eggs

It is raining cats and dogs all day here, perfect day to stay home and cook. I looked at the almost empty fridge and eggs were pretty much it so deviled eggs and egg salad are on the menu over here. I took a few shots with my phone, which takes much more grainy photos than my last iPhone for some reason, the one I dropped into Lake Chautaqua last summer ;o( .

 I make the simplest deviled eggs with curry and lemon. The men in our family eat them immediately. Today I went heavy on the lemon juice and curry for my husband, he loves bold flavors. All I do is throw all these ingredients into the Cuisinart and pulse. I allowed it to remain a bit lumpy and runny today but smooth and thick is fine too and nicer for company of course. I add the mayo, lemon juice and curry to taste, don't really measure. I usually use the entire lemon and the  curry powder is bought in bulk from the Indian grocery. Hopefully Savannah or Charleston have one, Beaufort certainly doesn't. We need some fennel for the morning chai husband makes so will have to research.

Guests often mention they don't like curry but after tasting the eggs, they like them and eat several. The combination of lemon and curry are sharp and bold and then the mayo balances it and adds creaminess.

Deviled  eggs with curry and lemon

~hard boiled eggs

~light Hellman mayonnaise

~lemon squeezed

~ curry powder 

(freshest is from Indian grocery and also much less expensive)

~salt and pepper

~green onions, parsley and/or dill can be blended into mix or used as garnish

Have you seen this blogger's naturally dyed eggs on Pinterest? 

I think they are so beautiful.

And Martha's team came up with this pretty tabletop idea with eggs, combining moss covered styrofoam eggs, quince or crabapple stems and several sizes of brown eggs.

Martha Stewart

Are eggs a favorite food in your house?

Thanks for visiting!

Cindy

this week

 Here is what is happening over here....

 We are burning through the large pile of stacked logs sitting in the garage and eating lots of pistachios from the mega bag we bought at Costco. See the coffee table...brass leaf with nuts and a discarded shell bowl? Looks like we are almost finished but there is still the big bag with plenty more in the snack drawer. I need to stop going into the snack aisle at Costco, the bags are too big. Does this happen in your house? The day a new item is brought into the house, everyone is interested and takes their share but the following days, no takers. Oh well, new strategy...walk past the snacks, head to the flowers instead.

Found pretty tulips, lilies and alstroemeria last visit.

I remembered to take an Ina food photo! I made Asian Grilled Salmon from her Parties cookbook which I think is one of her best.

 I doctored the recipe though because it was too bland. The sauce consists of just olive oil, soy sauce and mustard. It needed bite and sweetness so I added honey and lime juice. Made it much better and the honey created great caramelization. This is son's plate, I sadly had one little scoop of mashed potatoes on my plate. See the black thing on the middle of the filet? He asked in a typical teenage tone what it was so I picked it up and ate it, yum, crunchy and delicious. Do you cook frozen broccoli in the microwave? It is so easy, I think I do 6 minutes covered. Then toss with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper. Costco does have the best frozen broccoli. 

I also made Parker's Beef Stew on Super Bowl and I did forget to take a shot, very delicious of course and not quite as rich as her yummy Beef Bourguignon recipe. 

I have been fooling around with some master bedroom changes. I change things in the house at this time every year, part of the hibernation process. I decided it should be feminine and light with touches of green and blue. I use our bedroom as my personal living room since I record shows on that television. Have now chalk painted the bedside tables, a baker's rack we brought down from a guest room and the armoire. The only brown thing left is an antique farmhouse chest of drawers. Will post some pics later once a sunburst arrives for over the bed. 

Here is the baker's rack which is now in place of a table next to my favorite chair. It houses favorite books, magazines and serves as my charging station and a nice place for a scented candle. I painted it in Annie Sloan Country Grey.

Loving our birds at the feeders. I will never get over the beauty of a cardinal in the midst of a bleak landscape. Mother Nature is so amazing. This beautiful boy was outside the kitchen window.

Ran out of personalized stationery so just ordered and quickly received this simple design from etsy seller Short Grass Designs. Can be ordered in lots of colors and comes with kraft envelopes. Would make a great gift.

What is going on in your home on these winter days?

Honeybell season is here

The season for my favorite oranges has arrived! I love Honeybell oranges, also known as Minneola Tangelos, the juiciest sweetest orange. For years we had them shipped but now they are readily available at local stores. I am juicing them with the Citri Star juicer that is very simple to use. I am going to see if Costco has Honeybells this year to get a larger quantity as I like to juice them once a day until they are gone. Don't think I saw them there in the past though. Are you a fan of Honeybells?

Ina's classic chicken soup

No one is sick (knock on wood) but I decided to make chicken soup yesterday.  I tried Ina's version, another recipe from her Family Style cookbook.  

It's all about the stock. Making homemade stock makes a huge difference. I am usually too lazy to make stock so making stock was kind of fun. Just cut up a fryer, save the breasts for roasting later to add to the soup.  Add the fryer pieces to the pot to cook for several hours with the veggies and herbs. It does smell divine while cooking, everyone asked what smelled so good upon entering the house.

