A Jeanne in the Kitchen

With the warmer weather being more consistent now, more and more turtles are coming out to sun themselves too. They like to either hang out on the water’s surface to catch a few rays, or climb up on the rocks. Sometimes they like to be alone, and other times, they like to hang out with their friends.

Sometimes, they even get a little frisky. I have to admit, this is the first time I have ever seen the turtles getting frisky.

We have company here with us all week. They came in late Easter Sunday evening, so we celebrated Easter on Monday instead of on Easter Sunday. When we celebrate is not nearly as important as the who we celebrate with.

Our friends Jenni and Brian are in town checking out colleges for their daughter, and I have been going to the different colleges with them. We are also busy catching up and visiting, which means we don’t have a lot of time to devote to cooking meals. That included our Easter dinner.

We had a simple dinner for Easter that included a traditional ham, scalloped potatoes, rolls, and a new spring salad with asparagus, snap peas and toasted almonds.

As usual, when I am hosting, I often get busy and forget to take a lot of pictures as I am preparing the meal, because I am more focused on getting everything ready in time than I am on taking photos. I only got the one photo of the salad, after it was done. It is a colorful tasty salad that went well with our dinner.

First, I made a honey-ginger vinaigrette and set it aside. I drizzled it onto the salad right before we served it.

1/4 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 cup olive oil

3 TBSP honey-ginger balsamic vinegar

1 TBSP whole grain mustard

fresh ground black pepper

Whisk everything together and set aside until ready to use.

For the salad, I mixed baby spinach, with the stems removed, with shredded Romaine lettuce. Then I cooked some asparagus and some snap peas, cut them to about 1-1 1/2 inches in length and added them to the lettuce, along with some toasted almonds, and the remainder of my HUGE heirloom tomato.

I topped it all off with feta cheese for my cheese lovers, and the salad was complete. It was a pretty, colorful salad and easy-peasy to make. It was also a big hit, which is always a good thing. 🙂 As I keep saying, things don’t have to be complicated in order to be good.

Yesterday we went to CSU (Colorado State University) up in Fort Collins. Today we are headed to CU Boulder, for yet another campus tour. Tomorrow, we will be at DU (Denver University). So not only are we going to the three big schools in our area, but we are also touring around in the process.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

All my birds are out and about, enjoying the spring. I hear them all a lot more than I see them, but then I guess they are all busy building their nests. I certainly enjoy hearing them sing their pretty little tunes. But I really enjoy seeing them a lot more.

It’s bird season. You’ll hear them first, but soon they will be out. Keep your eyes and ears open for the songs of spring. I am actually hearing them sing to me right now, even though it is still dark outside and is early in the morning. 🙂

Lemon and strawberries. Does anything say spring more than lemon and strawberries? I don’t think so. Once again, I combined these two great flavors to make a delicious cake for our Easter dessert.

Strawberry Lemon Curd Cake

I made a lemon bundt cake and added lemon curd and diced strawberries as the filling. It was so moist and full of flavor.

Preheat the oven to 325* F or 163*C.

Spray a bundt cake pan with cooking spray.

2 cups flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 sticks softened butter

1 cup sugar

4 eggs

1/2 cup yogurt or sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp lemon extract

1-1 1/2 cups diced strawberries

1/2-3/4 cup lemon curd

lemon glaze

colored sprinkles, optional

Combine all the dry ingredients together and mix well.

Beat the butter and sugar together, then add the eggs one at a time, mixing in between each addition. Mix in the yogurt or sour cream, lemon extract, lemon juice and vanilla.

Add the dry ingredients 1/2 at a time, mixing in between. Do not over mix.

Spoon 1/2 of the cake batter into the prepared pan, then spoon in the lemon curd, and spread it around the center of the cake. Add the diced strawberries. Add the remaining batter on top of the strawberries.

Bake for about 1 1/2 hours, or until the cake is golden and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

When the cake is completely cooled, remove from the pan and add the lemon glaze and colored sprinkles.

