chocolate raspberry bread pudding

Is it already February? As we hunker down here, sparkly snow settling around our little house, I’m clinging to the silver thread of hope that is spring. I sent out our seed order last week, I notice the light lingering ever-so-slightly later in the day, and I remember from the past two springs we’ve lived in this house that the red-wing blackbirds return in late March. Hard to believe, but we’re getting there.

Though I have yet to blog about them (and they do deserve their very own post)*, one of the additions to our little “homestead” this past year has been a small flock of backyard chickens. We raised them from chicks, and it’s amazing to me to see how hardy they are even in the bitter cold of upstate NY winters. They’ve kept laying eggs for us through the winter, which means that our consumption of egg-themed meals and desserts has racheted up considerably!

Cinnamon, our Golden Buff hen, earlier this fall

caramel apple granola

I read somewhere recently that kids fall into two categories when riding in the car: those who reliably sleep, and those who reliably snack (sadly, in lieu of sleep). My daughter has made it clear that she falls into the latter category, even on long car rides when you would think (hope) sleep would come so easily.

What is it about car rides that brings on the urge to snack? Maybe it’s the fact that we’re captive in our seats. As entertaining as I try to make games of I Spy and sing-alongs, the refrain we hear more times than animals on Old MacDonald’s Farm is “Mommy, what do you have in your bag for me to snack on?”

hot, cheesy corn dip with tortilla chips

Once every few months or so, I get a craving to make appetizers for dinner. Sometimes, I have to confess, this is just an excuse manufactured so that we can eat things like guacamole, bread & cheese, and stuffed mushrooms all at the same time and call it a meal. (Not that there’s anything wrong with that.)

We’ve been eating loads of sweet, tender corn on the cob lately, stuffing our faces with it while it’s peaking in season. I was browsing around for a different recipe entirely (something to use up my baseball bat zucchinis) when I came across this hot, cheesy corn dip and immediately forgot all plans to make anything else BUT this hot. cheesy. corn. dip. YUM.

roasted apricot, raspberry & coconut popsicles

If I had to describe our summer so far, I’d call it The Summer of the Popsicle. We’ve been spending so much time outside, especially on the weekends, that we seem to be in constant need of edible, portable, cooling snacks. Each weekend afternoon, B, Little A and I have been taking a break from our gardening, yard-work, and sand play (I’ll let you guess who’s doing what) to sit together, catch a breath, and slurp our pops.

A week or two ago, our fruit CSA share gave us a lovely bunch of apricots, and we were still enjoying plucking raspberries in our garden — little A most of all. I decided it was time to make these coconut popsicles with roasted apricots and raspberries, and wow have we enjoyed them!

cheese, leek & herb soufflé casserole

I’ve been thinking quite a bit about eggs lately — we seem to eat more and more as the temperatures slowly warm up. They lend themselves so well so light spring meals with herbs and fresh, delicate greens, and my sometimes-picky-eater toddler actually loves them, too.

she also loves shopping at the farmer’s market with me!

We’ve been visiting the market together every weekend morning and piling our baskets with all things green – baby lettuces, kale, herbs, scallions, spinach, and leeks. The herbs, leeks, and eggs have all met their destiny several times over the past month or two in this delicious soufflé, which was  on the Easter menu in the April issue of Martha Stewart magazine. The minute I clamped eyes on the recipe, I knew I’d be making it STAT. Sauteed leeks, fresh spring herbs, gruyere, and fresh eggs? Yes, please!

homemade whole grain pancake mix

Living with an early-rising toddler, breakfast in our house is a pretty routine affair. There’s only so much variation and prep I can manage before I get some caffeine into my system (why hasn’t someone invented a combination alarm clock and coffee maker? Coffee ready to go at my bedside — I’d be all over that.)

So, our options for a while have rotated between oatmeal, cereal with fruit, granola/yogurt, and sometimes scrambled eggs. Boring, I know. I longed to add pancakes to the rotation — they are one of my very favorite breakfasts — and so I made it my mission to find a pancake recipe that would be easy enough to make on weekday mornings before work. (Preferably something multigrain; white flour pancakes just don’t do it for me like they used to…)

beet and carrot slaw

I don’t know about you, but when mid-winter hits, I’m in dire need of some intense color therapy and crunchy textures in my food. I recently wrote about one of our favorite ways to get color and crunch this time of year on the Edible Voices blog: beet and carrot slaw. It’s quick to prepare and makes great use of all those piles of roots lurking in your fridge.  Head on over to check out the post and get the full recipe.

orange-scented chocolate truffles

I have never been one to shy away from the festivities of Valentine’s Day. Oh, I know, it’s nice to show those you love affection year-round…of course. But I’m always up for a celebration, and if it involves chocolate and pops of red and pink against the bleak midwinter grays, you can count me in.

This year I was looking for something simple but elegant that I could make for a few special people, as well as for B and I to enjoy with our bottle of Hellbender port (a favorite dessert wine we discovered on a wine tasting at Red Newt Cellars last summer) that we’ve been saving for V-day. Truffles immediately came to mind — they’re quick to make (basically just ganache that you chill and roll into balls), look pretty in a box or on a plate, and can be flavored any way you please.

chipotle & rosemary roasted nuts

For the past three years, my friend Emily and I have gathered at each other’s houses in December for a blitz of holiday baking: about six hours of sugar stirring, dough-wrangling, chocolate spreading and general confectionary bliss. It’s fabulous.

We usually aim for a mix of tried-and-true hits along with a few new recipes: this year, the hitlist included gingerbread caramels, mocha toffee bars, peanut brittle with fleur de sel, hot cocoa blocks.…and this unbelievably delicious mix of subtly sweet, spicy and smoky nuts (they’re from Ina – so I  knew before I even made them that they’d be a hit!) These – THESE – were the hit of the day.

chocolate mint crackles

We are in full-on baking blitz mode here in the Eggs on Sunday household. December usually finds me whirring around the kitchen surrounded by puffs of flour and drips of chocolate, but this year, I have a little 2-year-old elf to help me, which makes it even more fun! (Though the clean-up factor is dramatically increased.)

I’ve been trying to involve her when I bake this holiday season, which usually means that the recipes I choose are fairly easy and have some type of hands-on step in which she can participate. These chocolate mint crackles, from the December issue of Martha Stewart magazine, fit the bill: mix them up in a single bowl (no need for even an electric mixer), roll them into balls, and roll the balls in powdered sugar.