Category — Recipes

Finally, this is the last of the Easter brunch recipes. Hopefully, this past week of posts has given you a nice repertoire of brunch, breakfast, and spring recipe ideas.

I’ve mentioned my love for Nutella before, so how about a little “history of Nuttela” this time?  This comes straight from the Nuttela website, “Nutella® spread, in its earliest form, was created in the 1940s by Mr. Pietro Ferrero, a pastry maker and founder of the Ferrero company. At the time, there was very little chocolate because cocoa was in short supply due to World War II rationing. So Mr. Ferrero used hazelnuts, which are plentiful in the Piedmont region of Italy, to extend the chocolate supply.” There you go, a little history with your breakfast!

I served this at the Saturday office brunch last weekend and have some “do-head” tips for you. The brioche can be sliced, spread, and sandwiched together a day ahead. Place in an airtight bag or container and refrigerate until ready to cook. And the cereal-brown sugar mixture may also be ground together ahead and stored in an airtight container. Unsliced loaves of brioche can be found at Trader Joe’s.

Lastly, a shout-out to my girlfriend, Lorie, in Los Angeles… I couldn’t decide which old picture to choose, so I put up both of them.  Happy Birthday, Lorie! xoxo

Lorie, Sloane, Dave, and I at Phoenix Children’s Hospital in 1998

Anne, Peggy, Lorie, and me about to board a private plane to California in 2005… good times!

[Read more →]

You know how sometimes one of your children (who you love dearly!) demonstrates a trait and you think, “Did I really birth this child, do they belong to our family?”  Admit it, you do, it doesn’t mean you love them less or would trade them for all the tea in China, but you still wonder!  For me, that child is Connor and that trait is his complete distaste and dislikes for all things berry.  He doesn’t like strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, boysenberries, marionberries, or any sort of berry. This is completely out of sink with everyone else in our family, heck I don’t know anyone else in my entire life who doesn’t love berries!  But, of course, I love Connor all the same and because of that deep and undying love, I happily made this unberry dessert, especially for him for Easter…. and berry shortcake for everyone else, everyone else who is normal…

Connor rocking the “kaleidoscope on a rope” he found in his Easter basket… that’s right, I still make my 18 and 22-year-olds baskets and force them to search for them!

[Read more →]

Just like yesterday, today we have a dish that was inspired for our Easter menu by a dish we enjoyed at the new FnB restaurant in Scottsdale (here is the link). The night we went, Dave had the most amazing chicken dish. Mind you, chicken is not something either of us generally orders at a restaurant, but I’d read rave reviews about Chef Char’s chicken with spaetzle. Those reviews were right on the mark – fabulous!

Spaetzle is tiny dumpling-like noodle nubbins from Germany and Austria that are made with flour, eggs, milk, salt, and nutmeg. The spaetzle dough can be firm enough to be rolled and cut into slivers or soft enough to be forced through a sieve, colander, or spaetzle-maker directly into boiling salted water. They rise to the top and then are drained and sautéed in butter or mixed with a sauce. Spaetzle literally translates from German as “little sparrow”. In Germany, spaetzle is served as a side dish much like potatoes or rice and is often accompanied by a sauce or gravy.

There are spaetzle-makers that consist of a hopper to hold the dough as it slides across a metal plate with holes, others that look like ricers, and a third style that is a food mill with a handle and a paddle to force the dough through the holes of a special spaetzle blade (which is what I have).

I served the wild mushroom spaetzle with my Pomegranate Molasses Lamb Chops which you can find in this previous post.

[Read more →]

I was inspired to make chilaquiles for Easter brunch after learning about them at FnB, a fabulous new restaurant in downtown Scottsdale, (click here for link) where Chef Charleen Badman traditionally makes them on weekends for the late-night crowd.

Chilaquiles are a traditional Mexican dish. Typically, corn tortillas cut in quarters and lightly fried are the basis of the dish. Red or green sauce is poured over the tortilla triangles, called “totopos.” Scrambled eggs and/or shredded chicken are sometimes added. The dish is topped with queso fresco and crèma.  Usually, chilaquiles are eaten at breakfast or brunch. This makes them a popular recipe to use leftover or stale tortillas.

I’ll be using two of my favorite “convenience” items – 3 garlic cubes (purchased at Trader Joe’s) and 4 chipotle cubes(homemade using empty garlic cube trays – see this previous post on how to do so).  You can too, or just follow the recipe for the “traditional” method of peeling and mincing.

Marissa, Sloane, and Connor in the shade at Easter Brunch

[Read more →]

This cold pasta salad has long been one of my “go-to” recipes for buffets and parties. I pulled it out once again for yesterday’s office Easter brunch. The dressing is made with a large number of red pepper flakes, which are drained after the dressing simmers.  It is up to your taste as to how many you add back into the salad. For Easter I use ham but for most of the rest of the year, I prefer to use smoked turkey as the meat in this hearty salad. Of course, you can always leave any and all meat out and have a lovely and satisfying vegetarian option.

Connor and Marissa with Grandpa Otter (my dad) at Easter Brunch this morning.

[Read more →]

Comfort food means many things to many people. Bread pudding is comfort food for sure. Rich, warm, smooth, melt in your mouth comfort. I made this one for today’s CPA office brunch. The menu included the Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket, Bean and Roasted Corn Salad, (previous posts) this pudding, and an Orzo salad, which I shall post tomorrow. Happy Easter to everyone in Dave’s office, have a wonderful Sunday, you deserve it!

