Carrots, Carrot Cake, Banana Cream Pie & More Spring Recipes
Easter weekend was sunny and beautiful on the Oregon coast albeit with its share of wind! We drove two hours south on the 101 to spend the weekend with family near Depoe Bay where we had no shortage of food or laughter. So, while these recipes may not be as relevant after Easter, I thought I’d share anyway! Besides, if you’re like me, I’m already thinking about what I’ll make next Easter. And, leftover ham in your scalloped potatoes is always a good idea.
Only some of what we made: Carrot Cake, Banana Cream Pie (with chocolate bird’s nest), Scalloped Potatoes, Carrots with Pistachios and Thyme, Easter Salad, Ham and Pepperjack Quiche
Quiche is the Word
One late afternoon last week, I was mulling over the monumental decision of what to make for dinner. I always have chicken and salmon that can be quickly defrosted. But didn’t want chicken again. Not salmon either. I typically buy beef the day I intend to cook it so didn’t have that on hand. Hmmm. I wanted something lighter and none of this was giving me inspiration. Then I remembered that I had a formed pie crust in the freezer from my recent pie dough mania. Maybe Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche but I announced to my husband that quiche was the word, or more specifically, quiche is what’s for dinner! Now to figure out what to put inside said quiche.
Pears and prosciutto pair up in a salad and on a pizza
Pear perks. Yep, I’m lucky enough to have a sister and brother-in-law who giveth pears each year. I previously shared that my sister’s husband’s family has a farm in southern Oregon where my brother-in-law’s dad planted pear trees in the early ‘90s. We look forward every year to getting our hands on pears from the Vaughn family farm. Last month my sister shipped box #1 to my husband for his birthday. Unfortuantely, UPS decided to let them sit around in the heat before delivering (should have taken one day) and we received a box of “sauce” rather than pears on the verge of ripening. I managed to salvage parts of the pears and cooked them up into pear sauce for eating with pork chops and baking. Then, surprise! We received box #2 full of Bartlett, Starkrimson and Comice pears. However … we were out of town when they arrived. Thankfully, my lovely neighbor came over and carefully unpacked and separated them. She’s now my official pear handler. We gobbled up the Bartletts right away as they were the ripest. The Starkrimson pears were destined for greatness in a salad. The Comice still aren’t super ripe, but I decided they’d be perfect for a pear pizza.
Chicken Salad and Coffee Mud Pie à la Cork ‘N Cleaver
Someday I’ll tell my grandkids that back in the day I drove a car (with an internal combustion engine no doubt) 40 minutes to an office building every Monday through Friday and worked in a cubicle all day. Maybe that already dates me, but it pretty much describes my early corporate career. I worked in public relations for a big tech company back when out-of-town editors would visit and it was our job to treat them to fancy lunches (and wine in the middle of the day). Discovering all the nice restaurants on an expense account in Phoenix and Scottsdale was definitely a perk of the PR job. Working for a large company also meant lots of coworkers’ birthdays to celebrate with team lunches. Cork 'N Cleaver was the default birthday restaurant in the 90s for my department. A group of us ladies always ordered the same thing: chicken salad that came with banana bread and a big piece of shareable mud pie with an uninhibited round of happy birthday.
Filberts or Hazelnuts? Toss ‘em in your salads!
Depending on where you are from and how old you are, you may call these small round nuts a filbert or a hazelnut. I grew up in the Willamette Valley of Oregon and vividly remember the filbert trees at the end of the street. When all the nuts would fall to the ground, we would stomp on their hard shells to break them open. They were never considered a delicacy and we never thought about actually eating them. Years later when hazelnuts started appearing in cookbooks and on restaurant menus as an Oregon specialty, I pondered, “When did the lowly filbert become a sought-after hazelnut?” Today, hazelnuts provide a fancy addition to chocolate desserts and a sweet, toasted crunch to all kinds of salads. Two recipes where hazelnuts shine are my sister’s veggie pasta salad and a shaved Brussels sprouts and apple salad.
Incredible edible flowers
When my husband put in two elevated garden boxes a few years ago, we jokingly said they were “his” and “hers” and entered into a friendly growing competition. It has become apparent that I may not have a green thumb, or maybe it’s patience I’m short on, but I’ve tried a variety of herbs such as basil, cilantro and oregano. My basil always dies. The cilantro bolts. My sage, rosemary and thyme are in the ground, so they are good. (Yes, I know I’m missing the parsley.) They say mint is impossible to kill, but I think I have. Really it just got too big for the pot and I didn’t tend to it in time. My chives are planted in the ground and besides looking pretty, the lavender-colored sphere-shaped flowers make lovely garnishes. Through all of this, I’ve determined that I like to grow pretty little fragrant food garnishes and flavorings that are accessible only a few steps off my patio to decorate a dish or garnish a dessert. Last summer I decided I needed some edible flowers and planted chamomile, pansies and violas in my garden box. The latter of which are just starting to pop up again to say hello.