Tag Archives: food

Spring Decorating and Coffee Cups

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Decorating for springWhen my two now 20-something-year-old daughters were little, I went all out for holiday decorating — a trait I got from my own mom, I think. At this time of year I’d have bunnies and chicks and eggs and flowers everywhere. Now that the girls have their own spaces (one with her own family in their apartment and the other in her dorm room at college), I’m taking a break. I’m sure once I get the dozens of grandchildren I’m hoping for, I’ll once again turn our house into Holiday Headquarters — again, just like my own mom. But until then, my nods to the changing of the seasons are few: A new wreath on the front door, different candles in the living room and changing the coffee mugs and espresso cups I keep out on a tray in the kitchen, always ready for a hot steaming cup of goodness. This past weekend I finally put away all the winter mugs and cups and replaced them with Decorating for springEspresso cupsthe spring ones. I love the pink and green Portuguese-pottery espresso cups. They come in three designs: Rabbits, frogs and cabbages. I’ve found them the past couple years in discount retailers such as TJ Maxx and Tuesday Morning but haven’t seen many so far this season. Plus, there are pitchers, bowls, dessert plates and serving platters —  I finally had to stop buying  because really, how many lavender bunny-themed cake stands do you actually need? I also adore this blue and green teapot and espresso cups with flower-petal saucers I found at a gift shop and the two pottery espresso cups from Starbucks I bought just a few weeks ago. And now I think I’m all set decorating-wise until July.

Food

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Asparagus terrineEven though I love oven-roasted asparagus year-round, something about spring makes me want asparagus even more. And I don’t think I’m alone in that. At a recent cooking class at the Shoals Culinary Complex in Florence, Alabama ( http://www.shoalsec.com), director Sherry Campbell taught us how to make this gorgeously easy and delicious Asparagus Terrine. One of those impressive dishes that always gets you compliments, it’s perfect for spring luncheons celebrating weddings, graduations, Easter and Mother’s Day. And, surprisingly, it’s great to make ahead and also is conveniently totable for  covered-dish get-togethers. Sherry says to look for asparagus with plump, closed tips for freshness. She uses most of the whole stalks, too, but I don’t like that slightly woody flavor and trim mine pretty closely. But then I don’t like broccoli stems, either, so what do I know?

Asparagus Frittata Terrine

Peel and finely dice 1 medium onion and saute over medium-low in 1 T. olive oil until translucent. Add 1 T. sugar, increase heat to medium-high and stir until lightly colored. Add 3 peeled and minced garlic cloves and 1 T. white-wine vinegar and boil until vinegar is evaporated, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper and cool to room temperature.

Trim white ends off 2 pounds asparagus spears and microwave until slightly cooked.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line small loaf pan with plastic wrap, letting excess hang over sides. Trim asparagus if longer than pan and save ends. Place single layer in bottom of pan, alternating tips and ends and filling in with trimmings. Spoon over half cooked onions and add layer of cooked bacon or 40-42-count shrimp. Season with salt and pepper and add freshly minced tarragon, dill or mint. Continue layering, sprinkling herbs on top.

Whisk 6 eggs in a bowl with salt and pepper until well-blended. Pour into loaf pan, moving a knife between asparagus spears and lightly tapping pan on work surface to evenly distribute. Fold excess plastic over, cover with tin foil and place in hot-water bath. Bake until eggs are set, 50-60 minutes. Remove from bath.

To serve warm, let settle 15 minutes then run knift around rim and unmold and slice 1/4-inch thick. To serve at room temperature, let cool and then unmold and slice or prepare ahead, refrigerate and then bring to room temperature before serving. Serve with Tarragon Sauce: Whisk 1 T. each mayonnaise and Dijon mustard and add 1 T. white-wine vinegar. Pour in 3/4 cup olive oil in slow, thin stream while whisking. Mix in 1 T. freshly minced tarragon and salt and pepper to taste. Can make ahead and refrigerate before using.

Spring

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Spring trendsHere’s what I figured out yesterday while I was wandering around Spring decoratingdowntown and running boring errands: You can have a “spring break” anywhere. I was coming from the dry cleaners, juggling some winter clothes I’d picked up with a cappuccino and muffin from the coffee shop, when I saw this joyously fresh silk arrangement. It was brightening the corner of a florist’s and gift shop and I immediately wanted to exchange my jacket and sweaters for a beach bag and my coffee and muffin for shrimp and beer from Joe Patti’s — our favorite seafood market in Pensacola, Fla. Isn’t it amazing what a little bit of spring can do?