[Read more →]

On Saturday, I’ll be serving a pre-Easter brunch to the hardworking people in my husband, Dave’s, office.  It’s a CPA firm and Easter usually falls during the crunch time of tax season, so these people need a break! This recipe is on the menu.

I confess, I totally ripped it out of the Williams-Sonoma catalog. They sell these cute little “breakfast pigs in a blanket”.  The Williams-Sonoma version uses Aidell’s chicken-apple sausages. While I did find Aidell’s sausages at Costco and was planning to use them, I spotted some mango-chicken sausages and decided to go that route… happy I did because – Yum!

So here are your choices… purchase from the catalog and pay $48.50 (that’s with shipping) for 24 “pigs”…  or… make mine, and pay less than $25 for the pastry and sausages and you will wind up with 60 – as in “six- zero”  little pigs!!!

I know what you’re saying to yourself right now…. “I do not need Sixty Pigs, even if they do cost $1.58 less per piece than the Williams-Sonoma pigs.”  

Oh yes – You do!!!  

These are delicious, easy, and so great to have on hand in your freezer.  That’s right, you can bake and serve some now and freeze the rest for later. Of course, you can always cut the recipe in half, use just one package of puff pastry, and find another and smaller (meaning a smaller quantity than sold at Costco) package of sausages. But once you get on the roll of putting these together, it takes no time at all and you’ll feel rich and wise with the knowledge that you have these little gems stocked away.

They can go directly from the freezer to the oven -at the ready for a quick cocktail appetizer or as a fun breakfast, any day of the week. Finally, I call for whole-grain mustard, because I like it, but if you only have regular Dijon, that works too.

[Read more →]

On Sunday, my friend and neighbor, Ronnie had a party to introduce and welcome new neighbors to “the hood”.  She made this colorful fresh and flavorful salad that we all went crazy for. It is inspired by a recipe she found in a cookbook by Rick Rodgers.

I had two servings, and would have had a third if I could have gotten away with it! The original recipe called for 3 ears of corn to be roasted on a grill. This simple take on that uses frozen roasted corn kernels found at Trader Joe’s.  One medium cob of corn yields about 3/4 cup of kernels. So that is convenience item number one.  

And here is number two … a new way to freeze and store chipotle peppers. As you know, chipotle peppers are sold in cans and they are packed in adobo sauce. The sauce is just about as good as the peppers themselves, spicy and smokey and just so addictive. I can’t think of a time when you would use an entire  7-ounce can of peppers. Recipes most often call for just a few peppers and then you have the rest of the can to deal with. In the past, I have placed the remaining peppers on a small greased baking sheet, frozen them, then removed the frozen peppers and placed them in ziplock bags to freeze. But now… I have an even better way. In the majority of recipes the peppers are very finely chopped, so why not freeze them that way?

First place all the remaining peppers and all the adobo sauce left in the can in a food processor and puree it. Next, carefully spoon the puree into the little holes of an empty garlic cube package. What is a garlic cube package, you ask. In a prior post, I told you how much I love to use the minced garlic cubes sold at Trader Joe’s. My freezer is full of them… so I reuse those empty containers and now I always have chipotle cubes on hand too.  One chipotle cube equals about 1/2 chipotle pepper. Plus they pop out just as easily as the garlic does.

[Read more →]

I recently learned of a great new convenience item available in the frozen food section of the local supermarket. OK, maybe it’s not new to the supermarket or even new to you, but it is new to me.

Frozen chopped green chiles and chopped red chiles can be found in plastic containers, similar to a sour cream container, in the freezer section. Locally, I’ve found them at Safeway, Fry’s, and Food City. Supposedly they come in hot and mild, but I was only able to find the hot, so I’m combining them with mild canned green chiles for this recipe.

Feel free to roast, seed, and peel your own mild long green chiles, if you prefer.  Pictured below: Frozen chile container (do not worry if you don’t find the same brand, any brand will do)plus a side-by-side comparison of mild canned diced chiles on the left and hot frozen diced chiles on the right.

It’s been in the mid to high 80’s the last few days here in AZ, but we’re expecting rain and a cooling trend for the rest of the week.  It may be our last chance to really enjoy a nice steaming bowl of chili for many months to come. Marissa requested this recipe so she could make “roomie” dinner tomorrow for her four beautiful roommates; Kaley, Petra, Kelsey, and Paige.

Petra, Paige, Marissa, Kelsey, and Kaley

Girls, I hope you enjoy it, ‘cause summer and 100+ degree temps are just around the corner!

[Read more →]

For Easter 1996, when Marissa and Connor were 8 and 5 years old, we gave them four baby chicks.

We raised the chickens as pets and for their eggs.

One chicken laid white eggs, another produced brown eggs, and the other two were araucana chickens.

They gave us beautiful blue and green tinted eggs.

It was such a joy to go out each day and find those fresh eggs in their various hues. We had to give the chickens up when we moved to our current home, over a dozen years ago. Not only do I miss the daily fresh eggs, but also those lovely colors.

Last year, thanks to a guest on Martha Stewart, I found a way to create my own amazingly gorgeous eggs, maybe not on a daily basis, but at least for Easter. The secret? 100% silk!  If you’re in need of purging your closet, this is a good time, at least for 100% silk items, such as ties and scarves.  If not, head out to the closest Goodwill or thrift store to find such items. I went to the Goodwill at 40th Street and Thunderbird over the weekend and bought all 32 of the 100 % silk ties they had, so be sure and go to another location!

[Read more →]