Orange ginger almonds

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A few weeks ago I shared with you one of the perks of being involved in a food blog. This week let me enlighten you with the second reason. Recipe testing. One of my co-workers showed up to the office earlier this week with a little tub of roasted almonds from Whole Foods. Orange ginger almonds to be exact. We all gathered around her desk to sample the almonds. We marvelled over their roasty taste, their sweet crunch, the spicy ginger and tangy orange flavours. We looked at the ingredients, wrote them all down, discussed some tactics for making the nuts and finally I was challenged to recreate the recipe and post it.

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Not one to back down from a challenge, I accepted and here we are. Since I am not the recipe creating queen, through a quick google search I was lucky enough to find that just about everyone and their dog is in love with Whole Foods orange ginger almonds. There where recipes galore and I even found the original recipe. Problem is, they are all different. Some called for egg whites, some for honey, some for sugar, some were baked in the oven, others on the stove top!

It was all too tricky for me, I needed a distraction. So I saddled up to the computer and ordered myself a new pair of running shoes. With the shoes ordered, I was ready to make some decisions. Honey, salt and baked on lower heat for longer.

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Orange Ginger Almonds
*These aren’t exactly like the Whole Foods almonds. But they are highly addictive.

For example, infections of the prostate, bladder, urethra or the semen-producing glands can trigger painful burning or itching during or after ejaculation. order viagra Keep in mind, most times it is due to sexual problems that the men and women face today. canadian generic cialis The later is an inhibiting enzyme which lies in the medicine of Ajanta pharma “Kamagra”.Incapability or impotency both terms are related to same problem of inability on bed. sildenafil 25mg Looking to buy the most effective medication generic viagra cialis generic?Buy from our online medical store. 2 cups raw almonds
1/2 of a navel orange, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon ground ginger
3 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Directions

Preheat oven to 300F.

Zest and juice half an orange. In a mixing bowl combine almonds, orange juice, zest, ginger, honey and salt. Mix until combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spread almonds out in a single layer. Bake for 20-30 minutes checking and stirring often.

Let cool completely before serving. Store in an air tight container.

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The all new lemon meringue

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I’ve been trying to adopted a Swedish mindset to this chilly spring we’ve been having. Just this weekend, I was listening to Rick Steves and his weekly radio show. This is a dangerous program for me because my love of travel is always piqued by his interviews with tour guides and residents of faraway cities. His subject for a portion of this week’s show was Stockholm, Sweden. This city has not been on the top of my travel list, but I was intrigued by the descriptions of its residents and their tendency towards an outdoor lifestyle, no matter what the season. The tour guide described cozy restaurant patios where you could go to enjoy a drink, complete with toasty blankets for those evenings a little extra warmth is needed.

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This was all of the motivation I needed to pull out a cozy blanket from the closet and head out to the patio. It’s really not that warm yet, but when the sun starts to shine, I feel like I really must be outside to enjoy it. And now, wrapped up in blankets, we’ve been enjoying brief slivers of sunset sky before heading indoors for the evening.

meringue

If you’ve been reading along, you’ll know that I’ve had a bit of spring fever in the kitchen recently. The changing seasons make me look for the next dish that is going to sum up the flavor of the moment for me. Salads of all proportions have been popping up—platters and bowls that take over the meal with their green crunchiness and leafy goodness. But spring isn’t wholly captured in a salad bowl. The other thing I’m searching for is food that feels light after a season of warm and filling. Hmm…meringue, anyone? It’s time for one last hurrah for the citrus, and quickly, before the rhubarb takes over the place.

For years, I’ve been sidestepping the crust on any piece of pie that I’ve ever been served. Sure, I love the fillings—spicy pumpkin, luscious summer cherry and creamy lemon. Better still the toppings, a dollop of whip cream, scoop of ice cream or an airy cap of meringue. But no matter what the filling, my perfect pie would certainly be crust free.

desserts

So I do find myself a little surprised to have never really considered the option of deconstructing the pie, leaving the crust behind to focus on my favorite part of the dessert. But all that has changed when I found the recipe for lemon meringue pots de crème in The New York Times a few weeks back. I’ve got some lost time to make up for now!

