Posts from — April 2018

In the span of seven days, I had people, mostly family, over for appetizers or dinner on four separate occasions. If it’s not the same people each time, I tend to repeat at least one or two of the dishes, over and over.

This time around, one of the easy appetizers I put out was a mix of two of my favorite frozen items from Trader Joe’s.

I like TJ’s frozen Creamy Spinach & Artichoke Dip and I love their frozen Mexican-Style Roasted Corn with Cotija Cheese.

I thought that they would be great mixed together and served warm with chips. I was correct!

First cook the corn according to the package directions. It has yummy frozen sauce chunks just as their risotto and some of their other frozen products do … yummy!

Next, microwave the spinach-artichoke dip according to the package directions, then add as much corn as you would like. I added about 1 cup of corn.

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Do you want to hear a funny-stupid story?

Yes?  OK, here you go…

Last week I showed you the indoor daybed that I turned into an outdoor patio daybed. It has a twin mattress that I had ordered an outdoor cover for. (I’m going to be talking about two types of mattress covers here – the standard white cotton mattress covers we use for all beds and a special outdoor burlap mattress cover that basically encloses the mattress for outdoor use. Try to follow along and not get lost in all the “mattress cover talk.”)

While waiting for the outdoor cover to arrive, I went to Home Goods (I LOVE HOME GOODS!) and purchased a thick and plush cotton mattress cover to make the bed extra soft and cozy.

I was so excited when the outdoor mattress cover arrived…

…until I noticed that the bulky, extra soft, thick and plush cotton mattress cover showed through and did not look good at all. In fact, it looked downright awful. Boo!!!

I knew what I needed to make it work. I needed fitted twin sheets to go between the two mattress covers. The problem is I had gotten rid of all unneeded sheet sets in the garage sale last month. Dang, It!

A few days later, I was working on an outdoor closet that had stacks of boxes from when I moved in back in November. I cleared it out and put items in my car to take to Goodwill. On my way to drop those items off, I stopped at Costco. The entire time, cursing the fact that I’d need to go into Goodwill to buy fitted twin sheets while, at the same time, donating more valuable items. All the while, I was mulling over an imaginary scenario in my head – how I would love to ask if they would be willing to give me a couple of fitted sheets for all these items I was donating. I knew full well that the answer would be no and it was ticking me off! Absolutely Ridiculous, I know!

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Long before there was such a thing as Craigslist or Offer Up, I bought a cute little white iron daybed from a classified ad. It was used for guests and sleepovers. The bed sat up in the playroom for many years. I disposed of the trundle-bed portion about 8 years ago.

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I have brought this salad as a pot-luck dish to many parties over the years and everyone always asks for the recipe. I brought it again last weekend and promised the recipe would be here this week. Promise kept!

I use already toasted and peeled hazelnuts from Trader Joe’s for this recipe.

If you have raw hazelnuts, go to this LINK to learn how to toast and skin them.

I almost never go to all that trouble anymore. Just another reason I am always so grateful for Trader Joe’s! I also used TJ’s quinoa, a mix of red and white.

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This is the last of my Easter brunch recipes. The real reason I made these was so that I could use the adorable green mini Le Creuset Petite Cocotte (little Dutch ovens) that my kids gave me for Christmas several years ago. The green was the perfect pop of color for my Easter table.

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Did you know that in the last week of March you can not find fresh rhubarb in any grocery store in the Valley of Sun?

Trust me, I tried. I went to Fry’s, Safeway, Sprouts, and Whole Foods. I called Albertson’s, Bashas, A.J.’s, and Natural Grocers. I’ve never even set foot inside a Natural Grocers, so I don’t have a clue as to what sort of inventory they have, but I was desperate!

Not one of them had rhubarb. All the produce managers said they had tried to order it, but it wasn’t coming in. By the time I discovered this, I’d already bought the strawberries for this salad and I had my heart set on it. I love strawberry-rhubarb pie, so I was craving this salad for my Easter brunch.

Finally, I took a closer look at the recipe and saw that the rhubarb was cooked for a couple of minutes and then sat in the hot liquid. It seemed to me as if the frozen rhubarb would work just fine. And it did!

A bonus of this recipe is the cooking syrup from the rhubarb, you’ll have about 1 cup of it but you only use 2 tablespoons of it for the dressing. The rest of it you can save and use as a grapefruit-rhubarb simple syrup for cocktails. Mix it with vodka and soda for a refreshing drink. Oh, it is good!

