I LOVE deviled eggs, and feel that they are crucial for Easter lunch. So simple and easy, but so delicious! Just be sure you have one extra yolk to add to the filling so that you have plenty – extra filling is always welcome! There is usually one egg that ends up getting a little mangled when you’re shelling them, too, so you can use those whites to scrape the filling bowl.
Can you tell I have had lots of practice maximizing my egg enjoyment?
Here it is – the doggie Easter egg hunt! (Or more appropriately, Peep hunt.) Call me crazy, but they had such a good time!
These dogs are surprisingly bad at finding pieces of food hidden in the grass and flower beds.
The little one is Florence, a shi tzu-dachshund mix, and the larger one is Robbie, a Westie.
Here is Robbie relaxing after his Easter celebrations.
Doesn’t Walter just look like the perfect poster kitty for Pottery Barn?
(I must admit that the chair isn’t actually from Pottery Barn – it’s an old wingchair that my mother found at an antique store. The upholstery was in pretty bad condition, so she slipcovered it.)
Cookies make a great accompaniment to afternoon tea, especially when they are my favorite Neiman Marcus cookies. The key to making them really special is in the chocolate chips. Be sure to use good chocolate, and put two different kinds in; this gives more depth of taste. These have both bittersweet chocolate and milk chocolate. I think these cookies are usually made with semisweet chocolate chips instead of the dark bittersweet chocolate, but I really like them better this way. The cookies have a richer taste as opposed to being overly sweet as is often the case.
Today I went to look at Ree Drummond’s site, The Pioneer Woman, and came across this post about the bottle calves they are raising. It made me think back to the calves we raised here. There were two of them, only a year or two apart. They were both red with some white facial markings, and their names were Buttons and Baby. Buttons’s mother died, and so it was left up to us to raise him. Baby was abandoned by his mother, who was really confused when she gave birth to twins, and I suppose panicked and was unable to care for them. Sadly, Baby’s twin didn’t make it, but we got to Baby in time and took him in. He was always a particularly small calf, I suppose because he was a twin. We always wondered if he and his twin were born a bit prematurely – calves just aren’t usually that small.
It was a pretty long time ago, but I still think back on the fun I had feeding those cute little things. Cows are really cute animals, and even more so when they are very small and friendly! I will have to try to find some old pictures of them to post.
I got the book Lessons from Madame Chic (Jennifer L. Scott) for Christmas, and as I devoured it over the next couple of days, I was fascinated by the descriptions of the French meals prepared by Madame Chic. It was like a description of paradise, right down to tarts for dessert every night, with the tart from the night before for breakfast.
Basically, this translates to lots of pie. Confession time: I love pie. Really the only kind of pie that I don’t like is chocolate, which most people think makes me certifiably insane, but still. I just prefer the lemon pies (remember my tarts?), the pecan pies, the apple pies, the peach cobblers, the fried pies – well, you get the picture.
The problem with pie, of course, should be obvious. There is usually a lot of butter or sugar or both involved, and while I believe that you can’t worry about every little calorie, you have to draw the line somewhere.
Therefore, you can imagine my excitement when I was watching Laura Calder one day and she made this Applesauce Tart. There is very little butter or sugar in the filling, and if you use a good old oil crust instead of a sweet crust, there won’t be any in that at all.
This tart is delicious and completely addictive, and you don’t even have to feel bad about what’s in it. And you guessed it – I even had a leftover slice for breakfast this morning. It just goes to show that maybe you can have your cake – or rather, pie – and eat it too!
There are all sorts of creatures that lurk around in the out-of-doors. Every summer, a beautiful garden spider makes her home in the boxwoods by the back porch. We name her Charlotte, of course, and we leave her web undisturbed and she gives us a fascinating glimpse into a slightly different part of nature than that occupied by the furry animals that we call our friends.