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Adapted from The New York Times

1 1/2 cups half and half
1/2 cup whole milk
1/2 cup sugar, plus 4 tablespoons
4 large eggs, separated, room temperature
3 tablespoons cornstarch, sifted
Pinch of salt
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup lemon juice
Zest of one large lemon
1 tablespoon finely chopped pistachios

Heat half and half and milk in a heavy saucepan or a double-boiler until warm and steaming. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar. Sift the cornstarch and salt into the mixture, stirring frequently to prevent lumps.

Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, then slowly add the remaining milk and mix well. Pour back into saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard thickens, about 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter, lemon juice and zest. Ladle the custard into 6 4-ounce ramekins. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least two hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine pistachios and 1 tablespoon sugar in a small bowl. Combine egg whites and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar in a bowl. Beat until stiff peaks form. Spoon the meringue onto each custard, using all of the meringue. Sprinkle with the pistachio-sugar mixture. Bake until tops are golden brown, about 10 minutes. Keep at room temperature until ready to serve.

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Cook the cover or die

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Have you ever had someone tell you that they would basically disown you if you didn’t cook something for them? Yeah, that happened to me. The whole ordeal started about a week and a half ago at the grocery store when my partner in crime noticed the April cover of Bon Appétit. He is either fairly observant, or maybe just an eavesdropper, but he certainly is a tricker and some how knew how to play me to get just want he wanted. After examining the cover he said to me “Hey, weren’t you and Ginger going to try to cook the cover of Bon Appétit again soon?” You can guess what happened next. I absent-mindedly confirmed his suspicion and the next thing I knew the magazine was in our grocery bags and I had committed to spending my Sunday making Fried Chicken Sandwiches with Slaw and Spicy Mayo.

Long story short. I cooked the cover and it was delicious!
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The last of the root veggies

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This weekend, we headed out adventuring. On this particular sun dappled day, this means that we throw everything in the car, including at least three cameras for me, and start driving. Maybe we’ll head for the mountains where I see a skiff of fresh snow or for the wheat fields that are rippling green in the wind. No matter where we go, the sun shines warmly and the clouds chase each other across the sky. This is a difficult concept for a 3-year-old. The usual questions of “Where are we going?” and “What will we see when we get there?” have no good answers. Happily, everything ended well when we found an old train depot and a caboose at the end of our journey. I couldn’t have planned that part any better!

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Even though the air is cool, I know spring is coming. No matter that there is a frost warning tonight. I am keeping that spring feeling in the air with my continued quest to brighten up our meals with a new round of salad options. In part, you could say that I am just trying to clean out the fridge to make room for the massive load of asparagus that is soon to follow. You wouldn’t be wrong.

In the meantime, you might not be familiar with celeriac, or celery root as it is sometimes known. Or perhaps not up on the idea of using it in salad, but I think this is something worth trying. All winter long, celeriac is cooked and stewed up in warm and cozy dishes. But sliced up nice and thin, it adds great texture to salad. And better still, it’s all raw, if that’s your thing, ahem…!

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I’ve been meaning to share this salad for some time. It makes use of some of the most available wintertime produce, yet still manages to be fresh and new. As the season has progressed, I’ve changed it up to keep up with my citrus selection. Plus, it seems that the arugula and mint are getting a kick out of our cool sunny weather. And I know I’m not the only one eeking out the last few meals of delicious winter produce. My friend Emily has this stunning recipe up on Food 52 right now.

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And on this sad Monday, I realize I have a lot more to be thankful for aside from salad or springtime or sunny days. But sometimes the best I can do in these crazy moments is sit for a quiet minute do just that—be thankful.

