Category — Harmony Boards

This salad screams “SPRING!” English peas, check. Sugar Snap Peas, got ’em. Asparagus, you betcha. Radishes, for sure. Mint, yup. The instructions for the recipe look long, but once you get the water boiling and the bowl of ice water set up, it comes together in a snap. Just be sure to blanch the asparagus last so that the water doesn’t take on the taste until the end.

I found the fresh English peas at Trader Joe’s. I don’t like frozen peas, but I loved these! I’m not sure how long they will be in stores, but get them while you can!

The end of the month is a week away so I want to take this opportunity to remind you about the April contest. To be eligible to win, you either need to leave a comment on every post in April beginning with the post from April 1st and continuing through the end of the month. And/Or you may also enter by following Harmony Boards on Instagram and getting 5 of your friends to follow. GO HERE for all the rules and details.

Several of you are playing along by leaving comments on these posts, thank you! But I have to let you know that a few of you need to go back and be sure you’ve posted on all the posts, right off the bat a couple of you missed commenting on the April 1 post, so if you’re playing, please double-check before the end of the month. I want you all to be eligible to be in the drawing! If you haven’t started playing, it’s not too late, please join in.

Asparagus, Radish, and Mixed Pea Salad with Mint and Hazelnuts

I made this cake for our Easter supper and served it alongside THIS Citrus Sorbet. Since baking is not my forte, of course, there is a mishap story to go along with it. I found the recipe is a real estate magazine that my mother-in-law sent me from Illinois. Thank you, Mom!

I switched it up a bit. The original recipe was for a Tangerine and Chamomile Cake, using chamomile tea bags. I am not a fan of chamomile, so instead, I used my absolute favorite tea, Celestial Seasonings Bengal Spice tea. If you love chamomile tea and want to switch it back to the original, use four chamomile tea bags instead of the two Bengal Spice that I use here.

Here’s the mishap story. On the Saturday before Easter, I had several Harmony Boards to make and deliver. The first deliveries began at 2:30 and the last was at 5:00. I made all the boards and delivered the first batch. I came home and realized I had just enough time to put together the cake batter, get it in the pans and bake them. My timing was impeccable. The layers were finished baking 5 minutes before I needed to pack up and leave. I knew better than to leave them to cool on the kitchen counter because of these two cats.

I set up the cooling racks on top of my washing machine.

I set the cakes on top and Bombay was immediately interested. I went back to my bedroom to set the alarm. I closed the laundry room door and went out into the garage. That’s when I realized I’d left the car keys on the kitchen counter. I knew I had enough time to go back in and grab the keys before the alarm was fully set. I went in and had a brief moment of panic when I didn’t immediately see the keys. I found them and hurriedly went back out the garage door.

It wasn’t until I came back home that I saw that not only had I forgotten to close the laundry room door, but that one of the cats had tried to jump up on the washing machine and in the process, knocked down one of the racks. I didn’t look to see what damage was done until after I’d gone to the bedroom to disarm the alarm. I came back and saw the rack on the floor by their food dishes. Where was the cake? I looked behind the laundry door and there it was, out of the pan, upside down, while the pan was further back in the corner behind the door. The good news is that the cake was completely intact with the parchment still stuck to the bottom, not a crack or a crumb missing. The pan was as clean as a whistle, and that is a win in my baking history! I picked up the cake, sliced a clean layer off the top, and used it.

I knew the cat or most likely “The Cat”, had not touched it after it fell. He was probably too startled from the crashing he’d caused. And I am certain it was “the he”, Bombay, and not “the she”, Bailey. I say this because Bailey was sleeping in her usual spot when I went looking for them, while Bombay was hiding in the front room, where he seldom, if ever, goes. But it is nearly impossible for me to be mad. I mean, look at that face! OK, enough about my cute cats. Recipe time.

Good morning and a very Happy 2,000th Post Day to you!

I’ll bet you didn’t even know there was such a thing as 2,000th Post Day but there is in the world of LesPetitesGourmettes.com! This is my 2,000th post! That’s quite an accomplishment if I do say so myself. To celebrate this milestone, let’s have a contest and giveaway. Since I don’t have $2,000 laying around to give away, how about I give away 2,000 pennies? Wait, that’s only $20, that doesn’t seem like much of a treat. OK, let’s make it 2,000 dimes or $200. That’s a nice prize, right?!?

