Daring Bakers' Challenge: Savarin

Natalia of Gatti Fili e Farina challenges us to make a traditional Savarin, complete with soaking syrup and cream filling!  We were to follow the Savarin recipe but were allowed to be creative with the soaking syrup and filling, allowing us to come up with some very delicious cakes!

Brown Rice Spring Rolls with Peanut Sauce

I've had this package of spring roll wrappers in my kitchen cabinet for months now,  being slightly intimidated by the process of making spring rolls,  I've been avoiding them.  But, really, how hard can it be?  It's spring now and the weather is warm, so I've run out of excuses like "the weather is too cold for spring rolls".  I was especially excited about these wrappers because they're made from whole grain brown rice rather than white rice, as are most wrappers.  

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Hidden Veggies

Ruth from Makey-Cakey was our March 2013 Daring Bakers' challenge host.  She encouraged us all to get experimental in the kitchen and sneak some hidden veggies into our baking, with surprising and delicious results!

Sweet Potato Hash

This is not your ordinary breakfast hash, this is a dressed up, one pot meal kind of hash.  It's made with roasted sweet potatoes, caramelized onions, mushrooms and meatless sausage.  I threw a few cups of spinach in at the end to complete it and drizzled the top with an aged sweet balsamic vinegar.

Daring Bakers' Challenge: Raincoast Crisp Crackers

Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie was our February 2013 Daring Bakers' host and she challenges us to use our creativity in making our own Crisp Flatbreads and Crackers!

I was very excited about this challenge because Sarah provided us with a recipe for one of my all time favorite crackers, Leslie Stowe's Raincoast Crisps.  I discovered these amazing crackers years ago while working in Canada.  At that time, I had to bring several boxes home with me in my suitcase because they weren't available in this country.  We had the option to get creative with the flavor combinations but I chose to copy Leslie's Rosemary Raisin Pecan flavor because it's my favorite.

Whole Grain Brown Sugar Banana Scones

When I have weekend guests, I like to make something special for Sunday breakfast.  A treat they can enjoy with coffee and the Sunday paper.  Last weekend I made these whole grain brown sugar banana scones.  Sometimes, whole grain pastries can be dry compared with those made with white flour, but these were tender with a wonderful nutty flavor that complemented the bananas.  My guests had seconds.

Almond Blossoms - First Sign of Spring

Every year around this time we experience some exceptionally warm weather, that causes the primroses to bloom and then this happens.  Almond blossoms!  It's the first tree to bloom in my garden and it's a signal that spring is just around the corner.  I just hope that it doesn't start raining again before the tree has time to fully bloom and the bees can pollinate it.  

Almond blooms also tell me that it's time to plant peas.  The next sign to watch for is asparagus shoots.