Blush and Bashful Macarons

By Cate | April 30, 2012 - 10:00 am | macarons, recipes, wedding

So, I mentioned last week that I’d made some macarons for my sister’s wedding.

I want to share my tips (and the recipes I used) in the hopes that it might be helpful to another enthusiastic home cook/baker who may be interested in making large batches of this dainty, finicky, deliiiiicious treat. It is possible, and if I can do it, you can do it, too! (if you want to :) ) Also, because of the skill and time it takes to make these, they are quite expensive to buy. Most places charge $2-$3 per cookie. Crazy! Save yourself or your friends tons of money, practice a little, and don’t be intimidated!

The wedding was this weekend, and it was absolutely gorgeous. She chose shades of pale pink for the flowers, dresses, and other details. Everything came together so beautifully and was so very chic and elegant, just like her!

Knowing she wanted to have macarons at the wedding, I volunteered to make them as our gift to the couple. Truth be told, I didn’t really know what I was committing to. I’ve been baking the sweet treats for a few years now (this post explains more), but only in smaller batches here and there. Here I was committing to making 200. Eeek.

To give you perspective, one batch makes about 15 cookies (depending on the size you make the cookies). But, I knew I could do it if I planned well and got to work early. Macarons freeze very well, so about a month ago I got started. I decided it would be best to aim for four lots of 50 cookies. And it took four batches of the recipe to make those 50. So, in just four days of baking (spread out over the month) in my lil ole kitchen with no commercial equipment, I was able to do it.

I chose four flavors that would complement her pink palette: Vanilla Bean, Rosewater/Almond, Strawberry Creme (this is actually strawberry cream cheese, but “creme” just sounded so much more sophisticated!), and Lemon Zest/Bing Cherry. After much experimentation with macaron recipes in the past, I’ve found that Tartelette’s instructions are the best. Her article in Desserts Magazine is what finally got me the macarons I was aiming for. If you want to try to make these luscious French pastries, follow her instructions to the letter. Once you’ve got it down, you may be able to experiment a bit.

I have learned that most of the flavor in the treats comes from the filling. Often the shells (cookies) are simply dyed a complimentary color. Because they are so fickle, the batch can easily be ruined by adding ingredients. You are able to add a little bit of a dry ingredient (like cocoa powder or ground freeze dried fruits, or citrus zest, but options are limited. So, all four of my flavors were made with the basic macaron shell recipe below. I carefully added pink gel food coloring to change the color, and for one of the lots I added a little lemon zest.

I’ve listed the recipes I used for the four fillings below, too. You can fill them with practically anything…lemon curd, fruit jams, meringue, almost any kind of frosting.

As far as packaging and transport, the cookies fit perfectly into pie boxes, vertically (see photo below). About 25 fit in each box, so we had 8 pie boxes. Those went into coolers straight from the freezer, over dry ice. They sat in the coolers for about 24 hours while we traveled. When we finally opened the coolers on arrival, the macarons were still cold, and some were even still frozen.

Without further ado, here are the recipes for these delightful treats. They were a hit at the wedding! (Don’t forget to read Tartelette’s article too for all of the tips and tricks for making a successful macaron.)

Basic Macaron Shells

[Recipe adapted from Tartelette]
200 gr powdered sugar
110 gr almonds (slivered, blanched, sliced, ground, whatever you like)
90 gr egg whites (use egg whites that have been preferably left 3-4 days in the fridge)
50 gr granulated sugar

Place the powdered sugar and almonds in a food processor and give them a good pulse until the nuts are finely ground. Sift if desired (helps keep the shells smooth in appearance).

In a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites to a foam, (think bubble bath foam) then gradually add the sugar until you obtain a glossy meringue (think shaving cream). Do not overbeat your meringue or it will be too dry.

Add the nuts and powdered sugar to the meringue, give it a quick fold to break some of the air and then fold the mass carefully until you obtain a batter that falls back on itself after counting to 10. Give quick strokes at first to break the mass and slow down. The whole process should not take more than 50 strokes. Test a small amount on a plate: if the tops flatten on their own you are good to go. If there is a small beak, give the batter a couple of turns.