I’m going to split that in two and give away two (2) $100 gift cards to Target or Trader Joe’s. The winner(s) will have their choice since I know that not everyone has a Trader Joe’s in their town but I’m certain that a majority of you have a Target. If you can prove to me that you don’t have a Target either (Mom) I will consider making it a gift card to … Walmart. There, I said it. Don’t shop there myself but will make the exception if absolutely necessary, because I’m just that nice! There will be two ways to win and if you complete both of them, then you’ll have a chance at both gift cards or two entries in the contest.

Here is the first way you may enter to win: Leave a comment on every post here on LesPetitesGourmettes.com during the month of April. That includes this post and the previous post from April 1, 2019, and every post from now until April 30, 2019. Now, I don’t post every day, so you’ll probably only need to leave comments on about a dozen posts. I’ll remind you every now and again. I’ll gather up the names of all those who leave a comment on EVERY APRIL 2019 post and those names will go in the pot for the first $100 gift card. (This means that Shelley and Nancy already of a leg up on the rest of you since they left comments on the 4/1/19 post already. Thank you, Shelley and Nancy!)

*I should also mention that leaving comments on Facebook, where these posts show up automatically, does not count. The comments must be left here on LesPetitesGourmettes.com. It’s not that I don’t appreciate the comments there, but rules are rules, y’all!

The second way you may enter to win: Get on Instagram and if you haven’t already followed my Harmony_Boards page, do that! Next, get a minimum of five (5) of your Instagram friends and family to follow the Harmony_Boards page. Here’s the tricky part of this way to win, I will need to know that you sent them there to follow the page. So they will need to send me a DM or leave a comment on one of the photos letting me know that you suggested they follow Harmony_Boards. I understand that this is more complicated than leaving a comment on a post, but it is another way to win, a way to have two chances and maybe win BOTH of the $100 prizes. That’s pretty cool!

There is no “also-ran” in this contest. If there isn’t anyone who leaves a comment on every post for the month of April, that $100 stays in my pocket. Ditto on the Instagram portion of the contest. I’ll still love and appreciate each and every one of you, but I’m not just giving money away for nothing here! I’m not Oprah or Ellen, after all.

The winner(s) will be drawn, notified, and announced on Friday, May 3, 2019. There are no restrictions on this contest, any and everyone may play and have a chance to win. Good Luck! xoxo, This contest is not endorsed, sponsored or supported by either Trader Joe’s or Target.

My website AZHarmonyBoards.com has the capability to have a blog. I’d been going back and forth with starting it up or continuing to pretend the option does not exist. I’m working hard to be consistent here, committing to posting every M-W-F. There are things I’d like to share about Harmony Boards but maintaining two pages is more than I care to take on. So how about I share Harmony Board stuff here?

What I’d like to share today is the process of posting a time-lapse video on social media. For years I’ve seen cool time-lapse videos of all sorts of activities. Cooking is the one that naturally draws my attention and interest. I am completely mesmerized watching the motions and process sped up. I wanted to do the same, do a time-lapse video of me making a Harmony Board. The question was, “How do I set up the camera at the right height and angle over my workspace?”

I suppose I could have searched for a YouTube video, but that didn’t cross my mind until AFTER I figured it out for myself.

Here is how I went about creating mine: I stood on a step stool over the board on my kitchen counter. I measured how high the phone/camera would have to be to take it all in. Then I walked around my house trying to find items that I could use to prop up and hold the phone at that height. It was frustrating, I tried out several household items, but none of them were getting the job done. Then I remembered that I had two tall stands that Tram and I had each purchased several years ago at Pottery Barn. They were store display props. I’ve seen Tram use hers as a part of a drink station at her parties. Mine was holding items in my Miscellany Shed. I’ve also used them for entertaining. I went out to the shed with a measuring tape to see if they were tall enough, they were not, so I grabbed several wine boxes while I was out there and brought them all inside.

Next, I needed cross bars to support and hold the phone, centered over the activity. I purchased a circular saw last summer to cut the Harmony Boards. As a result, I have several wood scraps that are used as fillers in my car to keep the boards in place during delivery.

I grabbed the two longest wood pieces and balanced them on top of and between the Pottery Barn stands. I did a few test runs and it worked! I posted my first time-lapse last week. I don’t love my kitchen counters, they are too dark, busy, and distracting. So before I filmed another video, I went to the scrapbook section of Hobby Lobby and bought sheets of paper that look like white marble and more sheets that look like white shiplap. In the photo above you can see my phone case balancing on the wood rails to show you the placement (since the actual phone was in my hand being used to take the photo). It’s a tricky maneuver, balancing the phone so that the rails don’t block the camera lens opening. I kept my fingers crossed that I wouldn’t bump something and cause the phone to fall into the food while filming.

