Posts from — April 2011

Today is Eugene Robert Otter’s 80^th birthday. Who is Gene Otter?  My dad; that handsome 20-something-year-old in the picture above, that’s who.  Happy birthday, Dad!  If you follow this blog then you already know that I am in the middle of planning his big 80^th birthday party, which will be held on Saturday, April 30^th.  The reason we’re waiting nearly two weeks to hold the party is that today it is still Lent and my dad gives up all alcohol for Lent and he wants to party at his party, so the weekend after Easter works best.

Today is also this year’s Tax Day.  Three days later than usual due to a holiday in Washington, D.C. that occurred on Friday, April 15^th.  Tax Day is a big deal at our house because Dave is a CPA and has worked non-stop for several months now and the end is finally here!

With all the celebrating happening around here, I’m going to post some crafty Easter stuff today instead of a recipe.  I’ll appear on Channel 12 Valley Dish twice this week.  First in a taped segment with Marissa on Wednesday, April 20^th, where we demonstrate how to make these gorgeous silk tie Easter eggs. Then again on Good Friday, April 22^nd, when I will show you how to set up a beautiful and natural Easter buffet. Here’s a little sneak peek at a couple of the elements involved.  Be sure and watch both the egg and buffet segments at 3:30 on Channel 12.

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Easter is a week away, so to help get you in the spirit and begin planning your Easter dinner menu… how about a little cocktail!?  I’m not fond of Peeps, but this is too cute to not do. Vanilla, coconut, and raspberry jelly beans, that is. If it’s a bit too sweet for your taste, use half as much cream of coconut and add a splash of fresh lemon juice.

Tip: When you want to try a new variety or brand of liqueur or alcohol, an inexpensive way to go is to buy the sample or “airplane” size bottles. That’s what I did with the coconut rum I used here. Total Wine has a great selection to choose from.

And although this recipe is vegetarian… it hardly counts as the Meatless Monday Meal I promised to begin posting on weekends. For that, you’ll need to go back to Friday’s post, and instead of cutting the baguette into slices to make crostini, cut it into four equal portions, cut open each of those pieces horizontally, almost through, as though you’re opening a book and make Grilled Vegetable Sandwiches with the toasted bread, herbed goat cheese, and veggies.  Super-Duper Yummy!

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Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for yours truly. First off, my sister and niece, Sloane and Raina, along with Marissa and I, are going to get up at the crack of dawn and drive to Tempe to participate in Pat’s Run. Pat’s Run honors American Hero, Pat Tillman and benefits The Pat Tillman Foundation which raises funds benefiting Tillman Military Scholars. If you don’t already know Pat Tillman’s story, you really need to learn about him!

After the run, (in all honesty, we are walking, but walking fast!) Marissa and I will race home, pack up, and get ourselves to Berridge Nurseries on Camelback and 46th Streets for the Art in the Garden event that I will be cooking at, beginning at noon.  This is the recipe I’ll be making, I realize it may look a bit intimidating with 25+ ingredients, but the majority of those are vegetables, herbs, and olive oil, so give it a whirl. I hope you’ll stop by the event and say “hello”.

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In February, Marissa was in London and when she returned home she raved about a dessert she had there, Banoffee Pie, aka Banoffi Pie. Banoffee is a banana and toffee pie that was invented in 1972 at The Hungry Monk restaurant. I promised to make it for her and today I am fulfilling that promise.  Her friend, and former college roommate, Petra, has been in town the last couple of weeks and she is leaving tomorrow, so I made the pie for them to share.  It was Petra who Marissa was visiting in the UK and Petra who introduced her to the dessert.

I found the original Hungry Monk recipe online and that is what I am posting here.  That was all good until I was ready to put the whipped cream on top and decided to go look at Marissa’s picture of the pie to see if the topping was spread or piped on.  The picture of her slice of pie looks nothing like what I’ve made, as you can see below!

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If you’ve made the Roasted Ratatouille Roulade on yesterday’s post, then you already have the ratatouille needed to make this lasagna. If not, CLICK HERE for the ratatouille recipe.  Enjoy!

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This would be another wonderful Meatless Monday meal, just leave out the chicken.  I added it because my dad was coming for dinner and it isn’t dinner if meat is not included for him… he is old school to the max! The chicken does benefit and stays lovely moist and juicy roasting under the vegetables this way. We’ll be using half of the ratatouille for these roulades and save the remaining half for tomorrow’s ratatouille lasagna.

I couldn’t find any really good-looking tomatoes in the grocery store, so I substituted canned diced tomatoes, always the way to go when there are no good tomatoes around.

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I’m going to try to post a “Meatless Monday” meal every week.  I honestly don’t know how long I’ll keep it up, but I’m going to give it my best shot.  The problem with posting on Monday is that if the recipe sounds like something you really would like to try for dinner that night, it doesn’t give you much time to get to the store and get the ingredients. So I plan to post “MM” recipes over the weekend.

Besides the Boca burgers I use to buy for Marissa during her vegetarian days, I’ve never purchased or cooked with meat replacements before, but the more I hear about them, the more I’ve been wanting to give them a chance.  Vegan activist and author, Kathy Freston, has been a frequent guest on both Oprah and Ellen and she swears by the Gardein and Morningstar Farms brands, so that is what I am going to start with.

I purchased a half-dozen different packages and decided to play it safe for this first go-round and make chili since if we didn’t care for the “fake” meat taste, the bold and spicy flavors of chili would easily cover it up!

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There will not be a recipe posted today, I am far too busy to cook! I’ve been scouring every store I can think of for items for this year’s Easter buffet. I’ve been to Cost Plus World Market, Pier One, Holland Boone, and a couple of consignment stores, and I just returned home from Crown Imports. Maybe tomorrow I’ll hit Micheal’s and JoAnn’s … but I’ve done all I can do today.

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I’m gearing up for a demonstration cooking class in the garden next weekend.  In that garden spirit, I made myself a delicious breakfast gazpacho drink this morning, what a way to get the day started!

I hope you’ll come out to see me at Berridge Nurseries (4647 E. Camelback in Phoenix) next Saturday, April 16th, at noon.

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My friend and neighbor, Jeanie, recently asked for a good recipe for Panang Curry, which I happily provided her. The only problem was that then I was craving Thai food. I didn’t have all the ingredients needed for the Panang on hand, but I did have what was needed for these easy chicken satay – problem solved! [Read more →]