Fill a pastry bag fitted with a plain tip (Ateco #807 or #809) with the batter and pipe small rounds onto parchment paper or silicone mats lined baking sheets. Let the macarons sit out for 30 minutes to an hour to harden their shells.

When you are ready to bake, preheat the oven to 280F.
Bake the macarons for 15 to 20 minutes, depending on their size. Let cool.
Once baked and if you are not using them right away, store the shells in an airtight container out of the fridge for a couple of days or in the freezer for up to 2 weeks (longer and the sugar starts to seep out which makes them sticky). Fill the macarons and let them mature in the fridge at least 48 hours prior to eating them.

(For lemon shells, add the zest of ½ lemon when you combine the egg whites and sugar/nuts.)

(For pink shells, add a few drops of pink food coloring gel. To balance this extra moisture, add 1 teaspoon of powdered egg whites to the wet whites when whipping.)

Basic Buttercream:

[recipe from Tartelette]
1/2 cup (100gr) sugar
2 large egg whites
1 1/2 sticks (6 ounces) unsalted butter, at room temperature

Put the sugar and egg whites in a large heatproof bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk constantly, keeping the mixture over the heat, until it feels hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. The sugar should be dissolved, and the mixture will look like marshmallow cream. Pour the mixture into the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment and beat the meringue on medium speed until it cools and forms a thick shiny meringue, about 5 minutes. Switch to the paddle attachment and add the butter, one tablespoon at a time, beating until smooth. Once all the butter is in, beat in the buttercream on medium-high speed until it is thick and very smooth, 6-10 minutes. Pipe into shells.

Vanilla Bean Buttercream: Fold 1 vanilla bean, split open and seeded (or 1Tablespoon “Pure Vanilla Bean Paste”) into the buttercream

Rosewater & Almond Buttercream: Stir in 2t Pure Rosewater Extract and 1t Almond Extract into the buttercream

Strawberry Cream Cheese Filling

[recipe by Paula Deen]

1/4 cup butter, softened

1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

1 (10-ounce) package frozen strawberries in syrup, thawed and pureed

7 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a large bowl, beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Beat in 1/4 cup of the strawberry puree and the vanilla extract. (The rest of the puree is leftover but can be used in smoothies or on ice cream for a delicious treat.) Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until smooth.

Cherry Lemon Buttercream

[recipe from une gamine dans la cuisine]
1 cup (that’s 2 sticks) of unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/4 teaspoon of salt
3 to 4 cups of confectioners sugar (you may only need 3, but have 4 on hand just in case)
1/2 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract
zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup of clean, dry, pitted, and chopped cherries [Use fresh or frozen unsweetened]

In the bowl of your stand mixer, using the paddle attachment (you can use a hand-held mixer too, just be sure you have a large bowl to accommodate any flying sugar), beat the butter and salt on medium speed until light and fluffy.Slowly begin adding 3 cups of sugar (about 1/2 cup at a time.)

With each addition, start beating on low speed, and gradually increase as the sugar mixes into the butter.
Once 3 cups of the sugar have been added, beat in the vanilla extract and lemon zest until well combined. Turn the mixer off and add the chopped cherries. Beat at medium-high speed, until the frosting becomes smooth and creamy.

[Note: There will be chunks of cherries that won't break up...and that's good! They will give the frosting a pretty, pebble-like texture.]
If the frosting is too runny, gradually add that remaining cup of sugar. You’re aiming for a thick, almost ice cream-like, consistency. If it’s extremely humid, you may want to cover the bowl and refrigerate the frosting for about 20 minutes.
On the flip side, if your frosting is too thick, add a few teaspoons of milk, or cream, but add it gradually…a little bit of liquid goes a long way in frosting.