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This accounts to drop the self-assurance of levitra ordering a person & also creates intricacies in one s eccentric life. Better to administer dose of ladygra half an hour before an intimacy on line levitra and effects last for 4-6 hours. In the overall, sexual freedom and enjoyment tadalafil cipla is therefore affected. This and sexsomnia require professional treatment cialis online and therapy. Celeriac Salad with Grapefruit

Adapted from Cooking Light

1 small celeriac root, peeled and cut into matchsticks, about 2 cups
2 cups thinly sliced celery
1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
2 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pink peppercorns
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large pink grapefruit, peeled and segmented
1 cup baby arugula
1/4 cup Italian parsley leaves
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

Combine celeriac, celery and red onion in a bowl. Toss with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pink peppercorns and black pepper. Let stand for at least 30 minutes.

When ready to serve, add grapefruit segments, arugula and fresh herbs.

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Panna cotta with rosemary honeyed apricots

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One of my all time favourite things about having a collaborative blog with Ginger is the opportunity it provides to play off of each others ideas. That is exactly what I did this week. I’m sure that you remember Ginger’s decadent Cheesecake with honeyed apricots. When I saw it I nearly lost my mind, apricots, fresh or dried are a favourite of mine, and as luck would have it I was on the hunt for a delicious, quick and easy dessert.
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I knew that a cheesecake, as yummy as it would have been, wasn’t quite in my timeline. So I stole the honeyed apricots idea, it fit with my timing and I began searching for something to pair them with. In these types of situations I like to turn to google for help. I did numerous random searches like “best easy dessert in the world” or “quick and easy dessert”, what kept coming up for me was Panna Cotta. Apparently, if you don’t know how to make Panna Cotta, you should, because it is a lifesaver. Not only are the ingredients simple but you can easily fancy it up with a little fresh fruit, a compote or honeyed apricots!
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Perfect Panna Cotta
Server 4 | Adapted from David Lebovitz

You can find the recipe for the Honeyed apricots with Ginger’s cheesecake recipe.

1 cup half-and-half
1 cup whole milk
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1 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 packets powdered gelatin (about 4 1/2 teaspoons)
3 tablespoons cold water

Heat half and half, milk and sugar in a sauce pan. Once the sugar has completely dissolved remove the pan from the heat and add in the vanilla.

Lightly oil four custard cups or teacups with a flavourless oil.

Add cold water to a medium mixing bowl and gently sprinkle the gelatine powder over the water. Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes. Pour the warm Panna Cotta mixture into the medium bowl and stir until the gelatine is full dissolved.

Divide the Panna Cotta mixture amongst the four oiled cups and chill until firm. This will take about 2 to 3 hours. If you are unmolding your Panna Cotta run a sharp Knife around the edge of the dish, unmold onto individual serving plates and top as desired. Enjoy!

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Forcing the issue

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I am starting to get a little antsy for spring. We’ve had a few days of invitingly warm weather with all of the trimmings of spring—lovely temperatures and blue skies filled with drifting white clouds. The trees are beginning to send out anxious green leaves and the tulips are exploding with color. It seems like the season is taunting us though, because just when we set up the patio, the temperatures take a dive and we hurry back inside to warm up. I don’t really mean to complain, but this year I am really looking forward to the warmer months ahead.

Since the weather is not consistently cooperating yet, I’ve begun to force the issue at the table with our menu choices. The comforting and filling soups of winter are gone, saved for another season. My roasting pan is taking a bit of a break from cauliflower and cabbage. Instead, I’ve been looking to vegetable combinations in crunchy salads to make our meals feel a little lighter. I pulled my mandolin out of the pantry and I’ve been thinly slicing everything from radishes to fennel and endive. For some reason, the paper-thin slices of these vegetables evoke spring, even though they have been in my salad rotation for months now.

Our unusually warm winter may have had a hand in it, but I have a row of arugula from last year that is coming on in full force right now. It is a wild variety with leaves shaped like that of a small dandelion. Tufts of dark green foliage are sprouting up in the garden and growing at a surprising rate. While there are not enough greens to fill the salad bowl, I know I’d better keep them trimmed before they get ahead of our salad habit.

