

·         I’ve Got My Love to Keep Me Warm

·         Jingle Bells

·         Let It Snow

·         Sleigh Ride

·         (I Love the) Winter Weather

·         Winter Wonderland

·         …you get the idea. Note how none of these songs refer to ice. Pretty, fluffy, romantic snow is the stuff these are made of! You may also have some favorite, newer tunes so feel free to mix it up. I'm kind of stuck in a music groove that happened 40 years ago.
 

And everyone needs a little winter décor, besides that damp pile of coats, gloves, hats and scarves taking up space on a perfectly good chair. I’ve got an extensive snowman collection, and "the chosen ones" come out this time of year (which ones, and how many, just depends on the year). It’s a winter thing, but since we decorate for Christmas in December my husband has come to think of the snow-crew as a Christmas thing.

We have the same conversation every year when Christmas has passed but the decorations remain. I’ll agree that the stockings and the tree and the nativity sets all scream “Christmas” but argue passionately that the snowmen and snowflakes are “Winter,” and therefore should stay up through January. I generally win, because I’m the one who packs up the inside decorations anyway…but it’s an annual post-Christmas discussion nonetheless. I suspect that maybe he feels like their little black eyes -- and there might be hundreds of those -- are watching us.

Some of my favorites...these make it out EVERY year.

  

He, sometime after New Year's: Why are there still snowmen on the mantle?

Me: I like them. Besides, they’re winter.

He: Not really. That one is wearing a red and green scarf.

Me: They’ve all got different colors. That one has a heart, so he might be for Valentine's Day. 

He: Christmas is over.

Me: I took down the stockings, isn’t that enough?

He: Seriously. Christmas is over.

Me: But winter isn’t.

He: (sighs) I’m going to China.

Me: Ha! They’re staying out until February then…

Stay warm, everybody!

 

 

Let's Eat : Kenny's Cookies

Sometimes you have a recipe that's a real treasure. It's easy, consistently delicious, versatile and everybody loves it. If you're lucky, the recipe has a history and brings back memories whenever you make it.

Kenny's Cookies is "that recipe" for me. Hand-written on two index cards with post-it notes pasted all around it in an old-style sticky-page photo album, this is my go-to cookie recipe. I got it from a friend (that was Kenny -- surprise) years and years ago, probably in the late 80's.

Here's the recipe, along with my tips:

Kenny's Cookies

• 1 lb butter, softened
• 2 C brown sugar
• 1 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 3 eggs (2 eggs for a half-recipe)
• 2 t vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 t baking soda
• 1 1/2 t salt (optional)
• 6 C all-purpose flour, or use a combination of white whole wheat and AP flours
• 2 12-oz bags chocolate chips
• 2 C nuts (optional)
• 1 handful coconut

1. Cream butter and sugars.
2. Add eggs, vanilla, soda and salt.
3. Add flour, 1 cup at a time.
4. Stir in chocolate chips, nuts and coconut.
5. You can make these very large (golf-ball sized spoonfuls) or smaller (I use a medium cookie scoop). Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. If you prefer a soft cookie, remove from oven when just starting to brown on the edges. They're also good when a little more brown, but they won't be as soft.

It's easy to get creative with these -- there are about 6 cups of add-ins, which can really be any combination of chips, nuts, seeds, oatmeal, dried fruit...whatever you like. The coconut can be omitted, but it's really good if you like coconut!

This recipe makes a lot of cookies (the exact number varies depending on size) so if you don't need them all, shape the dough and freeze it to bake later. They just bake a minute or two longer, straight from the freezer. You'll be delighted when you need to bake a couple dozen cookies in a hurry! A half-recipe works just fine too, using 2 eggs as noted above...but I usually make the full batch of dough.

These are still warm...

For Christmas, I like to use a combination of dried cranberries and white chocolate chips, and sometimes add walnuts or pecans. They're pretty without having any food color, and make great gifts too.

Ironically, in recent years Kenny has trained for and completed an Ironman triathlon, and cookies like this may not be in his training diet. I suspect he wouldn't even remember giving me this recipe. But every time I pull out the old recipe album, I think of good friends and casual get-togethers...before grown-up responsibilities and kids had really settled in...and I'm glad the taste of a cookie can bring that back for a few minutes!