Linking up:

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Steaks with Two Tapenades

By Cate | April 23, 2012 - 3:12 am | recipes

3 Comments

Hi Friends! We have had a lovely, relaxing weekend. I’ll share a few photos (indulge me?), then a great recipe…

A few months ago I offered to make macarons for my sister’s wedding. I’ve been baking them in big batches and freezing them. The wedding is this weekend (yay for Anne Douglas and Evan!), and I finally finished up the last batch. I’ll share the recipes soon, but here’s a peak.

The weather has been overcast and cool all weekend, but we managed some outside time in the swing when the sun did poke through.

The Bean loves it! Isn’t that face a hoot? It’s either that or this:

Rarely anything in between.

I finished up a hat/coat rack for my in-law’s beach house. I’ll share more later, but here’s a glimpse. I just love this Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. “Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”

Frank treated me to dinner tonight. We have a handful of Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals books, and they’re an easy go-to for quick recipes. Tonight he made…

Steaks with Two Tapenades, Arugula Salad, and Crusty Bread

Recipe by Rachael Ray, Makes 4 servings

1/2 cup pitted kalamata black olives
1 tin of flat anchovy fillets, drained
3 tablespoons capers, drained
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
2 lemons
3 jarred roasted red bell peppers, drained
3 rounded tablespoons prepared basil pesto

8 (1-inch thick) medallions of beef tenderloin, or 4 New York strip steaks, 8 to 10 ounces each and 1 inch thick, at room temperature (Frank used T Bones)
   Extra-virgin olive oil, for liberal drizzling
   Coarse salt and coarse black pepper
4 to 5 cups trimmed, washed, and dried arugula (Frank used romaine cause it’s what we had)

4 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano, shaved with a vegetable peeler
   Crusty bread, warmed in a low oven until crisp

In a food processor, grind the olives with the anchovies, capers, 1/3 cup of the parsley, and the juice of 1/2 lemon. Scrape into a small ramekin or dish and wash and dry the processor bowl.

Place the red peppers, pesto, the zest of 1 lemon, and 1/3 cup of the parsley in the processor bowl and grind. Scrape the red pepper paste into another ramekin.

Drizzle the steaks with EVOO and season with salt and pepper on both sides. When the skillet is screaming hot, cook the steaks for 2 minutes on each side for rare, 3 on each side for medium rare, 4 minutes on each side for medium to medium well. Let the meat stand for 5 to 10 minutes for the juices to redistribute in the meat.

Toss the arugula and the remaining 1/3 cup of parsley leaves with the juice of the zested lemon. Squeeze the lemon with the cut side up to keep the seeds from falling in the bowl. Drizzle the greens liberally with EVOO and season them with salt and pepper. Add the shaved cheese to the greens.

Serve the steaks with wedges of the remaining lemon half to squeeze over the top. Pass the tapenades at the table for topping the steaks. Serve the greens and warm, crusty bread alongside the steaks.

It was a delicious meal, and even better since I didn’t have to cook it! I do love to cook, but it’s nice to get a break. I preferred the red pepper tapenade over the black olive/anchovy. Those anchovies are so fishy. Ha!

What’d y’all get up to this weekend?

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Two Wrongs Made Right

By Cate | April 20, 2012 - 12:09 pm | baby, DIY, kitchen

9 Comments

Thanks so much for swinging by today! I’ve got a fun little project to share…

Yesterday I took two things that weren’t working very well in our home and modified them to work together. Today we have a super functional solution…that was free! Don’t you love it when the stars align?

Thing one: We have this adorable Boon drying rack that we received at our baby shower.

Pros: Its super cute and I love the fact that you can nestle items into the grass, to keep them upright and in the optimal draining position. And did I mention it’s adorable?

Cons: It takes up counter space and we only have a couple of things that need drying at a time, i.e. it’s big for our needs. Thus, it’s been hiding in a cabinet for much of the last year.

Thing two: We hung a few of these Ikea bars around the kitchen last year to help keep us organized. The one over the sink holds a wire basket that catches frequently used items. Conveniently, wet items theoretically drain right into the sink.

Pros: It has become a handy spot to drop our baby items that get washed frequently.

Cons: The tray in the bottom doesn’t drain well, despite the perforations. See the water pooling around the rim of the cup? Not the most sanitary situation…standing water.

