Easter Brunch

We had a little brunch at our house Easter morning before riding our bikes over to the park where we shivered with some friends and beckoned the sun to come out. It did not.

I looked all over for rhubarb this weekend, but none was to be had. Maybe its too early here? I wish I had a little rhubarb patch out back of my 6 unit apartment building. I wonder what the neighbors would say :)

So I gave up on the rhubarb treat and made blueberry muffins instead. I also made an overnight french toast and overdid my asparagus (oops!). But the saver of the day was my friend Beth who appeared at the door with the most amazing mini-quiches ever and what was the most adorable baby lamb cake I have ever seen.

This white cake was sweetened with applesauce, filled with buttercream frosting and topped with coconut. Beth baked the cake in a lamb shaped cake mold from her grandmother. The lamb cake was one of her easter traditions growing up, and she brought one to share with us. This lamb was almost too cute to eat!

Beth made these tarragon topped mini-quiches using wonton wrappers instead of pastry, shaped in muffin tins and filled with egg, milk, cheese and bacon. They were wonderful, and so pretty!

Here's our little spread, fresh picked spring flowers while the lamb looks over the french toast :)

Weekly Menu April 8-14

Whew! I just returned from a stock the pantry grocery trip.  I thought the store would be quiet on Easter morning, but I was wrong.  I had run out of several pantry items so had a lot to bring home (cans of beans, tomato products, walnuts... ).  Now all is back in order.  Here's the weekly menu.  That just happens to be all vegetarian.  Bon Appetit!

Cara's kale and walnut pesto that was recently included on Food Gawker and saw a huge spike in views last week.  Have to try this one out!!

The ever delicious black bean and sweet potato burrito.  Still not tired of this gem, also from Cara.  Have you tried this yet? Do. It. Now!

New recipe from Mark Bittman's blog: curried chickpea salad... with pita bread for a light and easy dinner.

New recipe from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker...  creamy tomato soup with Israeli couscous this will probably be paired with a grilled mozzarella sandwich.  MM!

Homemade pizza.  Gotta use that second Bon Appetit no-knead crust.  Toppings: fresh mozzarella, basil and red peppers. I kind of want to eat that right now!!

Have a great week.  What's for dinner where you live?

-Allison 

Stormy Saturday Morning

I have a lot of homework to do this weekend. So I'm taking this gloomy Saturday morning to lounge around before errands and reading dominate my day.  I don't have real weekend cooking plans, but a few weekly menu meals got pushed out of the week due to busy schedules and an unexpected dinner invitation so I have the soup and the pasta left to make. 

However, last night, I had a flash of inspiration to make scones.  I didn't know it was going to be a gloomy morning, but now, as it rains and thunders, and I catch up on internet browsing (Food Gawker, Pinterest, Facebook, Bon Appetit.com, etc.) they are perfect.  Especially with some homemade strawberry jam and lots of coffee.

My Chia frog, who is trying to grow his seeds, looks a little jealous.

This make the dough ahead trick comes from my dear Kitchen Table Friend, Cara.  One Saturday morning, when I was visiting her in Denver Colorado, she magically produced warm scones (I believe they were lemon and currant!) out of the oven.  When did you make those? I asked, delighted.  She had prepared the dough the night before for a warm, morning breakfast surprise.  Yum.  Cara makes the best scones. 

I am improving, by practicing when the mood strikes, the Joy of Cooking recipe for classic scones with dried cranberries. I leisurely made the recipe last night and stored the dough in the fridge.  Then this morning when I woke up, as the coffee was brewing, I preheated the oven to 450, brushed the top with egg, and 20 minutes later, voila! Breakfast. 

My husband just popped in from working on something in the garage to get one and said "yuuuum!"  so I think I've done a good job this time around. 

Now, as I finish writing this, it seems the rain is clearing up... so that means I should probably get to work!

Gingery Cranberry Breakfast Quinoa

Its spring and while I love hot cereal for breakfast in the morning, I'm so over the same old oatmeal I've been eating all winter long. This morning I switched it up with quinoa with cranberries, spiked with crystallized ginger. It was so nice I thought I'd share it with you.