Lemon Glaze

2 cups powdered sugar

1 TBSP lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

dash of milk

Whisk everything together until it is smooth and creamy. Drizzle over the cake.

I hope you all had a good Easter celebration. Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Just a quick note to say we have company in town. I may or may not be able to share a lot this week, but I will play it by ear, and we’ll see what we can do. Hang tight though. 🙂

The true meaning of Easter, for Christians, is the celebration of Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead. It signifies his victory over death and offers hope of salvation and eternal life to all believers. Easter is a time for reflecting on Jesus’s sacrifice and the new life He provides through His resurrection. The cross stands as the most recognized and revered symbol of Christianity, representing the crucifixion of Jesus Christ.

Easter commemorates Jesus’s death on the cross, which Christians believe atoned for the sins of humanity, offering forgiveness and a path to reconciliation with God. The resurrection provides hope for a future life free from sin and death. The earliest recorded observance of an Easter celebration comes from the 2nd century, though the commemoration of Jesus’ Resurrection probably occurred earlier.

Easter is also representative of spring and is a time for renewal, joy, growth and new life. This is represented through the “Easter egg”, which is associated with fertility and new life. The egg also symbolizes the resurrection of Christ, with the hard shell representing the sealed tomb and the cracking of the egg symbolizing His emergence from the grave.

The name Easter comes from the Germanic name Ostara or Eostre, who was the goddess of spring and dawn. Ancient celebrations took place in her honor in the spring equinox to represent the rebirth of nature. Many of the symbols we associate with Easter today come from ancient, pagan celebrations, such as the egg and the rabbit. Both eggs and rabbits are ancient symbols of growth, renewal and fertility. The Easter bunny comes from the German Osterhase tradition of the egg-laying rabbit (or Easter hare). This German tradition was brought to the United States in the 1700’s with the German immigrants.

The lamb is associated with innocence, purity, humility and divine sacrifice. Lamb, especially roasted lamb, is a traditional Easter dinner served in many parts of the world. In the United States, ham tends to be an Easter favorite. I too will be cooking a ham for our Easter dinner. I was also originally going to serve lamb as well, but we have company coming over, and they are not big lamb eaters, so ham it is.

Lilies are also associated Christ’s resurrection. Christian legend has it that lilies grew where Jesus sweat during His agonies in Gethsemane. White lilies in particular stand for innocence and purity, as well as the hope of life eternal. They are said to represent Jesus’ triumph over death.

There are of course numerous other images that are representative of Easter and Christ’s resurrection, but these are some of the most noted and known symbols seen around the world.

So for those of you who celebrate Easter, Happy Easter. And for everyone, have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

And just for fun, here are some Easter bunnies found around my neck of the woods, or should I say, lakes. 🙂

This little bunny was in the window well of our basement.

The British and their “colonies” are known for their love of tea. It all started in the 1800’s when Anna, the 7th Duchess of Bedford who, at the time was a close friend of Queen Victoria and a prominent figure within London society complained of “having that sinking feeling” during the late afternoon. She wanted something small to satisfy her hunger, nothing too large, just something to see her through until dinner time. The afternoon tea tradition was born inside the houses of the rich and fortunate but once summer came around they wanted to take this fabulous tea time tradition outside into their beautiful gardens. People wanted to be like their lords and ladies and from that day forward the world wide afternoon tea tradition was born.  Afternoon tea is a tradition that is a part of our lives, it is ever so English, classic and elegant.

Priscilla’s mom Ana is in town visiting for Easter, so Priscilla decided to have a little tea party for us. Priscilla is always the “hostess with the mostest”. Everything she does is always so elegant and beautifully charming. Every little detail is always done with love and perfection.

Priscilla and her very elegant table. She should be on the cover of a magazine. No matter what event Priscilla is hosting, it is always spectacular, and the food divine, but tea parties are definitely her specialty. Hosting tea parties are part of Priscilla’s DNA though. Ana used to own and operate a little restaurant, called “The Tea Room”, in Sierra Madre, California that she ran with Priscilla’s sister Kelly. It was always packed with celebrities and everyday tea lovers alike.