So, I’ve mentioned we’re preparing for a yard sale (we’re thinking early June), and I’ve been particularly attentive to noticing what we really don’t use and could get rid of. When I spotted the drying rack in the cabinet yesterday, I felt a pang of guilt for having not used it much. As much as I love the way it looks, it just hasn’t been very useful to us. Then I had an idea. Could I modify the grass to fit in our handy little over-the-sink rack?

I used some sort of sheers/clippers I found in Frank’s workshop to cut the heavy plastic “roots.” It’s not the neatest cut (as you’ll see below), but I simply inverted the Ikea tray, so the bottom of the grass is hidden.

Voila! It meets all of our needs! It’s funny how something so small can make me so happy! Does this happen to you?

In other news, that church pew I had my eye on last week was snatched up by someone else, but as luck would have it, I found a better one for half the price! We’re going to check it out this afternoon. Fingers crossed! Have a wonderful weekend!

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Blog Updates and Tips

By Cate | April 18, 2012 - 11:29 am | blogging

6 Comments

Notice anything new? If you read this lil ole blog through a feed reader or through an email subscription, go ahead and click on over to my site to see what I mean: www.theycallmedomesticate.com. I’ll take you through the changes and explain more about how you can follow dC.

I wanted to freshen things up a bit, so I tweaked the header and removed the background. More importantly, I spent some time working on the “pages” you see listed under the header: Our House, Recipes and Restaurants, and DIY Tips and Tutes. Now you can click on the thumbnails to be taken to the full posts. Hopefully it’ll be easier to peruse old posts. Of course, if you know what you’re looking for there’s also the search box, located on the right, directly under the photo of me.

Now onto those four buttons on the top of that right column. If you click on “email” a blank email should open on your computer and you can shoot me a good ole fashioned note.

Click “subscribe” and you’ll be taken to my feedburner.com site. This is how you can choose for my posts to be emailed to you the morning they go live (it’s a super simple way to not miss a post). Or, you can add my RSS feed to your feed reader. I have been using Google Reader for years, and for those of us who follow multiple blogs, it makes keeping up with them all a one-click process. Genius!

[Before I move on, I want to expand a bit on using a feed reader... Beckie over at Infarrantly Creative wrote a wonderfully honest post on why many bloggers want you to read from their site directly (as opposed to email or RSS). It pertains mostly to bloggers who make their livings blogging, a category to which I certainly don't fall, so I don't really care how you read this lil blog. Anyway, I follow dozens of blogs daily, and it was really too much for me to be clicking bookmarks for each blog, trying to remember which ones I'd already seen today. Call me lazy. UNTIL, I discovered the "Next" button. If you use Google Reader and don't know about this tool, it will revolutionize your blog reading!

1) Go to your google reader settings
2) Click on Goodies
3) Under "Put Reader in a Bookmark" click and drag the "next" button up to your toolbar
4) done! Now, when you want to read your blogs, just click on that Next button and it will take you to the actual blog post that's next up on your reader. Once you've read and/or commented, just click the Next button again to move to the next one. (See the button under my "back arrow" below?)

I know that many of the blogs I read are bread and butter for the bloggers, so I'm happy to help them out a little by reading their content directly from their URL. Plus, I get to enjoy the lovely site designs they've spent hours (or days) on. Enough about that.]

The “facebook” button on my top right column will take you right where you’d assume. I am so very thankful for the 58 people who “like” me there as of today. Really, I am! But I sure would love to have a few more. ;) I really only post links to my blog posts, so it’s a nice way to get reminders to stop on by. I won’t inundate your newsfeed, that’s for sure.

And, finally there’s the “pinterest” button. Pinterest is neat. Check it out.

At the moment I’m in a bit of a pickle. I’ve started hosting the photos for my blog on Flickr, and recently I’ve noticed my photos aren’t pinnable on Pinterest. I’m trying to work on that, FYI. Hopefully I’ll find a solution soon. If you know of one, shout out!

