 It's strawberry season in Georgia and I'm here for it.🍓 I've visited the strawberry field every week since the last week of March, when the farms first opened for picking. We eat a lot of strawberries. 😅
I really love the whole experience of picking my own strawberries. I enjoy being outside in the fresh air, the exercise of walking through the rows, the fact that I can snack on berries when I get hungry and probably the biggest advantage to picking my own berries - the stems! Who am I kidding? I'm just going call them what they really are --- chocolate dipping handles. 😋🍫🍓  There's no question that we eat a lot of chocolate dipped strawberries, but we enjoy the fruit in other ways too. Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars is the newest strawberry recipe that I'm adding to my Spring collection. These were amazing and you don't have to pick your own berries to make these delicious, hand held bars. As for me, I'll be making a couple of extra batches to keep in the freezer for a day in the future when strawberries aren't in season anymore.  Lemon Strawberry Crumb Bars 3 cups flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 cup butter, cold 1 egg + 1 egg yolk 1 cup brown sugar 2 teaspoons vanilla Filling 4 cups chopped strawberries 1/3 cup sugar 1 1/2 Tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon lime zest Lemon Glaze 1 cup powdered sugar 2 Tablespoons lime juice
 Bake 45 minutes at 350. Cool completely.
 Drizzle glaze over bars.  Slice into squares.
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 Timing is everything and my timing is impeccable.🤪 Anyone else ever shown up at the dentist office on a day when you did NOT have a scheduled appointment? Just me?🤣 If I had done this once - I could brush it off as a flighty moment but I've actually done this on several occasions.😬 So often, in fact, that the very friendly receptionist who works at my dental office, hands me an appointment card, sends me an email, a text and also calls me before every scheduled visit to the office now. 🤣 (I'm pretty sure the word "absentminded" is somewhere on my dental chart.😅🦷) There's probably some sort of deep rooted psychological reason that prevents me from keeping my dental appointments straight.🤪 I'm actually really good at keeping other appointments. I have a perfect track record at showing up on time and on the right day for haircuts and massages.🤷🏻♀️  Spring is brunch season for me. I get requests to cater brunches for all kinds of different occasions: showers, weddings, birthdays, church gatherings, Easter. I love to cater brunches but like I said earlier - timing is everything. Keeping the hot food hot and the cold food cold is the biggest challenge for anyone hosting a brunch. 🥚 Eggs and bacon are best served piping hot - right out of the oven.🍳🥓 That's not always easy to do when there are other things on the brunch menu that require your attention. My pro-tip - make some Pesto Pinwheels ahead of time so all you have to do is pop them in the oven just before serving time. Taking your focus off of the egg dish and putting it on other tasks like cooking the bacon or making sure the coffee is brewing, eases the brunch preparation process. These pesto pinwheels are so good that your brunch guests will never know that you made them ahead of time.  Pesto Pinwheels 1 package puff pastry 8 large eggs 1 Tablespoon butter 1 1/2 cups shredded triple cheddar cheese 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup pesto salt and pepper
 Bake 18-20 minutes at 400.  Ciao!
 Anyone else remember taking pictures with film cameras and then sending those rolls of film off to get developed and waiting 2 weeks for pictures to come in the mail?📷 Yes, I'm that old.😅 I grew up in the 70's and 80's so my childhood was documented in homemade scrapbooks and old school photo albums. There was no such thing as digital photography when we got married, moved into our first house or had our first child so we have a crazy amount of homemade photo albums filled with those precious memories. We just had some new bookshelves built to hold all of our photo albums. (It really is a ridiculous amount of pictures.😬) You would not believe how long it took me to stack our albums on the bookshelf. I had to look through every single one before I put it in its place.
You didn't think that I could post a cheesy recipe without a couple of cheesy throw back pictures did you? BTW... Feel free to call me for a fashion consultation.🤪  If you're tired of serving french fries or mashed potatoes as your go-to side dish - you need Crispy Cheesy Potato Stacks in your life. If you've got a food processor (or a mandolin) these will be come together really quickly. They're super tasty and they'll be sure to impress your family and your guests. So what have you got to lose? Give these crispy cheesy potato stacks a try.  Crispy Cheesy Potato Stacks 4-6 medium Russet potatoes 1/2 cup butter, melted 2 Tablespoons oregano 2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme 1 clove garlic, grated 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar or gruyere cheese salt and black pepper
 Remove from pan using a butter knife. Slide a skewer or toothpick into each stack.  Ciao!