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So when I found a salad recipe that plays the tongue-tingling pepper bite of arugula off of salty halloumi cheese and tart cherries, I was excited to give it a try. Around here, halloumi is known as “barbecue cheese” by my son. During the warm summer months, I like to throw a couple of slices onto the grill, pairing it with just-cooked vegetables or fresh salads. In this recipe, the cheese is cooked on the stove, which works well even if your patio is not quite ready for spring!

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Spring greens and halloumi salad
Serves 4

Adapted from Sunset magazine

Dressing

3 tablespoons olive oil
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1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon dried mint leaves, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Salad
1 small fennel bulb, trimmed and sliced thinly
1 tablespoon lemon juice
5 cups salad greens
1/2 cup dried tart cherries
1 package halloumi cheese, drained and sliced into 1/4-inch slices
4 small sprigs of oregano

To make the dressing, combine the ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

To make the salad, toss the sliced fennel with the lemon juice in a bowl. Combine the salad greens and dried cherries on a platter.

Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat, add halloumi slices and oregano sprigs. Cook, turning once, until the cheese turns golden brown. The cheese will give off some brine as it cooks. Once the brine dries, it will be time to turn the cheese. Cooking time will be about 4 to 6 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and discard the oregano.

Toss the greens and cherries with just enough dressing to coat, then toss in the fennel. Arrange the halloumi slices on top of the salad and drizzle with any remaining dressing. Serve immediately.

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Grilled thin crust pizza

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The sun came out in full force this weekend and I attacked the patio and a few other areas of the house will equal force. Sweeping, trashing old plants that didn’t make it through the winter, giving a little TLC to the ones that did make it and finally I dusted off the BBQ. Around here, one of the indicators that spring is really here to stay, coincides with the first usage of the BBQ. It is official, spring is here.

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It may be clear to those of you who often visit the blog, that I am not the hugest meat-eater in town. I don’t really know how to cook much meat therefore I often stick with recipes that call for bits of meat here and there, as opposed to a huge rack of ribs of some such thing. What that also means is that a lot of the traditional BBQ items never really make it onto our grill. And I am often left pondering what other foods could be prepared on the BBQ.

One of my favourite things to throw on the BBQ is homemade thin crust pizza. This no-raise recipe is fast and easy and works well as a base for pizza, flatbread or I bet you could even use it as a rustic wrap! Once I have whipped up the pizza dough I like to make a couple of variations, one tradition and a second experimental version. This usually leaves something for everyone, even the more adventurous members of the family. This time round my experimental version was topped with mozzarella cheese, potato, caramelized onion, a bit of crumbled bacon and finished with pea shoots after grilling. I have big plans for my next creation, I am thinking of an adaptation of  Kelsey from Happy Yolks Grilled Carrot + Carrot Green Pesto + Asiago Grilled Cheese  recipe. I’m pretty sure that it is going to be magic once new carrots start showing up at the market! Experiment or make something tried and true, it is up to you. I’m know both will be delicious.

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Grilled Thin Crust Pizza
Makes two 10-inch pizzas | adapted from The Kitchn

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3/4 cups lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoons salt

Preparing the dough
Fill a measuring cup with lukewarm water, add the yeast to the water and stir to dissolve. Add the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and pour in the water and yeast mixture. Using a wooden spoon mix the dough until incorporated. The dough will be loose and sticky. Turn the dough out onto a clean working surface and knead until smooth and elastic. About 5 – 10 minutes. Add additional flour a tablespoon at a time if the dough is overly sticky. Divide into two equal portions, cover will a towel and allow to rest while preparing the toppings of your choice.