I hope that clears things up for some of you. And I hope you like the new thumbnails on my Pages. I have to admit it was kind of fun going back through my old posts. I had forgotten about a lot of what I’d done. It looks much better now, if I may say so myself.

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Favorite Kitchen Gadget and a Delicious Dinner

By Cate | April 17, 2012 - 12:39 pm | cooking, kitchen, recipes

3 Comments

Hi all! I’m here today sharing two of my favorite things with you. First, Kate has inspired us to share our favorite kitchen gadgets. I’ll be sharing my link over at her party, and can’t wait to see what other great gadgets are out there.

Secondly, I used my gadget to help whip up one of our all time favorite meals last night. I’ll share it all with you below…

You guys know I love to cook. I’m more than happy with a full pantry and a free day to bake or cook away. And there are lots of appliances and tools I depend on to make cooking and baking more efficient and consistent. One of the tools I find myself coming back to over and over again is my microplane. It’s basically a fancy grater. This one was given to me by a dear friend at a wedding shower, and I have been using it religiously for the past few years. To be clear, this is not a sponsored post. Microplane does not know I exist.

I use it mostly for zesting citrus fruits, grating garlic or onions, and shredding cheese. It also comes in handy for grating fresh nutmeg. When a recipe calls for minced garlic, this is such an easy way to break it down. Just grate the clove right on the microplane.

Some of the garlic will stick to the back, so simply scrape it off with a knife or spoon.

If you don’t already have one of these, I think you’ll love having one in your kitchen!

So, the recipe I made last night ranks in our top 10 recipes here in the domestiCate home. Frank loves it, and it’s simple enough to throw together on a weeknight. But, it’s delicious enough to serve for date night or for guests!

In the 1980s my Grandma wrote to a local magazine called Specialty of the House to request one of her favorite recipes from a restaurant, Sweet Caroline’s in Greenville NC (which no longer exists). The restaurant’s chef, D. Waid Akeman, shared the recipe and the magazine printed it. It’s been in my family’s arsenal ever since!

The recipe is called Fettuccine Fruge. It’s a pasta with mushrooms and shrimp (or chicken) in a creamy (but not too heavy) white wine sauce. The beauty of it is that the ingredients are listed in quantity per person, so you can tailor the recipe to however many people you are cooking for at the time. I made enough for four…for last night’s dinner and some leftovers for lunch today. (I’ll list the full recipe at the bottom)

Gather all of your ingredients. Go ahead and start salted water boiling for your pasta. Cook it a minute less than package directions (so it’ll be al dente). And grate your cheese. Ree taught me the value of grating fresh cheese rather than buying pre-shredded cheese. I say that like we’re friends. In my mind we are! Anyway, it is SO much better, and the sharp microplane makes it pretty easy. It also grates is so finely, the cheese melts in the recipe more quickly and evenly.

Grab your biggest pan and heat up some oil. Toss in sliced mushrooms, garlic, hot sauce, and white wine.

Cook the shrooms down a bit, and put them aside in a bowl.

Use the same big pan (don’t you love that!?) To heat up some more oil. When it’s hot, toss in your shrimp.

After just a minute, throw in your green onions. The shrimp will continue to cook over the next few steps, and you don’t want to overcook them, so move quickly now. You want the shrimp to still be a bit raw at this point.

Then add in the cream, red pepper, and mushrooms.

Let the mixture reduce until it gets a bit thicker (the shrimp finish cooking here), then throw in your noodles.

Use tongs to toss it all together and coat the pasta. Add the butter and sprinkle on the cheese, gently tossing to incorporate it all.

Dish it onto big bowls or plates, top it with fresh parsley, and that’s it!

The chef also suggested a simple salad to serve with the pasta. It’s so easy and delicious, I recommend throwing it together while your mushrooms are cooking.

Once I cooked this recipe a few times, and really got the hang of it, it became a 30-minute meal, so easy to throw together for dinner. And it’s great to only have one pot and one pan to clean!