 I'm a caterer and even though I may not have an "office" in the conventional sense of the word, I definitely consider the kitchen to be my work space. It's the room of the house where I spend most of my day and its the place where I store all of the tools and equipment that I need to get the job done. 👩🏻🍳🔪 In the Fall of 2021, I upgraded my kitchen/work space. What used to be an inefficient and poorly designed room was transformed into a customized, practical and uber-efficient "office". It's now, much easier for me to not only cook meals for my family, but also to do my job.
I definitely consider my kitchen island to be my work desk. It's amazing and I'm fiercely protective over it. 🤣 I've been using my new and improved kitchen for 18 months now and I'm loving it more every single day. I'm not sure how I lived without a food coloring drawer for so long. 🤪
Maybe it's only the obsessively organized bakers that can appreciate the way that I designed my kitchen island, but for any other perfectionist, type A persons out there - that video was for you.😅 I love how organized everything is and how easily accessible, all of my supplies are now. You have no idea how much time I used to spent digging through a box, looking for specific piping tips. 😅  My kitchen island truly shines on busy baking days. And you better believe that it was functioning in all its glory on cream puff day. There was dough to be made, cream to be whipped and puffs to be filled. Homemade cream puffs are amazing but just be aware that they take a significant investment in time. The rewards are well worth it - just plan on devoting an afternoon to making these delectable little treats. I mean, can you think of a better way to spend a Sunday afternoon?  Cream Puffs Pastry Cream 2 1/2 cups whole milk 2/3 cup flour 1/2 cup sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 6 egg yolks 4 Tablespoons cold butter 1 Tablespoon vanilla Craquelin 6 Tablespoons butter, softened 1/2 cup brown sugar 3/4 cup flour pinch salt Choux 2 eggs + 1 egg white 6 Tablespoons water 5 Tablespoons butter 2 Tablespoons milk 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup flour 1 cup heavy cream
  Drizzle with chocolate.
Ciao!  We have the cutest little studio apartment in our backyard. It's a single story, detached structure and it's vacant and ready for immediate occupancy. The best part is that there is absolutely no charge for this adorably clean and cozy living space. There's only one catch - the single door is very tiny. About an inch and a half in diameter to be exact.😂 So if you are not a small bird - you won't be able to move into our backyard tiny house. 🐦
I hung this birdhouse up on our back porch a little over a year ago and I did everything that I could think of to encourage a couple of misplaced birds to take up residence. Well, maybe not everything. I did consider putting some worms on the front porch to entice potential renters and then I felt bad for the worms so I scrapped that plan. 🪱🤣 I did try and make the tiny house as appealing as I could though, but to no avail. I had absolutely no luck finding a nice bird or two, to move in.🪺  Fortunately, I have a view of our backyard tiny house from my kitchen window so I can keep an eye out for any potential occupants while I'm cooking.👀 And this week, I even took my Nicoise salad to the porch to eat so that I could watch for any birds who might be looking for a new home. (I think I'm starting to see why there haven't been any birds brave enough to move into the watched house. 🤣) Warm Spring days call for a delicious, protein filled lunch. If you've never tried a Nicoise salad - here's your chance. It's scrumptious and it's a great way to fuel up for my afternoon flower planting sessions.🌻  Nicoise Salad Vinaigrette 3 Tablespoons olive oil 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1 shallot, minced 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 teaspoon anchovy paste 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon pepper Salad 1/2 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1/4 teaspoon sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt 12 ounces small red potatoes 6 ounces green beans 3 Tablespoons olive oil 3 eggs 7 ounce pouch oil packed tuna, drained 2 Tablespoons Nicoise olives
 Divide potatoes between plates. Drizzle each with 2 T. vinaigrette. Sprinkle with olives.
Ciao!
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