Easter Recipe Explosion

This week I've been all "bunny" ears for everything Easter!  I'm not much for all the cutesy stuff, but I personally have very fond memories of Easter lunches and egg hunts with my Mema.  I guess I usually view Easter as more of a kids' holiday, but this year I've felt nostalgic for those days with my grandmother.  Now suddenly everywhere I look I seem to run across great carrot recipes so I've compiled a few here for your enjoyment!  Send me your favorites too and tell me about your memorable Easters!

Carrot French Fries (recipe from Hidden Valley Ranch)

1 lb carrots (about 5-6 large, peeled and julienned into fry size)
1 tsp EVOO
1 tsp cornstarch
1 packet ranch salad dressing/seasoning mix
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 400 F. In a large bowl, combine carrots with EVOO, cornstarch and dressing mix.  Toss until well coated.  Spray pan well with cooking spray and arrange carrots in a single layer.  Bake 25-30 minutes or until crispy.

Carrot Cake Cookies (marthastewart.com)

For the filling:

2 ounces bar cream cheese, room temperature

2 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

For the cookies:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/2 cup packed light-brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg yolk

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup rolled oats

3/4 cup packed, finely grated, peeled carrots

1/3 cup dried currants

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Make filling: With an electric mixer, beat cream cheese and butter until smooth. Add sugar and lemon juice; beat until combined. Cover; chill until firm, at least 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, make cookies: In a large bowl, whisk together butter, sugars, and egg yolk. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ginger, and salt. Add flour mixture to butter mixture; stir until combined. Mix in oats, carrots, and currants.

Drop dough by level tablespoons, 2 inches apart, onto prepared baking sheets. Flatten with the palm of your hand. Bake until edges are crisp, rotating baking sheets halfway through, 15 to 18 minutes. Transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.

Turn half the cookies over, bottom side up; dollop each with about 1 teaspoon chilled cream-cheese filling. Top with remaining cookies, pressing gently to spread filling to edges. Serve immediately.

Simple Carrot-Ginger Soup (mandyeats.com)

1 pound carrots, peeled and sliced
1 tablespoon french ginger, peeled and grated or minced (I used a one inch piece)
4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion (1/2 cup), chopped
s/p to taste
*optional garnishes: sour cream, parsley, chives, pepitas

In a large pot, cook onions in olive oil until tender. Add broth, carrots and ginger and bring to a boil, then simmer uncovered for 15-20 minutes or until carrots are tender. Transfer to a blender and puree, or use an immersion blender. Season with salt and/or pepper or whatever else you choose.

Bannana-Carrot Bread (The Pioneer Woman)

1 cup Mashed Banana
1 cup Sugar
¼ cups Oil
½ cups Unsweetened Applesauce
2 whole Eggs
2 cups Flour
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
½ teaspoons Salt
½ teaspoons Cinnamon
1 cup Grated Carrot
½ cups Chopped Walnuts

Combine banana, sugar, oil, applesauce and eggs.
Sift dry ingredients and fold into banana mixture, then add carrots and nuts.
Pour into a greased 9 x 5″ loaf pan and bake at 350º for 55 minutes or until done.
Cool in pan on rack for 10 minutes, then remove from pan. Cool thoroughly before slicing.
NOTES : Also good with coconut or raisins stirred in. I have also used almonds instead of walnuts. Makes 1 loaf. A double batch fills 9 baby loaf pans – bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

Sweet Potato Biscuits



"Smell brings to mind... a family dinner of pot roast and sweet potatoes during a myrtle-mad August in a Midwestern town. Smells detonate softly in our memory like poignant land mines hidden under the weedy mass of years." ~ Diane Ackerman

Fresh Sweet Potato Biscuits and lemonade with frozen strawberries - perfect for a Spring afternoon on the porch!

I love this quote - many of my dearest memories are tied up in things like apple pie, chocolate chip cookies...and  biscuits.  When my husband, Mike, and I first started dating I heard an ear-full about his Mema before I ever had the pleasure of meeting her.  We recently lost our sweet  Mema and I find myself thinking about her biscuits for some reason.  Maybe because that was one of the first things my husband told me about, her legendary biscuits.  Upon breaking the news of her passing to one Mike's college friends, he smiled and told us how he always looked to Mike visiting his Mema because she'd send back trays full of biscuits.  Or perhaps it's because she made her biscuits the first time I met her.  We went to her little home where she made brunch for us and we ate on the very patio furniture I have pictured above.  Whatever the reason, I've been bitten by the biscuit bug!  I have a long way to go before they're even in Mema's ballpark, but here is my start - and where better to start than with a southern favorite, the sweet potato!

This biscuit has all the buttery goodness of a traditional biscuit with a wonderful twist.  The sweet potato lends a sweet and savory element to the biscuit.  It helps make the middle fluffy and moist with a great testure on the outside.  Not to mention the beautiful color is gives the dough!  Serve this hot out of the oven and try a little honey or cinnamon (or both!) butter.  This is a traditional southern "drop" biscuit so it will be very gooey and will bake more out than up, but that's ok. 

Soon I'll be posting a tutorial on how to make your own butter with lots of yummy flavor options so stay tuned!

(This recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's http://www.marthastewart.com/281529/sweet-potato-biscuits)

 

Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, more for kneading and shaping
• 2 tablespoons light-brown sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 6 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter cut into pieces
• 3/4 cup sweet potato puree, chilled
• 3/4 cup buttermilk

Directions

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda.

• With a pastry blender or two knives, cut in butter into flour mixture. 

• Mixture should resemble coarse meal, with some pea-sized lumps of butter remaining.

• In a small bowl, whisk together sweet potato purée and buttermilk; stir quickly into flour mixture until combined (do not overmix).

• Knead very gently until dough comes together but is still slightly lumpy, five or six times. (If dough is too sticky, work in up to 1/4 cup additional flour.)

• Drop about a 1/4 cup of dough onto a greased baking sheet or stone and brush with butter if desired and place pan on the oven rack on lower shelf.

• Bake until golden, rotating once, 15-20 minutes.
  
  



Hit the Ground Running

Welcome to my blog - "a collection of my thoughts on living a life full of sugar, spice and all things nice."  This blog embodies a personal challenge to me.  My own philosophies towards life are always evolving, but at its core I hold to the fact that we have one life to live and it should be beautiful and peaceful.  That being said I try to fill my life with good food, all the colors of the rainbow, creative experiences, good books and music. 

This blog is going to evolve with my life, but as I begin this journey these are things that you can expect to see from my posts:

- Recipes: I'll show you how they integrate with my life, varieties of alternatives and pictures of my results with notes.

- Crafting is a passion of mine.  I'll detail my designs and give you all the shortcuts and money-savers.  I love holidays so I always have a little project going for an upcoming celebration!

- Gardening: I'm just a novice in this category, but I love to get my hands in the dirt and will share my successes and, inevitable, epic failures as well.

- Since I was a child I could usually be found with my nose in a book and not much has changed.  However, I want to offer you a bit more than a list of my current library, so as I read I like to expand my experience by adding my own soundtracks.  Most of my reading revolves around the genre of historical fiction and nothing can transport you to a time and place far away better than period music.  I'll put together my song lists when I posts my book reviews.

- I'm always prowling the internet for good recipes, crafts and party ideas so I'll pass along my choice findings with all my dear readers.

- Random musings are likely to find their way in here.

Well until tomorrow everyone have a blessed day and check back with me for Sweet Potato Biscuits in tomorrow's post!

xoxo,
Miranda