Marissa here again, reporting today with the greatest thing in the world (in my opinion) – baked brie!  I am a cheese freak, and brie has been my favorite for years.  It’s probably something to do with the way I was raised.  We are a bit of a cheese family. 

Add puff pastry and apricot preserves to the greatest cheese, and you have absolute perfection on a cracker.  I was trying to find an appetizer Mom did not have on the blog yet and was so excited that this didn’t show up in my index search.  The three of us (Mom, Dad, and I) completely demolished this entire baked brie round while playing board games and before sitting down to the salad from yesterday’s post and The Amazing Race finale. 

It was a good Mother’s Day evening.

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Before I get into the recipes for soup shooters and grilled cheese bites, I want to say Happy Anniversary to David, my husband of 26 years. xoxo  And I want to tell you the story of the cute shooter glasses I found.

I was in Pier 1 Imports about a month ago and saw a great display they have up with a wide and wonderful assortment of mini glasses for a “Tasting Party”. They have mini cordials, mini parfait, mini trifle, mini wine, and mini martini glasses. I was immediately in love with the whole concept and had to hold myself back from buying at least one set of each. Part of what prevented that happening, was the price. Most of the sets were $29.95 each. That would not have been a “mini” amount to spend! So I resisted and just purchased one 24-piece set of mini parfaits to use as soup shooters.

Once I got home, I looked more closely and saw that the 24-piece set was actually only 12 glasses and included 12 mini spoons. Darn it! That meant I’d just spent $2.50 per glass. But this mistake leads me on the hunt for comparable mini shooters at a reasonable price.

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Here is another of the recipes we served at my Dad’s 80th Speakeasy Party, representing his birth year, 1931.

In 1931 The Joy of Cooking was privately printed and distributed from the home by Irma S. Rombauer of St. Louis. It is one the most-published cookbooks and has been in print continuously since 1931 with more than 18 million copies sold. Mrs. Rombauer was struggling emotionally and financially after her husband’s suicide in 1930.  She had 3,000 copies of Joy printed by A.C. Clayton, a company that had printed labels for fancy St. Louis shoe companies and for Listerine, but never a book.  In 1936, the book was picked up by a commercial printing house, The Bobbs-Merrill Company.  Joy is the backbone of many home cooks’ libraries and is very often found in commercial kitchens as well. The illustrations were done by Irma’s daughter, Marion Rombauer Becker.  This recipe pays homage to one of the many famous recipes from the iconic cookbook – baked macaroni and cheese.

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This is my last chance to get up an Easter recipe. These potatoes will accompany our Pomegranate Molasses Lamb Chops.  I’m naming them double-smoked because of the delicious smoked Gouda and the ever-popular smoked paprika.  During cooking classes, last week at Les Gourmettes, our guest chef, Joanne Weir, needed to borrow a bottle of my smoked paprika and was shocked by how much I use… the bottle was nearly empty. I do love the stuff!

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Tomorrow is going to be a busy day for yours truly. First off, my sister and niece, Sloane and Raina, along with Marissa and I, are going to get up at the crack of dawn and drive to Tempe to participate in Pat’s Run. Pat’s Run honors American Hero, Pat Tillman and benefits The Pat Tillman Foundation which raises funds benefiting Tillman Military Scholars. If you don’t already know Pat Tillman’s story, you really need to learn about him!

After the run, (in all honesty, we are walking, but walking fast!) Marissa and I will race home, pack up, and get ourselves to Berridge Nurseries on Camelback and 46th Streets for the Art in the Garden event that I will be cooking at, beginning at noon.  This is the recipe I’ll be making, I realize it may look a bit intimidating with 25+ ingredients, but the majority of those are vegetables, herbs, and olive oil, so give it a whirl. I hope you’ll stop by the event and say “hello”.

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If you’ve made the Roasted Ratatouille Roulade on yesterday’s post, then you already have the ratatouille needed to make this lasagna. If not, CLICK HERE for the ratatouille recipe.  Enjoy!

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Do you know what this is a picture of?

It’s the Girl Scout cooking badge.  I’ll be working with 10 young ladies, helping them earn their badges today. A recipe will follow from the class, once I’ve cleaned up the kitchen, that is…

OK, class of over. The girls have their badges. The kitchen is clean and I’ve had my enchilada for dinner. Life if good! One reason I like to use this particular recipe for Girl Scout cooking classes is that it is a real family-pleaser. The enchiladas are creamy, mild, and cheesy, what’s not to like?

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Here we have another recipe installment for the 1931-themed upcoming birthday celebration for my dad…

Although the television was already invented by 1931, regular commercial network television programming did not begin in the U.S. until 1948.  And it was many more years until it was commonplace for families to own a black and white television.  So it is not so much the television, but black and white photos that these pizzettas are meant to represent from the year 1931.

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What are you looking for; Gluten-free? Easy-breezy? Meatless Monday? Kid-friendly? Convenient? Meat-free Friday Lenten meal? Then this recipe is for you! But before we get to it, I want to provide you with a head’s up about tomorrow’s recipe. Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day – the most amazing Irish Soda Bread recipe. It comes directly from the source, a true Irishwoman who also happens to be a great friend of this blog. None other than, Sharon Cereska; loyal follower, mother to long-time students of Les Petites Gourmettes, and one of the two winners of our latest contest. Sharon generously brought me a loaf of the delicious bread as a thank you when she came to my cooking class at Les Gourmettes (the prize of the said contest). Marissa and I devoured the entire loaf before Dave even knew it was in the house! Besides the usual flour and such, you’ll need 1 egg and 1 3/4 cups buttermilk. Get to the store and pick those up so you can make the bread. Trust me, you’ll be thanking me, and especially, Sharon, later!

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This lovely spring or summertime tart is perfect as an appetizer, placed atop lightly dressed greens for a salad, or as a side dish for fish, poultry, pork, or beef. Basically, it’s good anytime and anywhere! I created it while trying to use up things I had in my fridge (what’s new?) including the zucchini, caramelized onions, and blue cheese.  I always have Parmesan and puff pastry on hand, so this was a no-brainer. Feel free to add in whatever you have on hand as well; such as sun-dried tomatoes, capers, olives, or tapenade… the possibilities are endless. If you’re not the huge fan of blue cheese, that I am, substitute in another good melting cheese… say Fontina, or just use more Parmesan. Just get in that kitchen and create!

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