We started out with a delicate serving of a delicious tomato-sherry bisque.

That was followed by an array of delicious tea sandwiches, including egg salad, cucumber, curried chicken with a mango chutney, and little banana bread sandwiches.

There were warm, fresh baked scones with creme fraiche, lemon curd and strawberry preserves.

And we ended with some delicious little chocolate cakes, lemon curd cups and lemon-strawberry bars. And of course, we had an endless supply of tea as well.

Even though the weather was atrocious, and was snowing all day, the four of us had a lovely afternoon that led into the early evening. We were busy catching up and enjoying each other’s company the whole time. Priscilla and I, and of course Ana, have known each other since our junior high school days, back in Pasadena, California. Priscilla and Laura have known each other for many, many years, and Laura and I have been friends for many years as well. As always, it was a perfectly lovely get together. Thank you Priscilla, Ana and Laura for all your love and friendship over the years. 🙂

The little things in life are really the important things in life. It’s all wrapped up in the attention to the details that make things so special. Make everyday special. Enjoy your days with loved ones as you can and make as many special memories as time allows.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

I just never know what to expect when out walking. Sometimes I don’t really see much at all, and sometimes, I see so much. Sometimes, it’s just pure luck and timing too.

The other day, I saw a happy little House Finch up in the tree. He literally looked like he was smiling and just happy to be there. It was a cloudy, overcast day, but he didn’t seem bothered one bit.

This is my favorite shot of him. 🙂

There is no doubt about it that we love Mexican food. We eat it quite often. It is always a go-to for us. Making Mexican just comes naturally to me. Years ago, one of my chefs told me my heart was Mexican. Of course he told me in Spanish – “No esta una Americana o Gringo. Tu corazon esta Mexicana“.

We are still trying to use up our leftovers, certainly before I start making more dishes for Easter and this week while we have company. But we still need balanced meals. If I have leftover main dishes, then I need to make side dishes to go with them, and vice versa. This time I made a Mexican succotash as a side dish.

Succotash is a dish primarily consisting of corn and lima beans, often with other ingredients like tomatoes, peppers, and okra. It’s a popular side dish, particularly in the United States, with origins in the Narragansett Native American language. Instead of lima beans, I added some zucchini and crookneck squash, onions, Mexican spices and topped it all off with toasted pine nuts, or pinoles.

Mexican Succotash

As usual, I kept tweaking it until it was just right.

1 zucchini, sliced

1 crookneck, sliced

1 cup corn

2-3 tomatoes -although I had 1 HUGE heirloom, and only used 1/2 of it

1/2 red onion, diced small

salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

dash of cayenne pepper

1-2 tsp dried oregano

1 TBSP fresh thyme or 1 tsp of dried thyme

1-2 tsp cumin

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

Look at the size of these big, beautiful heirloom tomatoes. They are HUGE!!!!

One tomato was bigger than my hand, and I don’t have small hands either.

Get a large skillet very hot, then add the olive oil, corn, zucchini, crookneck, onions and seasonings. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring frequently.

After the vegetables have softened and the onions are translucent, add the tomatoes and continue to cook for an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently. Just cook long enough for the tomatoes to heat up, but you don’t want them mushy or to break down.

Add the pine nuts right before serving.

!Delicioso! !Disfrutar! This delicious side dish will go well with anything you want to serve it with. I served it alongside some fried chicken and mashed potatoes.

Have a great day and make everyday great. Stay safe and stay well. ‘Til next time.

Our Pelicans are beginning to arrive for the spring and summer. I just saw them a couple of days ago, but I wasn’t able to get any pictures of them on the lakes. However, we were able to get some good shots of them flying high above us. I looked for them yesterday, but I guess they still haven’t settled in yet. A group of Pelicans is refereed to as either a pod, a pouch or a squadron. We had a squadron of about 20 coming in, flying right over our deck.

I love seeing them and I am so happy I was able to get some good shots of them in flight, but I can’t wait to see them swimming in the lakes.