Posts from — April 2014

Tomorrow night we’re having Peggy and Lorraine and their significant others over for a dinner of tapas, sangria, and paella. We’ll exchange photos and basically relive our dreamy trip to Barcelona. Plus, I have to put my money where my mouth is when I assured them that my paella is superior to what we had in Spain.

Here is the recipe for one of the many tapas I’ll be serving.

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Instead of my usual Silk Transfer Easter Eggs, I went another route this year. On Pinterest, I found Cocktail Napkin Easter Eggs.

I hard-boiled 9 eggs and used the technique explained HERE for the first eight eggs. Then on a whim, I tried another technique and ended up with the egg above. I love the end results and will show you how to do both.

Plus I’m putting up links to all of my Easter recipes as listed on the Complete Recipe Index – over there on the left if you are still trying to figure out what to make.

Cocktail Napkin Easter Eggs

8 to 12 white hard-boiled eggs, cold
Printed paper cocktail or lunch napkins
1 egg white, lightly beaten

Open the napkins and separate the printed top layer from the plain second layer if the napkin has two layers. Discard any plain sheets.

Cut each napkin into four squares, along the folds.

Dip a small pastry brush into the beaten egg white and use to adhere and apply a square onto the front center of an egg.

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Last week, Chef Kevin Binkley of Binkley’s, Café Bink, Bink’s Midtown, and Bink’s Scottsdale, was the guest teacher at Les Gourmettes. Kevin is once again up for the James Beard Award for the Best Chef: Southwest. Fingers are crossed!

Everything he made was, of course, amazing! The thing that I really enjoyed though was a simple, thick, tangy, creamy vinaigrette made without any vinegar. Strange but true and truly delicious.

Kevin served the vinaigrette over a salad of arugula, strawberry slices, goat cheese, and pistachios. I’ll be serving the same salad for our Easter dinner on Sunday.

Speaking of Easter Sunday, if you haven’t colored your eggs yet, hold off one more day because tomorrow I’m posting a new way to decorate eggs and a bunch of Easter Menu ideas.

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For the past six weeks, Connor has been working at Mark Tarbell’s The Tavern. He is the dishwasher and although they feed him dinner, he has not gotten the one item he sees that he really wants… the coconut cream pie.

So of course, I made it for him. That’s what moms do.

He gave it a thumbs up.

I have plenty of photos to accompany the crust-making part of the recipe. But my dad was here while I was making the filling. He can be very distracting, so no photos of that part, sorry.

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How was your weekend?

I spent mine deep-cleaning my house and preparing my backyard for the harsh summer conditions. The first order of business was to bag up all the patio throws and blankets we use on chilly fall and winter nights and store them in the rolling crate-ottoman.

While I was at it, I vacuumed the rug and dusted off all the furniture – a never-ending battle!

One of the prettiest things blooming in the backyard is the Lavender Snail Vine (Vigna caracalla) that is completely covering…

… the rusty arch at the far edge of the patio.

I discovered the first Canna Lily (Auguste Ferrier) of the summer. It is a promise of things to come.

Another nearly weekly activity is the cleaning and refilling of the hummingbird feeder.

I have tried all sorts of ways to clean the bottle, from bottle brushes to pipe-cleaners, but the most effective method I’ve found is this: Fill the bottle about halfway with hot tap water, add a tablespoon of bleach, and then a handful of dried beans. Shake and roll the bottle and the beans will clean the sides better than any bottle brush known to man.

Next, triple-wash the bottle and then wash it again to make certain that you’ve gotten all traces of the bleach out of there before filling it with sugar syrup. I use a mix of 1 cup sugar to 4 cups water.

I’m barely able to turn around from hanging it up before the hummers get back at it.

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Not much to add to this one, it was 98 degrees on April 10, 2014 in Phoenix, Arizona. It should be about 84 degrees!  #toosoon  #notready  #wedontneednorecordheat

I know I’ve said it before, but I swear I spend 39% of my life looking for things I’ve put “somewhere” in my house.

Yup!

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Yesterday morning I opened my computer and did what I do each morning. I checked my email, I made sure my blog post was posted correctly, and then I went on Facebook. The first thing I saw on FB was a post from my high school and FB friend, Cynthia.

Did you see that? A dare was issued to me on social media. I had to try this recipe now! I was dared! So yes, I made it. And yes, it’s pretty great. Although there were some serious omissions in the original recipe…

… such as the importance of placing the bottom round of dough onto parchment paper or a baking sheet before adding the filling. Let me tell you, it is impossible to move the dough with the filling on it from the counter to a baking sheet! But no worries, I suffered through that error and I’ve rewritten the recipe to reflect such an important detail.

I also amped up the filling to my liking and added other little details that were obviously done on the original recipe but not mentioned in the instructions, such as using an egg wash and placing seeds on the center section.

All in all, a great recipe that just needs a bit more explaining and details. And it really is easier than it looks to make. It would be perfect for Easter! Trust me, you can do it!

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This is a recipe from the Barefoot Contessa that I modified. These nuts are addicting… don’t say I didn’t warn you!

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Yesterday’s classic minestrone soup was quite the hit, so how about another recipe with ingredients that anyone can find in any grocery store?

This easy chicken salad has only 5 ingredients and none of those five is mayonnaise, sour cream, or yogurt… no dairy and no mayo!

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When I was cleaning my dad’s house last week, I came across a large envelope with a dozen copies of a page from a cookbook.

One of the recipes on the page was outlined. I decided to take a copy and make the soup for him for our Sunday supper.

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