 Have you ever wondered what the connection between eggs and spring is all about?🥚🌷 Eggs are readily available to us all year long but it definitely feels like there's a lot more emphasis put on egg consumption in the Spring. Fresh quiches, egg casseroles, eggs Benedict and deviled eggs all seem like perfect Spring brunch fare. 🍳 I suspected that the Spring egg emphasis was more than just a byproduct of Easter so I did some research. What I learned is that eggs actually have a season - and surprise - it's Spring! A hen's egg-laying is impacted by the amount of daylight. Most of our eggs come from commercial facilities which keep hens under artificial UV lights because a hen needs a minimum of 14 hours of daylight to trigger the ovulation and egg-production cycle. But if we consider the natural rhythm of a hen, it makes sense that they take a reproductive break during the winter and then kickstart back into their cycle of egg laying with each new Spring.  Consider that your science lesson for the day.😅 Right now, eggs are expensive and I consider them a valuable commodity. If your goal, like mine, is to elevate your egg eating experience to reflect the value of your eggs, I recommend that you make avocado eggs.🥑🥚 A fresh egg baked inside of a creamy, hollowed out avocado half and topped with gooey, melted cheese. It's a simple breakfast but dressed up all fancy to impress.  Avocado Eggs 1 medium avocado 2 eggs salt and pepper 1 piece bacon, cooked and crumbled 1 Tablespoon colby-Jack cheese
Ciao!
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 Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! ☘️  In case you're wondering how Cioppino ended up on the blog on a day that's traditionally celebrated with green beer and potato stew - it's a result our trip to Ireland a few years ago.🇮🇪 I went to Ireland fully expecting to be eating meat and potatoes for every single meal. I'm not much of a meat eater but I do like potatoes in almost every form so I was pretty excited about this.😅🥔 Turns out, what they don't tell tourists about traveling to Ireland is that they also have the option of dining on fresh and tasty seafood at nearly every restaurant and pub. Salmon, mackerel, langoustines, crab and mussels are not only freshly caught near Ireland but also DELICIOUS!🐟🦀🦪 The best meal that I had on our entire journey through Ireland was a simple bowl of freshly steamed mussels a tiny pub in Galway. Was I the only person that didn't know that they had mussel farms in Ireland? 😂 So for anyone out there who, like me, isn't much of a green beer drinker or a corned beef lover, we have the seafood option to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.😉 I'm pretty sure that the there are true Irishmen celebrating with great seafood today too. Cioppino is easy to make and if you're able to find a frozen seafood mix in your grocery store - it will make prepping this soup even simpler.  Cioppino 1/3 cup butter 1/2 cup olive oil 2 onions, chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 cup fresh parsley, chopped 2 cans diced tomatoes 3 cups chicken broth 1 1/2 cups dry white wine 1 1/2 cups water 2 bay leaves 1 Tablespoon basil 1/2 teaspoon thyme 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1 1/2 pounds shrimp, peeled 2 pound bay scallops 10 small clams 18 mussels 1 1/2 cups cooked lump crabmeat
Stir in tomatoes, broth, wine, bay, basil, thyme and oregano. Bring to a boil, Reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes.
Stir in shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels and crabmeat. Return to a boil. Cover and cook until clams and mussels open. Discard bay and serve.  Ciao!
 In anticipation of St. Patrick's Day, I scrolled through the recipes in my blog cue to find a festively green recipe that I could share with you in preparation for the upcoming holiday. The first recipe that I found was a broccoli salad recipe.🥦😅 Albeit delicious, broccoli salad hardly seems like fun Irish holiday fare.😅☘️ So I dug a little deeper and found this recipe for Irish Cream Dark Chocolate Chunk Blondies that I made a couple of years ago. This actually does seem like the perfect thing to make to celebrate St. Patrick's Day.  I don't know about you but I feel like adding Bailey's Irish Cream to any food or coffee - makes it taste even better.🧋 It's my secret ingredient in so many different things: french toast, brownies, cakes, tiramisu and cheesecakes. I suggest adding a dash to your favorite desserts too. Combining a little Irish Cream, espresso powder, butter and sugar with some dark chocolate chunks makes the most scrumptious dessert - Irish Cream Dark Chocolate Chunk Brownies. They're a party for your mouth.
Irish Cream Dark Chocolate Chunk Blondies 1 cup butter 1 teaspoon instant espresso powder 1 1/2 cups brown sugar 2 large eggs, room temperature 2 Tablespoons Irish cream 2 teaspoons vanilla 1 3/4 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 6 ounces dark chocolate, chopped
 Sprinkle with remaining chocolate and flaky sea salt. Bake 30 minutes at 350.  Cut into squares.
Ciao!
 There's something special about being at the lake when it's frozen. I took these pictures last month while visiting my parents on Lake Erie and the first word that came to my mind when I saw these giant ice formations was Magical. 
It only seemed logical to post a recipe for Magic Bars under these pictures of the magical frozen lake.🤣 Magic Bars are my go-to dessert when I want to make a crowd favorite that's quick and easy to put together. And because I usually stock all of the ingredients in my pantry so I can usually whip up a batch without an extra trip to the grocery store.  If you're a veteran Magic Bar maker - I invite you to give this slightly different version a try. As a long time magic bar baker and lover, I wasn't sure that I even needed to update my recipe. I was wrong.😂 The addition of English toffee bits and chopped pecans really elevated these bars from good to extraordinary.  Magic Bars 2.0 3/4 cup butter 2 1/2 cups graham cracker or gingersnap crumbs 1 cup chocolate chips 1 cup English toffee 1/2 cup chopped pecans 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 14 oz sweetened condensed milk 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1 cup shredded coconut
 Bake 25-30 minutes at 350. Remove from oven and sprinkle with sea salt.
 Cool completely and cut.
Ciao!  It's time for a life update. I write a lot of blog posts about my love of food but today's post is all about family love. Specifically the newest member of our family - my beautiful granddaughter who made her magnificent entrance into the world last month.
We are all so in love with this little bundle of pure sweetness and we're so excited to gain membership into the best club in the world: the grandparents club! Way back when I was born, I had 4 amazing grandparents and for my entire life I referred to them as "grandma" and "grandpa". Those seemed like perfectly acceptable words to use when addressing them. As a matter of fact, it never even occurred to me to refer to them by any other name. From the moment that we announced that we were entering our grandparent era, we were asked what our "grandparent names" were going to be? I have to admit that the question caught me off guard the first few times that someone asked. I'm a grandma - why wouldn't she call me that?👵 I took me a long time to get used to the idea of taking on another name. Believe me when I tell you that there was no shortage of grandma name suggestions either.😅  It took me a while to get here but I finally came to the realization that my beautiful new granddaughter is blessed with 6 grand (and great) grandmothers and that a unique grandma name might be helpful. After much debate, I settled on Nonna - a nod to our Italian roots. So in honor of my new identity as Nonna - I thought I'd share my new and updated Italian Almond Biscotti recipe.  Almond Biscotti 2 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 1 cup + 1 Tablespoon sugar 3 Tablespoons butter 1 Tablespoon olive oil 2 eggs 3/4 teaspoon almond extract 1/4 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 cup whole + 1/2 cup chopped almonds
 Arrange slices on baking sheet and bake 10 minutes on each side.
Brace yourselves friends for the flood of baby pictures to come from this proud Nonna.
Ciao! |