Grilling the pizza
Pre-heat grill to about 600F. Roll out the dough, roll until it is about 1/2″ thick, the dough will stretch out more as you transfer it to the grill. Transfer dough from the working surface to a cookie sheet or cutting board. Brush one side of the pizza with olive oil. Place the pizza oiled side down on the grill. Leave the BBQ’s lid open and cook for 3 minutes. While the first side of the pizza is cooking bring pizza topping out to the grilling area. You will need to top the pizza quickly so, being organized is helpful. Depending on your grill you may want to check the pizza half way thru the cooking time and rotate it if needed. Once the 3 minutes is up lightly oil the top side of the pizza and flip it, freshly oiled side down onto the grill.

Working quickly, add your toppings to the grilled side of the pizza dough. Keeping the toppings light seems to work best with this type of thin crust pizza. Once you have placed all your topping on the pizza, close the BBQ lid and cook for an additional 5 minutes. Using tongs or a flipper remove the pizza from the grill, cut into pieces and serve!

 

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An ode to consistency and cheesecake goodness

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Consistency is great, right? Shouldn’t we all make a practice of doing something diligently for sheer joy and inspiration? I was going to tell you about some of my reminders of consistency lately. I wanted to tell you about all of those good parts of consistency, the bits that make you feel like a real winner for having come through in the end. But I have been feeling that at every turn, there is some reminder that I ought to be doing something more consistently. And while there are a myriad of good reasons to practice consistency in many aspects of life, sometimes I end up feeling more clobbered by the reminders than inspired. In fact, I’ve begun to wonder if I could be having consistency fatigue, which must be somewhat akin to decision fatigue.

unwrapped

But supposed conditions aside, I’ve been struggling to make amends with all of the various pieces of my life and their current place of my list of to-dos. Part of what got me to this place was the urging of a mentor who told me to keep working and that if I was consistent in my work, my voice would find me. My voice, my eye, whatever that mystic little piece of self is that I can share with others—whether in the written word or visual—can only find me over time. No amount of searching or cajoling is going to bail me out on this one, it is just down to hard work and effort over time.

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I should know these things. Right now, I am training to run a half marathon with my sister, Tina. We’ve been training since dark, cold February. There is little that drives home the point of consistency as much as physical activity. The day-to-day repetition of something like running brings a fortitude of mind and foot that cannot be imitated. Some of those miles, the sun is shining. The air is filled with the scent of just-opened magnolia blossoms. Other miles, it’s still dark. It’s cold and my feet are wet from the rain. Let’s be clear, I am not fast. I have my good days and my bad, but always, I’m plowing through it.

One place I don’t have to try to be consistent is in the kitchen. It’s a given that I am going to want to eat every day—most of those meals prepared and shared around the cozy table in my kitchen with my family. Day after day, I keep coming back to the kitchen. Here consistency is a need, as present as the rumbling tummy of my three-year-old. Recipes to try keep stacking up and through it all, I delight in getting to come back to it again and again. I keep hoping that feeling rubs off elsewhere in my life.

cheesecake

Cheesecake with honeyed apricots
Adapted from Food and Wine

Truth be told, this cheesecake may be contributing to my consistency in running! The filling just chills for a few hours, which feels deliciously right in these first few days of spring.

Amaretti crust

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5 ounces amaretti cookies
Pinch of kosher salt
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake

1 teaspoon unflavored powdered gelatin
3/4 cup chilled heavy cream
Two 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
3/4 cup fresh ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup mascarpone cheese
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

Honeyed apricots

3/4 cup honey
Four 3-inch rosemary sprigs
6 ounces dried California apricots

First, make the crust: Preheat the oven to 350°. In a food processor, pulse the amaretti with salt until finely ground. Place the crumbs in a small bowl and stir in the butter. Press crumbs over the bottom and about halfway up the sides of an 8-inch springform pan. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, until the crust is set. Cool on a rack.

Next, make the cheesecake: In a small bowl, sprinkle the gelatin over 2 tablespoons of cold water; let stand about 10 minutes, until the gelatin is softened. Meanwhile, in a bowl, beat the heavy cream with a mixer until soft peaks form; refrigerate.