Fettuccine Fruge

adapted by domestiCate from Chef D. Waid Akeman

Olive Oil
White wine
Cayenne pepper
Garlic clove
Hot Sauce (like Sriracha)
Sliced Mushrooms (lots)

Heat Oil and Saute all of the ingredients. Set aside in a bowl.
4 oz cleaned shrimp per person (or raw cubes of chicken)
2 sliced green onion tops per person
4 oz half and half per person
pinch of cayenne pepper
Parmesean cheese
3oz cooked fettuccine, al dente, per person
1 T butter per person
Fresh minced parsley as garnish

Heat a small amount of oil; add shrimp and stir quickly. Add onion tops and continue to stir. When shrimp are mostly pink, add cream, a pinch of cayenne pepper, and mushrooms. Reduce mixture until creamy. Add the cooked noodles and heat through. Sprinkle with cheese and butter. Toss and serve in pasta bowls. Garnish with parsley.

Side salad
Romaine Lettuce
Quartered Canned Artichoke Hearts
Calamata Olives
Grape Tomatoes

Toss with dressing of 3 parts red wine vinegar to 1 part olive oil and fresh (or dried) basil.

What’s your favorite kitchen gadget? Do you have a family recipe with a story? Ever coaxed a recipe from a restaurant chef? Do tell!

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Window Shopping

By Cate | April 13, 2012 - 11:00 am | Brevard, decor, porch

14 Comments

Come take a peak inside our little home town. I feel so lucky to live in this quaint mountain town. It’s called Brevard, and is less than an hour from the “big city,” Asheville. Everyday I walk my girls (the dog and the babe) down picturesque streets. The streets are guarded by these trees that bloom for a short time in bright pink. I’ve heard that they might be double blossom cherry trees?

Last week we had lunch at a local shop, and I snapped this pic from our outside table.

The trees were at their gorgeous pinky peak.

But, just yesterday as I walked through, this was how it looked:

Most of the petals have fallen, creating these snow drifts of pink. When the wind blows, they dance around in mini rosy whirlwinds.

Anyway, I’m always window shopping as I walk by, and was so excited to see this old church pew is for sale. It has sat outside of this shop for as long as I can remember, as a spot for weary shoppers to rest. But, it looks like they’re letting it go. It would be a perfect fit on our porch, and could serve as seating along one side of my as-yet-to-be-purchased-and/or-made porch dining table. The seat is the same height as the other chairs we have for the table (all miss-matched), and it could seat SO many friends when we have parties.

I love the quirkiness of having a church pew for seating, and am imagining all of the paint possibilities. This might be the perfect piece to try out Ms. Annie Sloan!

What do you think?

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Prepping for a Yard Sale and a Big Thanks

By Cate | April 11, 2012 - 11:00 am | baby, blogging, yard sale

11 Comments

That’s what I’ve been up to. That and laundry.

You guys, it’s been a year since EB came along and I became a stay-home mom. And I still don’t feel like I’ve figured it out. I love being at home with her, but am struggling to feel as if I’m accomplishing much in the homemaker realm. To balance engaging/playing with her with cooking/cleaning/yard work/general house maintenance has been such a challenge. I feel like I’m getting a bit better at it, but it’s definitely not what I thought it would be. She goes to a church preschool one morning a week. That’s three hours. I try to cram as much of my to-do list into those three hours as I can. Yesterday was “school” day, but as I pulled up to the church I noticed the empty parking lot. I’d forgotten it’s spring break. So, no three hours this week.

I brought her home and managed to get more done than usual as she crawled around and played on her own. I’ve been in a purging mode lately, and have decided to have a yard sale. I’ve gone through a couple of rooms in our house so far and have some good piles going on. Heads up, local friends! I’ll let you know when our yard sale will be…I’m thinking May sometime.

So, if you have any tips on being a SAHM or prepping for a yard sale, do tell! I need all the help I can get. Seriously, though, how do people do it with more than one child? It’s hard for me to fathom now, but I’m sure you just adapt and make it work, as Tim Gunn would say.

