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 →]

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 →]

Easter is quickly approaching which means Lent is nearly over… and I have only posted one fish recipe… sorry! I’m not actually into frying fish at home… we’ll leave that to the church social halls. But with two Fridays left – including Good Friday, it’s not too late to get a fish recipe posted, so how about a little mahi-mahi and shrimp?

Contrary to popular belief the mahi-mahi is not related to the dolphin family of mammals. They are one of the fastest-growing fish and are carnivorous- feeding on crabs, squid, and mackerel. Mahi-mahi’s sweet taste and firm flesh make it perfect for poaching; along with halibut, swordfish, and salmon- just in case you are looking for a good substitute.

If you eat a lot of fish, a fish poacher is a great pan to have in your kitchen. Often thought of for cooking whole fish, it works wonderfully with fillets as well. If you are in the market for a poacher, you can check out this link or visit your local kitchen store. If you don’t have and are not interested in a poacher, no problem, a larger skillet with a tight-fitting lid will work just fine. And please don’t be intimidated or turned off by the long list of ingredients… the majority are either spices or items just dropped into the poaching liquid.

As a vegetable side, I made sautéed fennel and red peppers with capers and olives. I then used the fennel stalks in the poaching liquid and the fronds as garnish. I’ll be posting that recipe tomorrow, but in case you want to do your grocery shopping today here is the ingredient list: 1 fennel bulb, 1 small onion, 1 red bell pepper, capers, and Kalamata olives. And if you decide against this side dish, leave the fennel out of the poaching liquid – it is listed as optional.

[Read more →]

As stated in yesterday’s post, this bacon is a Christmas and Easter breakfast tradition in our house. It’s basically “Bacon Candy”.  So sweet, crispy, and decadent! And it couldn’t be easier to make. It is pictured above with our other Christmas breakfast tradition – Cinnamon-Pecan Rolls. That recipe is on yesterday’s post. Also pictured here today, is Connor and the five mini-oil paintings he made as gifts for the family. Nothing better than beautiful and heart-felt homemade gifts from a talented person. Thanks, Con!

[Read more →]