TheKitchenCookie

  My Mom got me started on this experiment. In Ohio they serve these mustard flavored eggs at restaurant salad bars and I have a brother that really, really likes them. So, Mom was trying to create them at home but wasn't quite satisfied with the results she came up with. We both didn't want to add food coloring but the color just didn't come out right with only mustard in there. I happened upon an article online that used Tumeric to color Easter Eggs. I thought, hmm, why not?  So I tried it. Perfect!   Adds flavor, color, and health benefits. Win win! :) I also opted to use honey as a sweetener instead of the sugar that Mom had used. You know, for more health benefits, and because Honey Mustard in the title sounded more fun. ha   We eat a lot of hard boiled eggs at our house and everyone enjoys the red beet flavored ones. I like the flavor of these and my Husband gave them a thumbs up too. If he's happy, I'm happy! :)   1 cup white vinegar ...

Woke up to a winter wonderland this morning! Very beautiful!!   Buuut, still felt the need for some indulgent fortification... and I still had some of this amazing Lemon Curd  in the fridge... and I had Greek Yogurt. So indeed why not?!   I posted this Blueberry Baked Oatmeal first a couple of years ago but have since changed it a bit by simply omitting the sugar that I mixed with the blueberries. Big, fat, ripe blueberries need no help from sugar. They are delicious as is. And I had some just like that in my freezer. They are scrumptious as a frozen snack too, just by themselves. :)   I only made an individual serving, well I could have shared it, but there was no one here to share it with, and its always best when its fresh and warm, right? :)   ¼ cup brown sugar 2 Tablespoons butter, softened   Cream together with a fork until light.   Add  1 egg   Mix well.   Add ½ teaspoon baking powder p...

Happy 1st Day of Spring!!    Is anyone else ready for Spring?! The sun is shining today. It's bright and beautiful and puts a spring in my step and gives me energy! The gray skies and the 4 walls were beginning to make me feel desperate. So I did what any desperate woman would do in these circumstances. I went to the kitchen and started reading through my recipe collection. ha ha, okay so some women would go shopping and others, well anyway... I've had a recipe for Herb Bread from my sister for a while but it never quite performs for me like it does for her, and I had in my stash another recipe sort of like it but with a few different ingredients. So in looking over them both for a while and thinking about how and why certain things may be added I decided to rewrite it combining the two and came up with this one. I wanted to use fresh herbs and green onions (because those seemed more Spring-like :) and freshly milled wheat flour...

I looked out the kitchen window yesterday and spotted this unusual visitor in the tree!!   A quick Google search told me it was a Peregrine Falcon. Wow! He was very much on the look out for a meal or snack.   He left when he decided the wait isn't worth it.                                                                                                         A few Saturdays ago Lin and I took the two youngest and headed for Longwood Gardens. It's alwa...

Do you love salads? We do! and the possibilities are endless! Here are a few we/I have enjoyed over the last few months.   Cobb Salad with Honey Mustard and Onion Vinaigrette Almond Strawberry with Red Wine Vinaigrette   Red Onion Blueberry Salad with Strawberry Vinaigrette   Veggie Chicken and Brown Rice Saute over Mixed Greens    Craisin and Feta Salad with Red Wine Vinaigrette    It depends what mood I'm in. Sometimes a salad with protein works best or sometimes one that is lighter and fruity. Sometimes the kind in the 2nd to last photo works best because it is warm... and crunchy... and is a whole meal in one. I enjoy lighter dressings and most often I simply sprinkle red wine vinegar and olive oil sweetened with stevia over my salads. The boys stick to the Homemade French dressing and eat it with just about everything, including grilled meats, on sandwiches, in wraps, etc. I'm happy ...

I was asked to make cheesecakes for the Junior/Senior Banquet last week and one of the ladies in charge asked if I would make a mocha mousse cheesecake. I had never made one of those so she shared a recipe with me that she has used and is always well received. After reading over it I couldn't resist putting my own spin to it. Lucky for me we were having a potluck at church that same weekend so I didn't have to wait too long to try out my ideas. (I wonder if my church friends realize that they are also my "guinea pigs"? lol)  I really enjoyed the flavor and creaminess of this cheesecake! (I also made one using her recipe for the banquet) and took my version of it to the church potluck. The difference was the crust, the mousse, and the cheesecake layer. Well, I guess you could say I changed the whole thing! But the fun part was making both and comparing and tasting both. Both yummy, but I think I prefer mine with dark chocolate mousse ...

Two Things Delicious (if you're counting daily gifts :)   love how tall it is :)    Always having used my Mom's recipe for Angel Food Cake , which is fabulous by the way, I never really bothered looking around for any other recipes until I happened upon this one from a cookbook about old fashioned baking printed 22 years ago. I know, "old fashioned" and it's half as old as I am but we'll just let those implications go and enjoy the recipe. ha :) I liked it because the powdered sugar seemed to give it a finer texture, more stability, and it was a bit less sticky than the one from my Mom. I did reduce the amount of sugar but that was the only thing I did different from the original recipe. And seriously, you would never have noticed. No sense in piling on the sugar when it's perfectly fine without some of it. I also doubled the recipe and made a very tall angel cake and a flat rolled one. 3 cups egg whites 3 cups sifted p...