Having a garden spider every year means that Charlotte must leave her progeny behind to take her place the next summer. We’ve left a small untrimmed area of a boxwood where she placed her egg sac last year. I can’t wait to see how the little spiders hatch and grow as spring goes on.
The first day of spring isn’t until March 21st, but the signs of the season are popping up everywhere – and I’m not just talking about ordering seeds!
Yesterday, it was starting to feel warm. Not too warm – I still had to wear a jacket and hat – but warm enough to enjoy sitting in the sun on the back steps and walking around the yard looking for new growth.
We had rain, then sun and warmer weather, which is a good combination for grass to start greening up. Yes, it is patchy and not the most attractive yet, but it feels great to see that patch of lush greenness, however small it may be.
That’s not all I found. Growing on the edge of the patio is a cute little weed that drives my mother crazy, but that I always find so cheerful: the year’s first dandelion! I understand that they are pests that spread their seeds everywhere, but I can’t help but love them. The bright yellow is just such a happy color!
There are also some flowers that we actually planted. The hyacinths are starting to bloom, gracing the yard with their fabulous perfume. They seem to be making a strong appearance this year.
Continuing with the blue theme, this ground cover has also come out already:
As you can see, this is pre-weeding. I will try to get around to that tomorrow, around the horseback riding excursion I have planned for the afternoon.
It is absolutely exhilarating to see a beautiful day like this after the winter, and especially having a week of rain and cold like we have just had. It’s even nicer today, and it is supposed to be almost seventy degrees tomorrow. It feels wonderful to be back outside!
When pizza is homemade, it isn’t even unhealthy!
Think about how thirsty you get when you have a delicious greasy take-out pizza- that’s from the mountains of salt they use. Not a problem with this pizza! The high-quality ingredients have plenty of flavor and therefore don’t need all that extra salt.
The great thing about homemade pizza is that you can throw anything you’ve got on it, and it will probably be delicious. This is my favorite.
Make up a pizza crust (or two, or more) and bake it for a few minutes, then bring it back out to put on the toppings. This helps to keep the crust from getting soggy. You will still have a delicious pizza without this step, but it will be messy!
I bake my crust on a pizza stone in the oven. The traditional way of getting the crust off of the paddle and into the oven and back is to put corn meal on the paddle before you put the crust down. Maybe there is a secret that I have not discovered, but I find this to be difficult and messy. I put a piece of parchment paper under the crust, and pull paper, crust and all onto the pizza stone and then back onto the paddle. You can just bake the pizza on top of the parchment paper. This is very easy, no mess, and helps keep the crust from getting stretched when you put it in. It will also keep any runover from the pizza sauce out of your oven. I’m always looking for a way to make less of a mess.
If you have fresh tomatoes to use in the sauce, that is ideal, but this time of year I can’t imagine who would have them, so get canned ones. Our home canned tomatoes are running low, so we bought some. You can get canned Pompeii tomatoes, which are better for sauces than regular ones.
For my toppings, I put caramelized onions, which make anything better, basil, roasted red peppers, and mushrooms. Then on top add your sliced fresh mozzarella and bake it! When you bring it out grate on some parmigiano reggiano. It is expensive, but so worth it!
Chances are, you will have more pizza sauce and mozzarella than you will need if you are only making one pizza. Put the sauce in a plastic container and put it with the mozzarella in a freezer bag. You can store it in the refrigerator or even in the freezer, and pull them out another time, giving you a good head start on a meal. If you are planning on having your next pizza in the next day or two, you can even make up enough dough for two crusts and put one in the refrigerator. You will just have to assemble your pizza when you get ready to eat.
Always look for the little shortcuts that make life easier. A little preparation ahead of time saves a lot later!
This is the view that I woke up to this morning. There is your typical Middle Tennessee snow, folks.
It melted pretty quickly, then snowed all day without sticking. It finally started to stick again this evening.
I have no idea if it is still snowing; I guess we will see what the view looks like in the morning!
Crescent View Farm 