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, ricotta, sugar and salt with an electric mixer at high speed until light and fluffy, scraping the bowl occasionally, about 5 minutes. Beat in the mascarpone and lemon juice.

Microwave the gelatin until melted, 5 seconds or so; add to the cream cheese mixture and beat until well incorporated. Gently fold in the whipped cream.

Pour the mixture into the cooled crust and smooth the surface. Refrigerate the cake until firm and set, 4 to 6 hours.

Finally, honeyed apricots: In a medium saucepan, combine the honey with 3 cups of water and three of the rosemary sprigs. Bring to a boil and cook over moderately high heat, stirring occasionally, until the honey is dissolved. Add the apricots and simmer until tender, 10 minutes. Remove from heat and let apricots sit in the syrup for about 10 minutes. With a slotted spoon, place the apricots in a bowl. Boil the rosemary syrup until thickened, 20 to 25 minutes. Strain the syrup over the apricots and let cool. Garnish with the remaining rosemary sprig.

Unmold the cheesecake and serve with the honeyed apricots.

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Homemade creme easter eggs

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I wish that I could tell you that these didn’t take the better part of an evening to make and that they totally weren’t worth the trouble. That would be a lie. Truth is, I did spend a good 4 hours in and out of the kitchen mixing, freezing, photographing, shaping, freezing, photographing, freezing, tempering, dipping… and so on. But it was totally worth it.

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Growing up, creme eggs were always the Holy Grail of Easter candy. They were soft, creamy and slightly gross, in that intriguing kind of way. How did that gooey yellow centre stay in the middle of the egg? How did it all get inside a chocolate egg? These were questions I wanted to know! Damn Cadbury and all their tricky candy!! They just kept me wanting more.

Although creme eggs don’t hold quite the hallowed spot that they used to in my holiday treat line up, I can’t seem to let Easter pass without one somehow ending up in my grocery basket. This year I have stayed strong, that is until I saw the DYI creme eggs up on Food52. I just couldn’t say no, they used to be a childhood favourite after all. Who doesn’t want to relive fond childhood memories?

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So what sets these guys apart from the 2$ version that you can pick up at just about any store in the city? Um, let’s see. First there is the outer layer of silky rich dark chocolate, gone is the overly sweet milky chocolate. And the filling? The filling is smooth, but not to runny, sweet with a hint of salt (which is sheer genius) and finally there is the slight crunch of the tiny beads of vanilla. All and all a sophisticated take on the classic and you can rest assured knowing that you can pronounce every single ingredient used in the making.

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So if you love your creme eggs as much as me and you have a few hours burning a hole in your evening, visit Food52 where Ashley Rodriguez shares the complete recipe and instructions and shape up a batch for yourself. Remember to read the recipe through first! I always like to remind you of this because I often fail to do so. While I didn’t take the time to read the recipe through this time, I did set aside a little time to read some of the comments. You should do this too, I found a lot of the comments to be really helpful. Good luck, and Happy Easter!

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The dyeing of the Easter eggs

egg bowl

No matter what I am baking or prepping in the kitchen, Blaise wants to make a blue version of it. Most often, it’s blue cupcakes. And not just any blue cupcakes, chocolate blue cupcakes. While I am still trying to figure out how to make a dark chocolate cupcake appear sufficiently blue, Easter eggs seemed like the perfect diversion. With the help of a little dye, we could create all the shades of blue he would ever want to imagine. It all started out innocently enough, but little did I realize the complexities of egg dyeing. There were tough decisions to be made, highly saturated liquids to be spilled and room to be made in the fridge for all of those eggs. But back to those eggs…

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Around here, we house no sacred Easter bunny myths or traditions. It hasn’t been a careful plan, just a holiday that we have not really spent much time or tradition on. I have always been a fan of a delicious batch of hot cross buns, but I don’t need an occasion for those treats. When it comes to egg decorating, I do fondly remember the tradition as a kid, but I don’t think I’ve revisited that process since my pre-adolescent years. High time, right?