Let's Eat : Cranberry Everything

I love cranberries. And I confess, I eat and serve them year-round, even without turkey. Fortunately, my family loves them too, so when they show up at a meal everyone is happy.

Bags of frozen cranberries lurk in my freezer, hoarded from the fall harvest. When I pull out a bag and make a simple cranberry relish to go with a roasted chicken, there's never even a trace of that relish left.

 

Dried cranberries are always in the pantry. The kids love to eat those alongside goldfish crackers, something that probably got started with little divided snack containers when they were small. Cranberry juice at breakfast, over ice, is just so good. And cranberry bread, muffins, and cookies...I'm making myself hungry.

In honor of this beautiful berry, I offer several of my favorite cranberry recipes. Please don't buy those  cans of cranberry sauce that are on every available endcap in the grocery store -- most brands are loaded with high fructose corn syrup. Since we don't cook with that ingredient at home, I don't want it on my table (or yours) at Thanksgiving or any other time. Fresh cranberries keep well in the fridge -- way better than most other berries -- just pick through them while you rinse to get any squishy or broken ones out.

Last year Central Market had a little cranberry bog set up in the store where you could fish out some of the floating jewels and get just the right amount. It was kind of cool, but once I started wondering whose hands had tested the water...hmmm...I stuck with the bags.  

I heard this first recipe (which originated with Craig Claiborne) on National Public Radio maybe a dozen years ago and I was instantly so intrigued that I had to try it. It was an instant hit and I make it every year (yes, I post it on facebook every year too). The best part? I can make it in the food processor, in advance, in about 10 minutes!

Mama Stamberg's Cranberry Relish

•  2 cups whole raw cranberries, washed
•  1 small onion, roughly chopped
•  3/4 cup sour cream (light is okay)
•  1/2 cup sugar
•  2 tablespoons horseradish from a jar

Grind the raw berries and onion together. (I use my food processor and just pulse until it's all finely chopped. You do NOT want a puree.) Stir in remaining ingredients, or you can pulse it all together in the food processor. Put into a plastic container and freeze.

 

 

 

Voila!

 

Early Thanksgiving morning, move it from freezer to refrigerator compartment to thaw. Break it up with a fork before serving, so that it's still frozen but slushy. The relish will be thick, creamy, and shocking pink. It is also extremely delicious, whether with turkey or roast beef! Makes 1-1/2 pints.

If you're not up for hot pink hot horseradish relish, then it's even easier to make a delicious "regular" cranberry sauce on the stove. This recipe is on the back of the Ocean Spray fresh cranberry bag, and you can jazz it up with a little orange zest if you like.

Homemade Ocean Spray Cranberry Sauce

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 12-ounce bag of whole cranberries, fresh or frozen

Combine sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to boil; add cranberries and return to boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover and cool completely to room temperature. Store in refrigerator. Makes 2 1/4 cups.

Finally, I want to share the most amazing recipe for Cranberry Chess Pie. This pie is SO good. (I also like this particular blog, Back to the Kitchen -- check it out.) The pie is perfect as is, creamy filling topped with tart berries...beautiful AND delicious. More trouble than the relishes above but so worth it. I think I'll make one in a week or so!

I've seen a million craft projects featuring the cranberry -- you can string them into garlands for the tree, use a hazardous hot-glue gun to create a stunning wreath, fill clear vases with the little beauties and use them to hold fresh flowers in place -- but that's not for me. They're definitely pretty; I just prefer not to decorate with my food!

1. PS -- I haven't seen cranberry preserves in the store, but the closest thing I've found is lingonberry preserves, They're not too sweet, have a beautiful color and remind me just enough of cranberries. I've found them at World Market and IKEA. Yes, IKEA; in the same area where you can buy the meatballs and the chocolate bars. What? They have other stuff besides food?

Let's Eat : Yogurt Parfaits

Every once in a while we hit on something that's an instant hit with everyone in our house. We've had that kind of reaction to homemade yogurt parfaits, a layered combination of yogurt, fresh and/or frozen fruit, and granola. Breakfast just doesn't get much simpler than this!