Cupcakes

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CupcakesI don’t know about you, but I could sure use a Sunshine on My Shoulder cupcake right about now. Either that or a Strawbaby Blush or Southern Belle. These yummy confections were at The Clay Cup Cafe on the square in Murfreesboro, Tennessee — my husband’s hometown and the place where we met at college and almost 30 years later got married. (Aw … I know. It’s sweet, isn’t it?) We were there for a couple days this past week while my husband went to a journalism workshop on creating new newsrooms. While he was pondering the fate of newspapers, I got to wander around town — one of my favorite pastimes. Murfreesboro is a wonderful town for Murfreesboro, Tennesseewalking, and in the morning I took my cupcake (it’s a great breakfast food) and cappuccino and strolled the historic-preservation districts. I always am in awe of the Boro’s dedication and commitment to historic authenticity — and I always find something new. For instance, I’d never before noticed this playhouse. I spied the 5-foot-high creation in the backyard of a stately Victorian and was immediately charmed. Isn’t it delightful? I would have loved to have crawled in there with my cupcake (OK, by this time in the walk I was on my second — I couldn’t lie to you!) and coffee and spent the rest of the day. But then my husband would have been left with a roomful of truth-seeking journalists, and I couldn’t do that to him.

Food

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Chex mixChex MixLike most married couples. my husband and I come from different backgrounds. He’s Baptist, for example, and I’m United Methodist. He listens to Rush Limbaugh and I listen to NPR. And he grew up with Cheerios and mixed nuts in his Chex Mix, and I didn’t. My mom made straight up Chex Mix: Cereal. Pretzels. Peanuts. Plain and simple. (And we called it TV Mix and could annihilate a batch so fast that my mom had to hide it so her efforts wouldn’t disappear in five minutes.) But my husband’s mom always made hers with Cheerios and mixed nuts. That’s what he was used to, and since he loves Chex Mix — I’d go so far as to declare him a Chex Mix connoisseur — I was willing to try it his way. I’ve had varying degrees of success — it really helps if you don’t burn it or use two-year-old cereal you found in the back of the cabinet — but I believe I got it right this time. “This is really good,” he said, munching away this week on my latest attempt. “I believe it’s the best ever. And pretty close to my mom’s.” Success!!!

Healthy Eating

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Better nutritionAs much as we try to eat healthfully and buy organic and nutritious Better Nutritionfood, it can get expensive. That’s why I was happy to see an article titled “Eat Well, Eat Cheap” in the March issue of Better Nutrition magazine — a freebie publication that’s probably in your local health-food store. I’m usually cynically suspicious about this magazine — Will the SuperEnergy Natural Organic Green X48  multi-vitamins really help me lose weight, sleep all night and beat every disease that comes my way? — but this article actually was objectively helpful. It’s not on the Web site, http://www.betternutrition.com/ yet (the site’s getting a makeover and will be updated early this spring, so the cover image here is March 2008 instead of the newest magazine that’s out right now), so grab a copy of the March issue if you find it. And what are some healthy and nutritious foods you can include in an even stretched-to-the-limit food budget? Author Lisa Turner details 15, such as eggs, cabbage, sweet potatoes, sardines, canned tomatoes and oats. This issue also has a great recipe for a St. Patrick’s Day potato appetizer that even people who turn up their noses at “health food” will gobble up: Top roasted red-potato slices with a feta-olive oil-fresh basil mixture and garnish with a parsley leaf. Yummy and green!

Food

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Fried okraAm I the last person to find out about fried okra? I’m not talking about the okra your mama slices and sprinkles with cornmeal or flour and fries in an ancient cast-iron skillet. That’s what “fried okra” always meant to me — up until this week, that is. Because now when I think about fried okra, I’ve got a completely different picture: Whole okra pods fried to light and crunchy S'moresdeliciousness and sprinkled with a bit of salt. I’d had fried green beans before and was sort of underwhelmed, but I promise you, fried okra is incredibly tasty and addictive. I found them at a Fresh Market produce section and because I’m a junk-food connoisseur and cannot resist anything new — Oil! Salt! Crispy goodness! — I had to try them. And am I glad I did. Everyone I’ve shared with loves them, too. There’s a hint of okra’s signature “slimy” taste and a definite sort of fresh-from-the-garden flavor that reminds you you’re eating vegetables. And vegetables are good for you. Okay, these are fried vegetables. But still.

On the other hand, learn from my mistake and ignore this new product at Target: S’mores Tortilla Chips. You would think that chocolate and marshmallow and tortilla chips would be a great combination — well, I did, anyway — but they are not. Somehow, the usually rich and sassy combination of sweet and salty flavors did not work here. Instead what you got was something akin to the fancy candy bar you picked up on impulse from the clearance rack right before you got to the cash register and then when you got home you realized the expiration date was 2002. But you bit into it anyway. And were very, very sorry.

