Stuffed Mushrooms

I usually talk to my mama on the weekdays as I'm getting in my exercise on the treadmill.  Just recently I was telling her that the Georgia Peaches were coming home for Easter.  She knows that I would be cooking up a feast so she started asking about the menu for the days that they would be in.  She immediately said you have to make these stuffed mushrooms that her favorite TV cook Lidia makes.  The fact that my mama doesn't like mushrooms yet she was telling me I had to make these because they looked so good, well I had to make them.  OMG I am sooooooo glad I listened to my mama.  These are very tasty.  The only thing I would have done differently would have been to have to bread on the side to soak up the yummy sauce.  

Lidia's Stuffed Mushrooms

Serves:6

Ingredients:

24 white or cremini mushrooms, each about 1 1/2" in diameter

2 Tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1/2 cup finely chopped scallions

1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper

1/2 cup coarse bread crumbs

1/2 cup freshly grated grana padano

1/4 cup finely chopped fresh italian parsley

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 Tablespoons Land O Lakes unsalted butter

1/2 cup chicken stock 

1/4 cup dry white wine

Instructions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425'.  Remove the stems from the mushrooms and finely chop the stems.  Heat 2 Tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium pan over medium heat.  Add the scallions and cook until wilted, about 1 minute.  Stir in the red pepper and chopped mushroom stems and cook, stirring until tender, about 3 minutes.  Remove to a bowl and let cool.

2.  Toss the bread crumbs, grated cheese, 2 Tablespoons of the parsley and the cooled sautéed vegetables until thoroughly blended.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Stuff the cavity of each mushroom with the filling, pressing it in with a teaspoon until even with the sides of the mushroom.

3.  Using 2 Tablespoons of the butter grease a baking pan.  Arrange the mushrooms side by side in the pan and using the remaining 2 Tablespoons butter, dot the top of each mushroom with about 1/4 teaspoon butter.  Add the stock, wine and remaining parsley to the pan. Drizzle the tops of the mushrooms with olive oil.  Bake until the mushrooms are cooked through and the bread crumbs are golden brown, about 20 minutes.  Serve the mushrooms on a warmed platter or divide them among warmed plates.  Pour the pan juices into a small saucepan and bring to a boil on top of the stove.  Reduce until lightly thickened, to the consistency of gravy, 1-2 minutes.  Spoon the juices over the mushrooms and serve.  Recipe from: http://lidiasitaly.com/recipes/stuffed-mushrooms-3/

Carrot Patch Cupcakes

For over a year I've been making sweets and taking to them local fire department monthly.  By doing so they enjoy something sweet and I get to bake, which everyone who knows me knows thats what I love to do.   I remember the first time I dropped by I introduced myself and told them although they had never been to my house and I wanted to keep it that way,  but that I do appreciate everything they do.  This month I made the above cupcakes using a chocolate cake recipe that I have.  Then topping them to look like dirt I crunched up some Chocolate Mint Girl Scout Cookies, you know that really made these extra special.  For the carrots I dipped the strawberries into Wiltons orange tinted chocolate.  

Chalk Art by Lora Beth and Malia

Nine years ago Stone and I got married on a beautiful spring day.  This year with our anniversary falling the day before Easter, two of our daughters were home for the holiday.  Their gift to us was this chalk art on our driveway of two love birds in a tree.  We couldn't have ask for a better gift!

The girls hard at work...

Ready for refreshments after a long day of driveway art we gathered on the porch for  Orange Dream Cycle Martini's and Roasted Shrimp Cocktails.

And of course your never to old to dye Easter eggs which we ate for Easter breakfast.

Lemon Velvet Cake

Our Easter dessert was this Lemon Velvet Cake.  I have made it several times and it never disappoints.  A perfect cake for a beautiful spring day.

Many years ago when my children were small we lived in McAllen Texas.  McAllen is about 10 miles are so from the border of Mexico.  In weeks leading up to Easter you would see hispanic women selling confetti eggs outside of supermarkets.  One day I stopped and looked at them and thought to myself what a fun Easter tradition, one that I could do.  From that moment on, every year for Easter I make confetti eggs or as the Spanish call them cascarones.  I even sent a really large box of them to Australia one year for Malia to share with her friends when she was studying abroad.  

Stone is such a good sport.

The Cicada's Where Singing In The Tree Tops

I love summer nights, tunes playing on the stereo and dinner on the porch.    Ina Garden says, "when your visitors enter the music should be playing," I agree!  Stone and I danced to the beat, while waiting for our guest Leann and Kevin to arrive.  

At the sound of the door bell, Lucy quickly ran towards the door, barking (her way of saying hello).  I sometimes think Lucy assumes the visitors are here to see her.   She even wore a dress this evening. Prancing on all four legs, she lead the way to the porch for drinks and appetizers.  

It was the perfect evening as the sun was setting and the cicada's where singing in the tree tops.  We gathered around the table as I quickly lit the candles and served the main course, Individual Beef Croustades with Boursin & Mushrooms, while Stone poured the wine, 19 Crimes.   

With stomachs filled, but not to full for dessert, I served slices of Fresh Blueberry Pie, topped with fresh Stabilized Whipped Cream.  With sated stomachs, coffee was served and the evening came to an end.  

 I rarely buy flowers, trying mostly to use what is in my yard at the time.   This Monad fistulosa (bee balm or wild bergamot) blooms late in the summer and attracts numerous butterflies and bee's.

 Orange Dream Cycle Martini

Serves:1

Ingredients:

1 ounce pinnacle whipped vodka

3 ounces orange'n cream soda (or any flavor soda)

Directions:

Rim glass with sugar and add an orange slice.

Mix above and pour into glass.

Optional: top with whipping cream.

I've made this Roasted Shrimp Cocktail many times.  It's a Barefoot Contessa recipe.  Roasting the shrimp is by far the best way to prepare it for this recipe.  

 The fondest memories are made while gathered around the dinner table.

 A simple red, white and green, Italian salad, the Caprese Salad, the colors was made to resemble the Italian flag. I drizzle some Balsamic Reduction on the saucer prior to assembling.

19 Crimes

Proclamation:

EACH DECLARED BY HIS MAJESTY to be punishable on Conviction by Transportation.

NINETEEN CRIMES turned criminals into colonists.  Upon conviction, British rogues, guilty of at least one of the 19 crimes, were sentenced to live in Australia, rather than death.  This punishment by "transportation" began in 1788, and many of the lawless died at sea.  For the rough-hewn prisoners who made it to shore, a new world awaited.

As pioneers in a frontier penal colony, they forged a new country and new lives, brick by brick.

This wine celebrates the rules they broke and the culture they built.

Crime #13-Assaulting, cutting, or burning clothes.