Lemon Meringue Bread
I’ve recently been intrigued by a variety of recipes where the addition of meringue gives a traditional recipe a new twist. I don’t know if it’s a trend or if I’m just catching up, but I’m in love with these “fancy” riffs on cakes and breads. It may have all started with the Sweet Potato Tea Cake in Tartine: A Classic Revisited where the loaf cake is topped with vanilla meringue that bakes up crisp on the outside and chewy on the inside. I’ve also seen recipes for meringue-topped flourless chocolate cake, carrot cake, pumpkin loaf and lemon bread, with more than one citing the Sweet Potato Tea Cake as inspiration. I was nspired to tackle the Lemon Meringue Bread first.
80th birthday picnic: pulled pork, potato salad & cakes
Recipes for Amy’s Barbecue Sauce and Shirley’s Potato Salad
We recently celebrated my mom’s 80th birthday with a family picnic at Wayne Morris Ranch in Eugene. The picnic shelter includes limited kitchen facilities (sink, stovetop and outlets) but no barbecue grills. So, we decided on a menu of pulled pork sandwiches, an assortment of salads, baked beans and birthday cake! My sisters and I made all the food between us. For the pulled pork, we used the recipe for barbecue sauce from my friend (and work-twin) who self-named her recipe: Amy’s Famous Barbecue Sauce for Pulled Pork Sandwiches. We had a variety of salads including coleslaw, fruit salad, tomato-basil pasta salad and my mom’s potato salad recipe — Shirley’s Potato Salad. Our dessert table included German chocolate cake with coconut pecan frosting, lemon cake and funfetti cupcakes. Anyone who knows our family, knows one dessert option is not enough!