Food and More

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Mexican foodI don’t care what you say — I think this is a balanced meal. Look, Mexican foodyou’ve got your dairy (cheese dip) and your grains (tortilla chips). Hot peppers are full of nutritional stuff, and didn’t I read somewhere that beer is pretty much almost nearly just as good for you as red wine? And of course, you can never have too much salsa. This is an example of the weekly date night my husband and I cling to no matter what else is going on. But not just any Mexican restaurant will do. We head to a specific one that we’ve gone to for years. In fact, the waiters don’t even ask us what we want anymore — they’ve practically got it on the table as soon as we sit down.  My husband pours the beers and squeezes the limes and always makes sure I get the coldest mug as we munch chips and dip. Sometimes we order actual food. Sometimes not. But we always have a good time.

Random thought  — Welcome back, Tiger Woods. Hope your knee is better.

Blog recommendation — For a different take on Lent, visit today’s post at A Day That Is Dessert , http://www.leciawphinney.com/. Lecia passes on a wonderful Lent idea from her pastor. Don’t miss it.

New Orleans and Mardi Gras

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Beignets for Mardi GrasAs Fat Tuesday rolls around — it’s tomorrow — everybody has a little New Orleans in them. And if you didn’t make it to Mardi Gras this year, you can celebrate at home (and a little quieter) with your Books about New Orleansown personal tribute — and you don’t even have to wear purple beads. For instance, you can find Cafe Du Monde Beignet Mix and ground coffee in almost any grocery store. And it’s pretty good, too. Not the same of course of sitting at a Cafe Du Monde outside table and brushing powdered sugar off your clothes while you make fun of other tourists people-watch, but it’ll do until you can get there yourself. Check out http://www.cafedumonde.com/ for details. And for some delicious New Orleans Mardi Grasreading while you’re sipping your chicory cafe au lait, pick up a copy of “Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table.” Sara Roahen was a professional cook when she moved to the Crescent City while her husband attended medical school. She soon got a job as a food writer, and this book chronicles her joyous exploration of New Orleans’ food and people. She falls in love with her adopted city, and she’ll make you want to book the next flight there. Go to http://www.sararoahen.com to learn more. And for another New Orleans fix, don’t forget about “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” If you haven’t seen it in the theater, put it on your must-rent list when it comes out on DVD. This intelligent and cinematic film is so thoughtful and artistic — and the city of New Orleans should have gotten a supporting-actor award for its part in it. I thought that such a mystical and magical and slightly other-worldly film could have been shot only in New Orleans, despite the Baltimore locale of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s original story. Visit http://www.benjaminbutton.com/ to find out more. Need more NOLA? Go to http://www.nola.com/mardigras/ for Mardi Gras parade webcams and up-to-the-minute details on what’s happening. Best viewed with a Sazerac in hand.

Vegetables

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Vegetables and dipWho doesn’t know by now that we’re supposed to eat more vegetables? But you can fix steamed broccoli only so many times before your family stages a revolt. At a recent cooking class at the Shoals Commercial Culinary Center in Florence, Alabama — a kitchen incubator for small food businesses that’s part of the Shoals Entrepreneurial Center — we learned some delicious new ways to serve vegetables. My friend Sherry Campbell is the culinary center director and she’s a great cook and teacher. Here are her recipes for Creamy Red Pepper-Basil sauce that’s wonderful as a dip for fresh veggies and easy make-ahead Broccoli with Lemon-Herb Sauce that’s a perfect portable dish. Learn more about the center at http://www.shoalsec.com/facilities/SCC_index.html 

Creamy Red Pepper-Basil Sauce

With the processor running, drop 3 garlic cloves through the food chute and process unti minced. Add 1 cup loosely packed fresh basil and process 5 seconds until chopped. Add 1 12-ounce drained jar roasted red peppers, 1 8-ounce package cream cheese, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and freshly ground pepper. Process until smooth. Serve at room temperature. Makes 2 1/2 cups.

Broccoli with Lemon-Herb Sauce

Cook 1 1/2 pounds broccoli in 3 cups vegetable broth until crisp-tender, about 4 minutes. Remove broccoli with Broccolitongs and chill in ice water. Reserve 1 cup broth and chill. Dry broccoli and chill. Heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add 1 cup chopped green onions, 1/3 cup minced shallots and 1 teaspoon sugar. Saute until tender, about 5 minutes. Add 1 tablespoon minced garlic, saute 2 minutes. Stir in reserved broth, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, 1 1/2 tablespoon Dijon mustard, 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice, 1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme and 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest. Simmer until slightly thickened and liquid is reduced to about  1 1/4 cups. Season with salt and pepper. Cool to room temperature. Put broccoli in serving bowl and spoon sauce over. Spring with 1/4 cup chopped green onion and 1/2 cup diced seeded red bell pepper. Serves 8.