Perhaps I just need to take a deep breath and toss out my to-do lists. I’m reminded of this quote:

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,
For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.
So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.
I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.
(by Ruth Hulbert Hamilton)

___________

And, on a very different note, I was so excited to receive a super sweet email this weekend from one of my new favorite bloggers. Leslie from Salvaged Spaces was writing to share the Liebster Blog Award. Blogging is a funny thing…readership waxes and wanes, readers come and they go. I’m realizing what I’ve read from big bloggers many times…it takes lots of effort and time to build a solid reader base.

That’s fine with me. I’m just sharing what I do and what I love, and appreciating you guys who come to check it out. But, I have to admit, it’s nice to be recognized. And by such an adorable couple!

I mean, how cute are they!? Leslie and her husband Pete started their blog just one short month ago, but you’d never guess it when reading through their posts. They come across as seasoned pros. You must go peruse it immediately! You can start with this sweet post about Leslie’s dream home.

I was given the Liebster Award once before from Veronica, so I’ll share the great blogs I passed it on to then:

A Home in the Making
Pig and Paint
At Home in the Northwest
Teresa D Boyd
Sew Passionate

Thanks again, Leslie!

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Lemon Curd Trifle with Berries

By Cate | April 9, 2012 - 11:00 am | Easter, recipes

9 Comments

Happy Monday, y’all! I just have to share these fabulous recipes! We’ve had a delicious Easter day, if I may say so myself.

After church and EB’s first Easter egg hunt, we headed home for lunch with family and friends.

Our Easter Menu
(click the links for recipes)

Orange Ham (simple and divine)
Roasted Asparagus with Hollandaise (sooo good, the first time I’ve made hollandaise, and it was easy and yummalicious)
Creamy Spring Peas with Pancetta (bright and fresh, yet rich)
Cheddar Biscuits (one of my all time favorite recipes…a must-try!)
and friends brought yummy roasted rosemary potatoes and a fresh garden salad

And for dessert I made this Lemon Curd Trifle with Berries. Hellllo lovah! Be sure to make this a day or two ahead of time so all of the flavors can meld. That tart lemon curd balanced by the whipped cream and fresh berries makes for the perfect make-ahead spring/summer dessert.

Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

Recipe courtesy Tyler Florence

Prep Time: 30 min
Inactive Prep Time: 3 hr
Cook Time: 10 min

Level: Intermediate

Serves: 6 servings

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
4 lemons, zested and juiced
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut in chunks
1 pint fresh strawberries, stemmed and halved lengthwise
1 pint fresh blueberries
1 pint fresh blackberries
2 cups sweetened whipped cream
1 prepared lemon pound cake, sliced
1/4 cup Limoncello or Grand Marnier liqueur (optional)
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish

Directions

To make the lemon curd: Bring a pot of water to a simmer over medium-low heat. Combine the egg yolks, sugar, lemon juice, and zest in a metal or glass heat-resistant bowl and whisk until smooth. Set the bowl over the simmering water, without letting the bottom touch, and continue to whisk. Keep working-out that arm and whisk it vigorously for a good 10 minutes, until the curd has doubled in volume and is very thick and yellow. Don’t let it boil. Remove the bowl from heat and whisk in the butter, a couple of chunks at a time, until melted. Refrigerate until the custard is cold and firm.

To build the trifle: put the berries in a mixing bowl and toss them together so they are evenly distributed. Fold the whipped cream into the chilled lemon curd to lighten it up into a mousse. Line a glass trifle bowl with pieces of pound cake to fit. Drizzle or brush the cake with the Limoncello, spoon a layer of the lemon curd over the cake, and then a layer of mixed berries. Repeat the layers until the ingredients are used up, the last layer looks best if it’s the berries. Chill before serving. Garnish with fresh mint.

I found all of these recipes on foodnetwork.com, which is one of my go-to recipe sources. Just wanted to say, I’m in no way compensated by foodnetwork.com. Or anyone, for that matter.

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Touches of Easter

By Cate | April 5, 2012 - 11:00 am | decor, Easter, foyer

8 Comments

Good morning! I’m so glad you’re stopping by. If you’re a regular around here (hi mom!), you’ve noticed I haven’t been posting as regularly as I usually do. I’ve been enjoying family time and working on some projects I’ll be sharing with you soon. So, stay tuned!