 Ginger Cranberry Breakfast Quinoa

1 cup red quinoa, rinsed
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup crystalized ginger, chopped
1/3 cup dried cranberries
honey, to taste
splash of milk of your choice (almond, soy, rice or dairy)

Bring quinoa and water to a boil. Add ginger and cranberries, lower heat and cover with a lid. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until quinoa is soft and 'splits' open. Serve with a splash of milk (I love it with almond milk) and a drizzle of honey.

Do you have any Easter plans? I'll be spreading my kitchen table with some of my favorite spring foods, rhubarb and asparagus. What are you cooking up for the weekend?

Almond and Apricot Thumbprint Cookies

Here's a little goodie I made last week for the Fun-A-Day Boston opening show at the Aviary Gallery. These cookies are chock full of one of my favorite foods: Almonds!

This recipe calls for almond butter, and last week I had tried my hand at making my own homemade almond butter. I love the stuff, and it can be a bit pricey in store. I ground up the almonds in my food processor. It took about 15 minutes and while the almond butter turned out well, my food processor wasn't very happy with me. By the time the almonds had turned to butter, the machine was smelling a bit overdone and I was sensing imminent mechanical failure. Perhaps an industrial rated food processor would handle this better. Not sure if I'll try it again on my own (my food processor is one of my favorite kitchen tools). So for this recipe you can try making your own following this perfect tutorial from a cozy kitchen, or just buy your own (I find Trader Joe's has the cheapest store-bought almond butter).

And now to the cookies! This is a Martha Stewart recipe, I've made it several times. Click here to find the full recipe. I follow it to the "t" with perfect results every time.

Voila! They were a hit at the art show. Check out our spread...

A little note about this 2-tiered dessert stand: I picked it up at Laura Ashley in the UK while I was in Wales for grad school. Its one of my favorite things, I use it to display desserts or just as a spring and summer fruit basket at home. The whole thing comes apart and packs flat for easy transport. Love it!

Carrot Cake Pancakes

Cara, I think you're going to like this one. It's about breakfast between friends!

One of the perks of bring in grad school and working irregular hours,  is that I can have friends come over for breakfast before an afternoon class.  Today Aimee rode her bike over so we could make carrot cake pancakes !  What a treat to have a friend over to start the week! I love meeting friends for coffee at Des Moines' wonderful local coffee shops, however, for me there are times when having a friend over so you can cook together cannot be beat.  Especially when that friend is a fellow food enthusiast.  When planning our breakfast, Aimee wrote in an e mail "Do we think about food too much?"  To which I responded,  "Yes and there's nothing wrong with that!" 

We followed the recipe, almost exactly but instead used vanilla almond milk (rather thank plain) and substituted canola oil for a delicious walnut oil.  These pancakes (which happen to be vegan, if you're into that kind of thing) had a spicy, nutty flavor.  They were light and fluffy (perhaps due to a pleasant bubbling that occurred upon adding the wet ingredients to the dry) and not too sweet. 

I do not love carrot cake, the cake version. It's often too dense and too sweet and the cream cheese frosting that is usually on top is just over kill in my opinion (recall... I don't like frosting very much, period.) This was a nice substitute. So, if you're ever thinking of making me a carrot cake, just make me carrot pan-cakes instead. 

Weekly Menu: The first week of April

In my planning for this week's menu, I looked back on past weekly menu posts.  Sharing my love of food was one reason to make this blog, an added bonus outcome has been an archive of what I've been eating! While it's turning to Spring and has been unseasonably warm, I'm having a difficult time transitioning to Spring time foods. It's just too early for the spring vegetable dishes that keep popping up in my food magazines.  Farmers' markets aren't even open yet, but when they do, perhaps we'll see a dramatic change.  Enjoy!

stacked enchilada from Taste of Home

frittata with leeks, potatoes, cheese (feta, parmesan, or goat: whatever strikes me at the moment, tomatoes, and rosemary.

shell pasta with veggie sausage, mushrooms and tomatoes. 

Indian corn soup with chicken

roasted salmon with rosemary and garlic green beans