My new mini colander

The itty bitty pink colander pictured in this post is the latest addition to my kitchen. It was the "basket" for an Easter basket from my employers. They have me nailed, as far as my taste goes, this tiny colander is the perfect shade of pink and with such cute little handles, I couldn't love a colander more.



I find it rather amusing that I have just finally added a pink colander to my kitchen collection, since I've wanted one for years. In fact, my yearning for such a little creature was the impetus for getting the job I have now. I remember, during our first two months in San Diego, passing by the pink, enameled, metal ones at Whole Foods and wishing so much that I could buy one. I had really started to run out of money, since I hadn't been working for three months and there was just no way I could make that sort of splurge. So, I grabbed the first fun looking job that I saw. Although I could have bought dozens of small pink colanders over the past three years, I always thought perhaps it was too silly a purchase, especially since I already have four colanders in my cupboard. Well, I was wrong. This little baby is the ideal size for most straining and draining tasks. Now I know why I wanted one so desperately and even got a job so that I could buy one.







And, just for cuteness' sake!
Three, almost identical but ever so slightly different, bunny-in-the-colander poses.

Baby lettuces

They absolutely Had to be picked. The ultra high heat of the past few days had just clinched their little fate. Of course, my baby lettuce plants had begun their decline about a week or two ago but I was holding back picking them until today, silly of me, but I was hoping they'd make a come back.

They made a tasty little salad.



Being baby lettuces, naturally they needed to be placed in a baby colander (my new, pink, baby colander, which will be shown in more, various "poses" in a further post).




The wee radish sprouts were also a nice addition to our dinner salad and desperately needed to be thinned from their crowded pot.

New little gnome fellow

I've added a mini gnome to my collection. My little gardener was getting lonely, so, I found a little fellow to keep him company. This little smoking gnome's favorite thing to do is stand around with his hand in his pocket, puffin' on his pipe. He loves chattin' and makes for excellent company, especially during these hot, summery days.

Stuffed Egg Recipe

My mother reminded me that Tasha Tudor uses the term stuffed eggs to refer to deviled eggs and I think that sounds just adorable.

This recipe comes from a cooking magazine that I receive. Last year's spring issue has been tempting me to make these luscious little eggs for a year now, so finally I made them. They were tasty but extremely fattening, as deviled eggs tend to be, which means that I probably won't make them for at least another year.

So, I was proud of my self restraint, I just barely changed the recipe; I left out the shallots. It wasn't because I don't like shallots, but because I really don't like chunks of anything, not even small ones, in my deviled eggs. Sweet pickles, onions, nothing chunky should dwell in a deviled egg.



Very Definitely Not Chunky Stuffed Eggs
6 boiled eggs, halved and separated
2 oz. soft goat cheese
6 tbsp. mayonnaise
2 tsp. minced shallots(optional, if you prefer chunky eggies)
2 tsp. minced fresh herbs, such as tarragon, chives, chervil, dill or basil (I used dill)
1/8 tsp. salt
dash of pepper

Mash yolks then add cheese and mix well. Stir in Mayonnaise and other filling ingredients. Fill the little egg white cups as full as you like. Then lick the bowl of any remaining filling(my favorite part of the whole process).

Yum, Yum!

Happy Easter!

Happy Easter!




It was a quiet Easter today. We started off the day with Hot cross buns (purchased, since I'm lazy) and Mimosas. Yum, yum.

Then for dinner, I made veggies and dill dip, Goat cheese deviled eggs, macaroni salad and roast pork loin with mustard thyme sauce.



Everything was delicious and fresh. I had actually intended to make a roast leg of lamb but the only two legs left were huge, double the size of footballs. I should have bought a smaller leg of lamb last week.



These deviled eggs were fresh and rich. Usually I just make the standard paprika filled goodies but this time I just stuck with Dill and goat cheese for the seasonings. Of all the yummies I made, the eggies were the only picture worthy dish of the day.

An update on my tiny garden

I'm posting a few photos of my new plants that I took about a week or two ago. I was so delighted to find things growing. The radish seeds sprouted, my lettuces got bigger and nothing has died yet! I'm delighted.



This little fellow is my gardener. He mostly likes sleeping under mushrooms.





My little radish forest. I may need to pluck a few sprouts out of the forest so that the radishes can grow. Apparently radish sprouts are delicious, so perhaps they'll go well in a silly salad.

I'm just excited that my plants are actually growing, instead of shriveling up to nothing

Limequats

Last Sunday at the Farmer's Market, Matthew and I bought a basket of limequats, along with a basket of limes from Farmer Steve. Farmer Steve grows the tastiest limes we've ever tried and we had no doubts that the limequats would be equally good. These tiny, bright yellow fruits are cheerful and cute, as well as being delicious. Naturally, they taste like a cross between limes and kumquats.



Since I also bought strawberries (its the very beginning of strawberry season in Southern Calif.) I wanted to find a way to combine the two fruits into one yummy treat. A lime curd, strawberry tart! So, I decided to start with a creamy base, layer the limequat curd second and then top everything with strawberries. After deciding on my process, I suddenly got the urge to make the same tart but replacing the curd with nutella. Hence the half and half tart. I wish I'd just stuck with one or the other, probably the limequat curd option. But both taste absolutely yummy.






I made the tart dough from Clotilde's book and baked the shell before toping it with all the other ingredients. For the creamy base, I simply processed cream cheese with a large dash of 1/2 n 1/2, a small dash of vanilla and sugar to taste. Lastly, the limequat curd was just adapted from an old lemon curd recipe that I've used for years.



Limequat curd recipe

Grate zest and juice many many limequats until you are tired of dealing with the little things, then grate and zest one lime to make approx. 6 tablespoons of juice total(this can be any citrus juice, all one type or a combo). Mix the juice with 8oz sugar and 4 oz of butter in a double boiler, over low heat, until sugar dissolves. Beat 2 large eggs in a separate bowl. Remove double boiler from heat and very slowly stir in the eggs. Just add the eggs at a trickle, stiring all the while. Once the eggs are incorporated, cook the mixture over medium-low heat, stiring continuously until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon. This is absolutely delicious on toast or scones, over most fruit, or just plain.