Several weeks back, I found a little mention about making your own Easter egg dye. The colors were lovely—warm and earthy. I don’t quite remember all of the colors pictured, but there was a blue, a yellow and a reddish color that I thought Blaise would like. Plus, I thought it would be the perfect use for a red cabbage that was languishing at the back of the fridge. The question of the dye seemed settled.

But when I got down to the real business of figuring out what we were going to do with all of the eggs, I saw some pretty amazing posts of beautifully dyed eggs. Of course, there were the vegetable-dyed ones that first caught my eye. But then there were the neon eggs and the bright stripes. They were so bright and so cheery that on a recent shopping trip, I all but abandoned my plan of vegetable dyes for a package of glowing neon tablets. But when I got back home and read over the packet, I couldn’t do it. The ingredient list scared me off. The veggie dyes were back on.

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What I may have lost in other-worldly egg hues, I made up for in natural ones. I feel particularly lucky in the egg department in that I know people. Yes, that’s right. I get a weekly supply of fresh eggs that I treasure. If I was going to go through the process of making my own egg dye, I was going to color some delicious eggs while I was at it. I even got a special order of a dozen barely blue eggs that already looked Easter-ready. And you can bet we were going to eat them. Hard-boiled eggs are always a big hit at our house. They are easy to throw into a sandwich or a salad and some days, Blaise simply insists on adding one to his meal, whatever it might be. Besides, the prospect of egg salad sandwiches for days certainly didn’t hurt as I was trying to justify all of those eggs cartons taking up space in the fridge with other concerned members of my household.

Making our own dye certainly wasn’t the quickest route for egg dyeing, but we enjoyed the process of watching the colors deepen hour by hour.

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And just when I thought my work was done with the blue eggs, that there were no more blue shades to be achieved, Blaise proclaimed that all he really wanted was black. Boys….

Happy Easter!

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While there certainly are a lot of colors that you can create at home, I decided to keep it to just three—red, blue and yellow. The great part is that most of these ingredients are common enough that you could easily add them onto your shopping list if you don’t have them already. Add variety by using different colors of eggs and different dipping times to achieve a range of shades. And if you need more variety, you can hop online and find a few more ingredients to round out your color palette.

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Vegetable dye

Makes about 4 cups of dye in each color, enough to dye dozens of eggs

1 small head red cabbage
2 pounds beets
3 tablespoons turmeric
Water

Hard boil eggs to your preference and cool.

Make each color in a separate, non-reactive pot.

  • To make the blue: Chop cabbage into rough pieces, about 2-inches wide. Place in pot and add just enough water to cover the cabbage.
  • To make the red: Cut beets into quarters. Place in a pot and add just enough water to cover the beets.
  • To make yellow: Add 4 cups of water to a pot and stir in turmeric.

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Bring each pot to a boil, then reduce heat and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the liquid to cool. Once cool, strain out the vegetable pieces, if any. Place the liquid in a glass bowl or jar and add 1/8 cup distilled white vinegar to each color.

Add hard-boiled eggs to the liquid and allow to sit. One to two hours gives a pale shade. Allow the eggs to sit in the liquid for several hours or overnight for a deep color. Don’t crowd the eggs or you might have light spots where the eggs touch. Place the dye and eggs in the fridge while they sit. Jiggle the jars occasionally to ensure everything gets evenly coated.

Once desired shade is reached, remove eggs from jar. I had the best luck using a second clean jar and pouring the liquid from one jar to the other until it was empty and I could retrieve the eggs. Rinse in cool water and set eggs out on paper towel or a drying rack and let them dry completely. Refrigerate eggs until ready to use.

Last, but certainly not least, these dyes are highly saturated and will stain. Working in the sink seemed to contained the better portion of my splashes, except for the jar of turmeric water that I sloshed all over my kitchen floor. Shh…I don’t think anyone will notice the yellow hue by the sink.

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