When I first encountered a yogurt parfait, Art and I were in New York City (before kids, back in 2000) for a long weekend of seeing the sights, taking in Broadway shows, and eating out. We wandered over to the Today Show plaza and seated ourselves near the plaza-facing window in Dean & DeLuca. I loved that place! That's where we had our first yogurt parfait -- the yogurt was perfectly tart (but slightly sweet) and thick; the fresh berries were ripe and juicy; and the crunchy granola on top was both beautiful and delicious. Layered in a clear parfait glass, the presentation was so pretty that it almost seemed wrong to eat it. But of course we did, from the comfort of our window seats, watching everyone outside try to get into the camera's view behind Matt Lauer (this was back when he had hair AND Katie Couric).

Using my souvenir mug at home reminds me of being in New York!

Nowadays, you can get a yogurt parfait for $1 at McDonald's. They're served periodically at school when it's "breakfast for lunch" day. You can also get one some mornings at my house (and I daresay mine is better, although not quite as perfect as the Dean & DeLuca one in my memory).

(layered bottom to top)
vanilla yogurt, fresh strawberries, yogurt, kiwi, yogurt, frozen blueberries, yogurt, and granola

Of course, if you make your own yogurt or granola it's even better. I didn't do either here, but we did hand-pick the blueberries in East Texas this summer. Which counts for something!

Depending on your choice of yogurt and granola, this can be as healthy (or not) as you choose. When the berries aren't real sweet, a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup adds the right touch. Just make sure you've made enough for everyone...no fights at breakfast, please.

Let's Eat : Hummingbird Cake

This is the first in a planned series of "Let's Eat" posts. Cooking is the hobby I get to do most often (usually daily) and I'd like to share some of my favorite recipes, where they came from and why I like them. I hope you'll try them yourself!

 

Sometimes the old tried-and-true recipes are just the best. There's a reason why they keep getting published in magazines and served over and over at family events. This is one of those recipes, and it's absolutely delicious -- fortunately, it's not hard to make and uses common ingredients. Southern Living magazine first published this recipe in 1978.

 

I baked a Hummingbird Cake last weekend for my Dad's birthday celebration, and everyone loved it. There's cinnamon, bananas, and pineapple (don't worry, no actual hummingbirds are harmed in the baking of this dessert), baked in three layers and covered in a simple cream-cheese frosting. 
 

Not fancy, but who cares?

Why is it called Hummingbird Cake? I have no idea, and apparently neither does anyone else (googling brought up a lot of non-answers). No matter; it's a charming name and the cake is absolutely worth making, for a special occasion or for the special people in your life! 



My dad is trying to sneak the first bite...busted!!



Hummingbird Cake (from Southern Living magazine, and there's a printable version online at MyRecipes.com -- my own comments are in blue)

Ingredients:

· 3 cups all-purpose flour [I subbed 1 cup white whole wheat for 1 cup AP]

· 1 teaspoon baking soda

· 1 teaspoon [kosher] salt

· 2 cups sugar

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 3 large eggs, beaten

· 1 cup vegetable oil [I used canola]

· 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

· 1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, undrained

· 1 cup chopped pecans

· 2 cups chopped bananas 

· 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened [I used light cream cheese]

· 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened

· 1 (16-ounce) package powdered sugar, sifted

· 1 teaspoon vanilla extract [or vanilla bean paste, if you have it!]

· 1/2 cup [coarsely] chopped pecans 

Directions:

1.    Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl; add eggs and oil, stirring [by hand] just until dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in vanilla, pineapple, 1 cup pecans, and bananas.

2.    Pour batter into three greased and floured 9-inch round cake pans. Bake at 350° for 25 to 30 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pans on wire racks 10 minutes; remove from pans, and cool completely on wire racks.

3.    Beat cream cheese and butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add powdered sugar, beating at low speed until light and fluffy. Stir in vanilla.

4.    Spread Cream Cheese Frosting between layers and on top and sides of cake; sprinkle 1/2 cup chopped pecans on top. Store in refrigerator.

 

[Note: If you're not into frosting cakes, this can also be baked as a bundt cake, and you'll find that recipe -- with cream cheese glaze -- on myrecipes.com. I haven't tried it as cupcakes, but that should work too, just baked for a shorter time.]

 

 Now that I think of it, there's one last piece in the back of the fridge...

and I hear it calling my name.