Strawberry-Rhubarb Salad

• 1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 cups 1-inch diagonally sliced fresh rhubarb or a 12-ounce bag of cut frozen rhubarb
• 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 20 ounces fresh strawberries, quartered lengthwise (about 3 cups)
• 1/2 cup toasted slivered almonds
• 1/4 cup small mint leaves
• Mint sprigs, for garnish

In a medium saucepan, stir together the grapefruit juice and sugar over medium-high; bring to a boil, and cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar dissolves.

Add rhubarb to pan; cook for 1 minute. Remove pan from heat. Cover and let stand until rhubarb is tender-crisp, about 15 minutes if fresh or 10 minutes if frozen.

Remove rhubarb with a slotted spoon, reserving rhubarb syrup.

In a large bowl, stir together the orange juice, lemon juice, and 2 tablespoons of the rhubarb syrup. (reserve the remaining syrup for another use.) [Read more →]

Even when the centerpiece of your Easter brunch is a spiral-cut ham – that does not mean you can’t throw in a little bacon too!

The original Southern Living recipe called for a cast-iron skillet. Since my cast-iron skillet was in a storage cupboard in the garage that was blocked by a bunch of boxes and folding chairs, I used a large heavy skillet instead.

I’ve mentioned this tip before, but it’s worth repeating. If you have a pot or pan that needs to go in the oven that does not have an oven-safe handle, or even if you’re not quite sure if it is oven-safe or not. You can still use that pan. Just double wrap the handle in heavy-duty foil (or wrap 4 times with standard foil) and just like magic, you have an oven-safe pan.

Hash Brown-Asparagus-Bacon Quiché

• 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 8 ounces fresh asparagus, cut into 2-inch pieces
• 4 cups frozen shredded hash browns (about 12 ounces)
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
• 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 6 large eggs
• 1 cup half-and-half
• 1 cup shredded Gruyère cheese (about 4 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• Fresh minced chives, for garnish

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cook bacon in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet or another oven-safe heavy skillet over medium until browned and almost crisp, but still tender, about 6 minutes. Transfer bacon to a plate lined with paper towels. Reserve drippings in skillet, and let cool slightly.

Add asparagus to skillet, and cook over medium-high, stirring often, until lightly browned and just beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer asparagus to a medium bowl.

Add hash browns, bacon, 1/2 teaspoon of the salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper to hot drippings in skillet over medium-high; stir to combine.

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This was our Easter cocktail. For the non-drinkers, I made up a batch of the citrus mix, sans the brandy, and added flavored La Croix sparkling water instead of Prosecco.

The lemonade ice cubes make the drink so festive. Since I have this long ice-cube tray to work with, I served the cocktail in champagne glasses. If I was using a standard tray, I’d have used wine glasses instead.

Sparkling Citrus Brunch Cocktail

Ice Cubes

• 1 lemon, thinly sliced
• 1 lime, thinly sliced
• 1 orange, thinly sliced
• 1 to 2 cups prepared lemonade

Cocktail

• 1 ½ cups fresh orange juice
• 1 cup fresh Ruby Red grapefruit juice
• 1 (750-milliliter) bottle Prosecco, chilled
• 1/4 cup (2 ounces) brandy
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• Citrus slices for garnish

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Of all the dishes I made for our Easter brunch, this was just about everybody’s favorite. Well maybe, except for the biscuits, because, come on, they’re biscuits! So that’s a given.

I especially love the herb dressing. I’ll be making it again and again.

I used a mix of colored potatoes from Trader Joe’s but you can just use regular new potatoes. Other than that, I followed this recipe pretty much to a T.  The link to the original recipe from Southern Living is at the bottom of this post.

When you measure the 2 cups of radishes, it doesn’t matter if you measure them before cutting or after, it comes out just about the same either way.

And when asparagus goes out of season, long green beans will be just as pretty and just as tasty.

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It sounds like the start of a joke. “Two kinds of butter, a mayo, and a spread walk into a bar…”

But this is no joke, these are what I served with my biscuits and ham at our Easter brunch. My entire Easter menu was inspired by the Easter menu featured in this year’s Southern Living Magazine.  Although, I made several changes in recipes and menu choices to fit my taste. For instance, their menu featured Creole Mayo, I am a fan of Sriracha Mayo, so that is what I made. More Easter brunch recipes will follow in the coming days, for today, let’s look at these four.

I took a poll at brunch and asked for everyone’s favorites. The radish-chive butter won hands down. The second favorite was the other butter, made with orange marmalade and apricot preserves. The final two were tied for third. All four make for a perfect ham and biscuit sandwich.

Radish and Chive Butter

• 1/2 cup salted butter, softened
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons finely chopped radishes
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives, plus more for garnish

Beat salted butter and salt with an electric mixer on high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes.

Gently stir in finely chopped radishes and chopped fresh chives. Scrape compound butter into a serving bowl, and sprinkle with more chives. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

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