I lined up the marble-like papers on the counter. Set the empty Harmony Board on top, did a test video, and loved the look. Next, I made a “sample” Harmony Board off to the side.

The weekend before last, my friend and former neighbor, Whitney, hosted a bridal shower. She asked me to help with the food and she ordered a Harmony Board too.

The menu was a green salad, frittatas, and breakfast potatoes. Since I’m Irish and I love potatoes, I’ll post that recipe first.

I quadrupled the recipe, so when you see the photos, do not fret. It looks like a lot because it is a lot!

I bought a mix of baby potatoes from Costco. The tri-color of the potatoes and tri-color of the bell peppers really make for a pretty dish, as pretty as you can get with potatoes, anyhow.

In the recipe, I say to roughly chop the potatoes, think bite-size. With the baby potatoes, that was as easy as cutting them into quarters.

Since I was just dropping the food off, I didn’t get a photo of the finished product (I did the last stage of roasting at Whitney’s house and left them in the oven as I left) so, I’ll just leave you with a photo of one the lovey buffet tables she had set up for the food.

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Cute mama-to-be, Chanté, posing in front of the cocktail station at the Harmony Boards launch party. She is the sweetest!

I’ve posted the recipes for the two signature cocktails we made for the party, so now it’s time for the mocktail. A mocktail that Chanté and others, who choose not to imbibe but still want to feel festive, could enjoy.

I wanted to try something new. I know so many people who are lovers of the elderflower flavor, such as the famous St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur. I’ve made several cocktails with St. Germain, such as this Champagne Cocktail, but to be perfectly honest, I’m not a fan of the elderflower flavor. It’s a bit too, let’s just say, flowery, for my taste.

But since I had no intention of drinking the mocktail that evening, I went ahead and created one using elderflower syrup.

Where can one find elderflower syrup, you ask? Amazon, of course.

Oh, and in the photo of the ingredients below, there is a bottle of agave. That is because I tried making it with a 1/2 teaspoon of agave nectar in my first attempt and … NO!  It was way TOO sweet for not only my taste, but for anyone except maybe a six-year-old.  Pretend that is not there!

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I have a thing for cucumber in cocktails, it’s so bright and refreshing. My all-time favorite is the Cucumber Martini.

What makes this drink different is the addition of mint simple syrup and the infusion of cucumber into the gin instead of muddling.

This is the second of two signature cocktails we served at the Harmony Boards launch party.

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I created a couple of signature cocktails and a mocktail for the Harmony Boards Launch Party last week.

photo credit: Robert Westerman

This first recipe was the big hit of the night. You’ll know why when you see the ingredient list:

• Fresh lemon juice – check.
• Sugared rims – check.
• Fresh ginger – check.
• Everyone’s favorite alcohol, Vodka – check!

Of course, not everything can go off without a hitch. I’d made the Ginger-Lemonade and other components for the cocktails at home earlier in the week. Then Kim and I transported and prepped everything at the venue on Tuesday, the day before the party.

(I should stop here to say that the venue is one of the charming Airbnb that Kim’s son and daughter-in-law, Cody and Chanté, operate. Cody and his Chisel Built company do the remodel and Chanté does the interior design. You can visit this home, known as the Zona Rosa, and their other vacation rentals at Chisel Built Stays.)

Late Tuesday night, around midnight, I woke up from deep sleep to remember that the lemonade had to be poured onto sheet pans and frozen. Oops!

photo credit: Robert Westerman

I was so concerned that I’d forget in the morning, that I got up and put the sheet pans in my car. It wasn’t until I arrived at the house, pans in hand, that I realized they would not fit in the freezer. Now what?

I poured the lemonade into a couple of dozen small plastic cocktail cups and put them in the freezer. I knew I wasn’t going to get the same easy effect as I’d get by spreading it on sheet pans, where the frozen slushy-like mixture could be simply scraped off into a pitcher. I was going to get frozen lemon cubes. But, in a pinch, a girl’s got to do what a girl’s got to do!

photo credit: Robert Westerman

When it came time to mix up the cocktails, a few of the cups were still slushy in texture, which is what we needed. But most were rock hard. Poor Kim took on the task of breaking and mashing those lemon ice cups down. It all worked out in the end – everyone raved.  Thanks, Kim!

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