Posts from — April 2012

I had planned on sharing more of my Easter recipes, but that will have to wait until tomorrow.

The very beautiful Kim Covington from EVB Live just left my house after shooting a quick little segment to air on the show tomorrow.  They will be talking about upcoming summer camps and have kindly decided to feature Les Petites Gourmettes.

There are still a few spaces in both of the teen weeks in June. Go HERE to check out the classes.

I told Kim I would send her the recipe for the barley salad that we put together for the shoot and this is the easiest way I know how to share a recipe.  Thank you Kim and enjoy!

P.S. Look for my quiche recipes on Wednesday in the Arizona Republic food section.

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Happy Easter to you and yours. I’m throwing out one last recipe, just in case you still have to make something super easy and SUPER-DUPER cute! Usually, I would have already had my table all set to show you my tablescape, but since we are eating outside and it’s been windy and dusty all week… I have not done it ahead. Instead, above you can see the pile of dishes I plan to use and a mock-up of a place setting at the bottom of the post.  I hope you enjoy this beautiful day!

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Bonus Photo – The full moon setting this morning at 6 am – gorgeous!

Citrus, specifically lemon, is my favorite dessert to make for Easter. The thing is, my guys don’t love citrus as much as Marissa and I do. Since Marissa isn’t coming home for Easter this year (picture my eyes welling up at this moment), I’ve decided to cater to my husband and son and make something different.

As I was strolling leisurely through Costco earlier this week (picture the one in a million chance of that!) picking up a leg of lamb, spiral ham, and other Easter dinner necessities, I spotted this carton of 18 luscious plums.

Immediately, I thought “plum and raspberry” – so I picked up a package of raspberries too.  Since I’m not a natural baker, I searched the web and found this lovely cake on marthastewart.com. I hope my guys like it… and as for my sweet Marissa… I miss you! xoxo

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Challah is an egg bread that holds deep religious significance in the Jewish faith.

“According to Jewish tradition, the three Sabbath meals (Friday night, Saturday lunch, and Saturday late afternoon) and two-holiday meals (one at night and lunch the following day) each begin with two complete loaves of bread.  This “double loaf” commemorates the manna that fell from the heavens when the Israelites wandered in the desert for forty years after the Exodus from Egypt. The manna did not fall on the Sabbath or holidays; instead, a double portion would fall the day before the holiday or sabbath.” (excerpt from Wikipedia)

Challah recipes always make enough dough for two loaves. Three important steps to the perfect challah are; three risings instead of the usual two (one of those being a slow-rise in the refrigerator), using two coats of egg wash for a shiny lacquer-like crust, and not over-baking.

Challah is delicious and used the next day for French toast.  Especially loaves with raisins, or in this case, craisins.  I substituted dried cranberries for the raisins, as my family prefers craisins to raisins. We’ll be enjoying the plain loaf with our Easter dinner on Sunday and the craisin loaf for a French toast breakfast on Easter Monday.

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I just love this image.

Everything about it.

It is titled, “What’s for dinner?”

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Do you work outside the home? Have you in the past? If so, then you already know what happens when a co-worker brings food into the office. People suddenly act as if they are on the verge of starvation and have not eaten in a week. Even if you have never worked in an office, you have still witnessed this phenomenon before… at Costco… or anywhere there is FREE FOOD!

There was a bunch of food leftover from the appetizer portion of our party this past weekend and I sent it all into Dave’s office on Monday morning. I can just imagine the food frenzy that day!  The thing is, I can’t blame the people in my husband’s office. These dear souls deserve a treat.  Dave is a CPA, and at this time of year… coming down the homestretch of another  “tax season”… their days are long and stressful! Enjoy and eat up, people!

Turns out, I didn’t send in everything after all. Yesterday morning I found a bag of extra dippers for the fondue.  One of my favorite items to add to a cheese fondue or crudites platter is new potatoes. The potatoes are left unpeeled and larger ones are cut into halves or quarters and then boiled in salted water until easily pierced with a paring knife. The potatoes are now perfect to cook up for breakfast too.

Dave usually prepares oatmeal and an apple for breakfast, but yesterday I made him an extra special meal, which he richly deserves! Thank you, my sweet husband, for all you do – especially this time of year! xoxo

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Groovy Flowers + Lemons = Stupendous Centerpieces!

My Bestie, Amy, who you already know from Amy’s Famous Taco Soup – is always in charge of making cute name tags for our neighborhood soirées  – love those blinged out peace signs, Amy!

More peace signs along with smiley faces, a flower power table runner, and 70’s album covers were the decor at Rainy and Trent’s ultra cool and “Mod Squad-esque” home.

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Today I’m going to focus on the appetizer portion of our annual Progressive Dinner… which so happened to be held at my house. There will be some of the decor (yes, we had a Disco Mirror Ball!) and a couple classic 1970’s recipes.

Then on Tuesday, I’ll share with you a few more recipes and the super creative decor and tablescapes from two of our dinner host homes – Let me tell you – the two featured couples know how to set a theme table!

When you imagine decorating for the ’70’s, you have a bunch of choices to throw into the mix; Peace signs, the iconic Smiley Face, Flower Power, Hippy, and Disco. So much color and a little too much fun!

I’d recently purchased a case of vintage Pop Shoppe bottles online and had planned on serving a couple of “signature” cocktails in them… but the bottle openings were too small to get the ice cubes into. So instead, they served as a centerpiece.

For the cocktails, I pulled out my crate of antique individual milk bottles – not all that easy to get ice into either, but they worked. (Note: the photo was taken prior to filling the bottles with ice or beverage.)

Here are the recipes for a pitcher of each:

Tom Collins
2 cups Tanqueray gin
1 1/2 cups lemon or lime juice
1/3 cup sweet and sour mix
1/4 cup club soda

Harvey Wallbanger
2 1/4 cups Smirnoff vodka
3 cups orange juice
1/2 cup Galliano

Both cocktails are classically served with an orange slice. Speaking of orange…

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I’ve long known that we live in a totally awesome neighborhood. For one thing, we have always had a couple of local sports celebrities who live here; an Arizona Diamondbacks/World Series hero, a Phoenix Suns basketball coach, a Los Angeles Angels/World Series star, etc. But what I didn’t know was that a few of our neighbors had connections and friendships with big-time Hollywood celebs.

Yep, look who showed up at our ’70’s Progressive Dinner last night!

Jackie!!! And she was on the arm of…

Kelso!

Yes indeed, Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher, at my house – for appetizers! That 70’s Show, right in my living room!!!

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