During the “decision-making” time about what to make for our graduation class last week, I had several suggestions to choose from for one of the main courses, among them, tacos or Greek salad.  Both are good ideas and both work well on a buffet, but we already had decided on another salad, and “Plain Jane” tacos seemed a bit tame for the rest of the menu.  So we combined the two and made Greek Tacos… they were a huge hit with students and guests alike.  If your family is the more adventurous type, go with the ground lamb, otherwise, either ground beef or ground turkey work perfectly well.

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You’ve heard of the “Six Degrees of Separation” before, right?  The idea is that everyone is six steps away from any other person on Earth, so that a chain of, “a friend of a friend” can, on average, connect any two people in six steps or fewer. It was originally set forth by Frigyes Karinthy and then popularized by a play written by John Guare.

That really has nothing to do with today’s recipe, I just love the idea of that, how connected we all are… OK, on to macarons, French macarons to be exact. These are a completely different breed than the coconut macaroons you might be more familiar with.  Those are easy to make, these are not!  And the only reason we even attempted them in the teen class graduation last week was that one of my long-time students, Steven, requested to make them. Steven has been coming to Les Petites Gourmettes since he was 8 years old… he is now 16 and drives himself to class.  How time flies!!!

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Two weeks ago when I posted a picture of all the tomatoes, potatoes, onions, and garlic that we’d be using in classes, a loyal follower asked to see a picture of what my refrigerator looked like at the start of classes. I said, “Oh no you don’t!” I assured her that it was so full, that one had to worry about things falling out when opening the door, and that my extra freezer in the laundry room was so full that I had to use duct tape to ensure that it would keep closed – embarrassing but true! But she insisted that she would enjoy seeing the fridge, so I told her I’d post a picture before the next set of classes… the day has come…ouch!

Above is the new set of tomatoes, potatoes, citrus, and friends and below……. is the fridge – don’t judge, it’s my job.  And you will never see a picture of the duct-taped freezer, and that’s final!

Yes, the drawers have been over-filled so many times, that they no longer have usable tracks to run on. They are currently so full that you couldn’t fit a tiny jalapeno into any one of them right now!

Now on to prettier and tastier things…

Ganache (pronounced /gah NAHSH/) is a rich mixture of chocolate and cream which can be used as a frosting or filling. Depending on the intended use, different ratios of chocolate to cream are used, to create anything from a light glaze to a dense and rich chocolate truffle. Although ganache is exceedingly luxurious, it is what I like to call “easy-breezy” to make!  Ganache was developed in the mid-1800s, and both France and Switzerland claim credit for the invention.

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One of my favorite comfort food desserts is pineapple upside-down cake, well it’s actually a toss-up between that and my famous carrot cake.

For their graduation luncheon, the teens in last week’s class requested  “cake, cupcakes, pineapple upside-down cake, macarons, and ‘something’ chocolate”. 

After compiling all of their suggestions, I settled on pineapple upside-down cupcakes and macarons filled with chocolate ganache.  The easy cupcakes are here today and the much more complicated and patience-needed macarons will be posted on Tuesday.

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No doubt, you’ve dined in many Italian restaurants or perused enough cookbooks and food magazines to know what to expect when you order or see a recipe for pasta primavera.  A lovely pasta dish filled with fresh seasonal vegetables, primavera means spring in Italian, so freshness is what it’s all about.  But did you know that there was no such thing as pasta primavera on menus and in cookbooks until after 1975?

Although the dish is derived from centuries-old genuine Italian dishes, its name and widespread popularity were created by two culinary icons, Sirio Maccioni, the owner of Le Cirque in New York City, and Craig Claiborne, the legendary New York Times food editor and restaurant critic.

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If you’re feeling that it’s too hot to turn on the stove or even worse, the oven, then it’s time for summer rolls; also known as Vietnamese salad rolls or spring rolls.

Now, due to my lack of time to explain it myself,  (I have the teen class graduation lunch today, hosting not only the students themselves but additionally two guests for each student) I turn to trusty Wikipedia to define spring or summer rolls.

“Vietnamese spring roll  – ingredients include slivers of boiled or fried pork, shrimp, chicken, beef, fresh herbs, lettuce, sometimes fresh garlic chives, rice vermicelli, or bean threads, all wrapped in moistened rice paper, served cold with dipping sauce. The salad roll is easily distinguished from a “minced pork roll” by the fact that it is not fried, the ingredients used are different. Spring roll refers to the freshness of the spring season with all the fresh ingredients, therefore frying would take away that feeling.”

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If you do, then you’ll adore this Buffalo wing-inspired lasagna. I’ve got a Buffalo Mac and Cheese that I may have to have a class of my students whip up and then post here before the summer is over as well.

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What makes something suddenly become a fad, the new “in” thing, all the rage?  Especially when it’s something that’s been around forever?  And when I say “forever” – I’m talking about more than 200 years.  And what I’m talking about are cupcakes!

According to the source of all modern knowledge… Wikipedia… “The first mention of the cupcake can be traced as far back as 1796 when a recipe notation of “a cake to be baked in small cups” was written in American Cookery by Amelia Simms. The earliest documentation of the term cupcake was in “Seventy-five Receipts for Pastry, Cakes, and Sweetmeats” in 1828 in Eliza Leslie’s Receipts cookbook.”

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Apple Pie is the picture of Americana. Tarte Tatin is a classic French dessert, basically an upside-down apple tart in which the apples are caramelized in butter and sugar before the tart is baked. And Apple Strudel, a perfect blend of spices and apples enclosed in a delicious flaky pastry is considered to be the national dish of Austria… along with Wiener Schnitzel. The German name is Apfelstrudel. Whatever you call them, apple desserts are true national treasures.

Oh, and by the way, this is my 600th post… how time does fly!

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There is no better time to make fresh tomato soup than right now, the height of tomato season.

So even if you’re not growing tomatoes in your own garden, get out to your local farmer’s market and pick up some ripe locally grown tomatoes and throw together this soup, enjoy hot, cold, or at room temperature.

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