Today I want to show y’all the little last-minute vignette I put together in our foyer to celebrate Easter weekend.

I pulled out the church I found recently and made up a palm cross for the steeple. This isn’t actually a palm frond, but something similar looking that grows in our yard. Don’t ask me what.

Do y’all read Making Lemonade? Carrie is such a great writer and full of wonderful ideas. She inspired me with a few of her Easter tips. I cleaned the dust off of my big cloche, and gathered together some of my milk glass pieces. She recommended shredding a brown paper bag for Easter basket grass (genius!), but I used it for the “nest.”

We are lucky to have friends who share their farm eggs, and they come in all shades of white and brown. I picked out a few to use for this project and decided to blow out the white and yolk. Have you guys done this before? I had heard of this method, but hadn’t tried it. I simply poked a hole in the top and bottom of a raw egg with a strong pin.

After some trial and error, I figured out it was better to make the bottom hole a bit bigger. So, I wiggled the pin around a little more there. Then, I simply blew on the top hole (over the sink), carefully supporting the egg. I have to say, this took quite a bit of effort. That’s why we only have 4 hollow egg shells. The good news is, if you can store them in a safe place you can use them for years. You could carefully paint or dye or decorate them at this point, but I chose to keep it natural (and easy). I love the “freckles” on that brown egg.

Bonus points if you noticed our spring wreaths in the reflection of the cloche! Our tulips and daffodils are gone in our yard, and the only thing blooming at the moment are the azaleas. The egg cup is from my Grandma’s china. The same china I used for this project in December.

I stacked some marble coasters I picked up thrifting to add height and interest.

On another note, did you guys know that scallop shells are often used in the church as a symbol of baptism and rebirth? I learned this when lil EB was baptised. I have this set of scallop shells that my Grandma kept in her china cabinet. Apparently they were used for baking scallops…here’s Lidia’s recipe. Anyway, I’ve now had them in my china cabinet for years, and finally brought them out, just to look pretty. Perhaps, though, I’ll try this recipe sometime. Looks good!

I hope you have a lovely weekend! May it be full of love and life and hope.

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Chicken and Barley Stew

By Cate | April 2, 2012 - 11:00 am | recipes

3 Comments

If you know me, you know I love me some Oprah. I was sad to see the show end last year, and have been a bit disappointed with OWN. But, I can still get my fix with O Magazine. It’s one of the two subscriptions I get now (the other is House Beautiful). I savor each issue, and often don’t feel that I’ve adequately digested all of the valuable, insightful articles by the time my next issue arrives.

In the March issue there’s an article sharing 20 delicious recipes, claiming they’re so easy you can commit each one to memory. A few stood out to me as sounding particularly yummy: Hummus-Crusted Chicken, Lemon-Crab Spaghetti, Baked Feta, Soba Noodles with Kale and Walnuts (tried this one…didn’t love it). We did try and adore this Chicken and Barley Stew by Nigella Lawson (love her!).

It was as simple as promised, and delicious as well. Rather than using chicken stock or broth, you stew the ingredients in water, creating your own broth as you go. It was surprisingly flavorful! Do give it a try!

Chicken and Barley Stew

recipe by Nigella Lawson via O Magazine, March 2012

1 parsnip, peeled and sliced
1 carrot, peeled and sliced
1 leek sliced
4 chicken thighs (I used breasts)
1t dried thyme
1t Dijon mustard
1t kosher salt
2 bay leaves
grinding of black pepper
1/2 c pearl barley
Place the everything in a Dutch oven or heavy pot. Add about 5 cups of cold water to submerge it all. Cover, bring to a boil, then turn down the heat and simmer 40 minutes. The chicken should be cooked after 30, but it will be easier to shred by 40. Transfer the chicken to a cutting board, remove the skin, take the meat off the bones, shred it, and drop it back in the pot. If you can, leave the stew uncovered for about 10 minutes before serving. Scatter with fresh dill or parsley.