The recipe is kind of boring but good for this time of year. Served it with a Caesar salad which was tangy and full of flavor. I forgot to photograph it and the rye triangle toasts I made instead of croutons. I make the dressing in the Cuisinart with an egg that I microwave in a glass of water for 45 seconds. Add it with garlic, parmesan cheese, several anchovy fillets and puree. Then add salt, pepper, juice of a lemon or two depending on size and then drizzle in olive oil as the motor is running. Yum!!! Restaurant versions are never as good as homemade. I eyeball everything and it always comes out great, just taste it to adjust.

Since my husband and two sons were going to be eating the soup for dinner, I served less broth in the bowls. I am not a fan of hearty wide egg noodles but they really liked them. I would much prefer a skinnier pasta but must make the menfolk happy.

Ina's wings

Man food was the theme on New Year's Day, numbing football on all day so we tried Ina's chicken wings from her Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook, released in 2002.

 I say "we" because husband needed to separate the wings which I find disgusting, that is the most time consuming part of making wings at home. Homemade wings are so much better than sports bars because they are not deep fried. I usually bake them but Ina's recipe calls for broiling them for 8 minutes or so on each side. So much faster and the broiling creates beautiful caramelization. I added much more Frank's hot sauce than her recipe calls for, the only change I made. The men loved Ina's wings, very moist and succulent! After flipping through several of her cookbooks yesterday, she has a ton of man food recipes. This will make husband and son happy as I venture through Ina's cookbooks this year. 

resolutions

Have you thought about your new year's resolutions? I have started to jot down a few, some trivial and some meaningful. A fun one I have decided on is to cook my way though some of my favorite cookbooks in 2013. 

For the last few years, I have been a creative cook, creating meals from what needs to be used in the fridge or freezer, not thinking to go to my cookbook collection. When reorganizing the shelf the other day, I realized that so many of them are being ignored.

This year, I will try to get through most of Ina Garten's cookbooks. I love Ina's recipes (and her pretty homes). Her recipes are always delicious and her cookbooks are filled with beautiful photography. I have used her first one, The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook the most, bought it years ago when it first came out. It is full of bookmarks and stains.

I will blog about my journey through Ina's books, a la Julie and Julia and post about any yummy discoveries here and there. What are some of your resolutions this year?

  Happy New Year!

bhel puri

stylish serendipity photo

I just made bhel puri for lunch, it is a perfect summer dish, a delicious combination of crunchy, salty, sweet, healthy, spicy and fresh. The only negative it that it requires two items from the Indian grocery that you must have on hand... bhel puri snack mix and tamarind chutney. The other ingredients are potato, tomato, onions, cilantro and chick peas if you want protein. Also can drizzle plain yogurt on it if you like. 

It is a Mumbai street food that almost everybody loves. I used to take it to picnics when our kids were little and was always asked for the recipe. Men seem to like it especially.  Here is an official recipe.  I just wing it every time with whatever we have on hand and tend to keep several bags of mix and jars of the chutney on hand in the summer months. The mix and chutney looks like this at the Indian grocery:

Have you tried it? I think you would like it!

little sandwiches

Perfect for picnics. Recipe here from Crepes of Wrath.

foodie blog alert

Have you visited the

?

Marie is a Chicago cook. Every dish she features on her blog is beautifully photographed and looks like you want to dig right in and take a bite! I have prepared many of her recipes and each one was really delicious, all worth repeating. Here are a few recent dishes from just one post.

chicken with mustard herb paste

grilled shrimp & lobster gremolata( I will just go with the shrimp that I have in the freezer from Costco)

garlic grilled tomatoes, so simple

She prepares desserts in the simple way that I like to...easy combining of quality ice cream with something special like liquors, fresh fruit, special cookies, etc. 

Visit Proud Italian Cook here and enjoy!

we need to celebrate grilled cheese!

Martha says today is National Grilled Cheese Day. So we must properly observe the day and make grilled cheese! For grown up grilled cheese ideas, go here and other variations, go here. 

Video from Martha Stewart Kitchens for How to Make Tomato Soup and Grilled Cheese.

spring pasta

recipe here from Proud Italian Cook

dinner tonight...chickpea curry, basmati rice and raita

Williams-Sonoma recipes here

have you tried these?

In my never ending desire for crunchy food, I have discovered a delicious healthy chip, full of real ingredients. The company also makes other varieties, need to try some more.

dinner tonight...chicken pot pie

In my efforts to empty the freezer before our next trip to Costco, I uncovered frozen puff pastry and chicken tenderloins this morning, so more man food tonight. I used this recipe with a few exceptions. I added 1/3 cup each of sherry and white wine and I used milk instead of half & half. Also did not have carrots so added small diced red pepper. Going to be yummmm.

Honeybells are here

and as usual for only about a month or so depending on the crop this year. The amazingly sweet and juicy tangerine/grapefruit hybrid, also known as Tangelos, are grown along the Indian River in Florida. Groceries now stock them as they have gained in popularity. Many people still like to pre order and have them shipped. We have ordered from Hale Groves in the past but the last few years, the groceries in our area have had plenty. Enjoy! They are our favorite winter treat!

dinner tonight...tacos with home blended taco seasoning

MUCH less sodium and no msg. Recipe here.

Use with ground turkey or sliced or cubed chicken, lettuce, queso cheese, salsa, lime juice and avocado slices for delicious tacos.