Happy Easter!

Though the day has probably left you over-satiated on chocolate - I had to share... I want to eat/make this right NOW!

Oy... I fear my baking sabbatical has lasted too long!

Returning the Favor: Lime Sugar Cookies

I've always liked the idea of returning borrowed kitchenware, not just washed, but bearing something homemade. Such a gesture really seems to acknowledge the generosity that brought the item into your possession in the first place. The lender was probably just hoping to see their worn out cake pan again, an event that would make them happy in and of itself, but to return the boring cake pan transformed into something that produces an exclamation of delight - now that's pure magic! I adore the thought!

I left Kasey's flat last week, after a scrumptious Easter Feast, carrying containers filled with delectable braised greens and spicy black pepper yam chips. I thought the soon-to-be-empty vessels seemed the perfect excuse to let her know how valued the bevy of vases filled with unique pastel flowers and the multi-course spring-themed banquet (all testaments to the lavish level of her hostessing efforts) had been.

Kasey finally got her Tupperware back yesterday with Lime Sugar Cookies tucked inside (chosen for the springy color palette as well as with the anticipation of warm weather in mind). These particular cookies are delicately light and vigorously citrusy, but still rich and creamy and sweet - a more than worthy opponent against hard-to-beat chocolate.

I found the cookie recipe at the Technicolor Kitchen, but I think what took my cookies to the next level of refreshing citrus lusciousness was my addition of a lime butter cream frosting. Sure... you can just do plain old lime sugar cookies... but aren't sugar cookies all about the frosting anyway?

Anne Spice's Lime Frosting

8 T. Butter (room temperature)
4 1/2 Cups Powdered Sugar
Juice of 1 Lime
2 tsp. vanilla extract
3 T. semi-skimmed milk (more or less to produce desired consistency)
A few drops green food coloring!

Cream sugar and butter together. Add lime juice and vanilla. Mix till smooth. Then add milk to produce desired frosting thickness (I like mine a little thin for sugar cookies - makes it easier to spread).

Frost and garnish cookies with shreds of lime zest. Voila!

Scottish Easter Eggs

My Easter was spent in the frigid air of Scotland's Edinburgh. It was a last minute holiday spurred by the fact that I'd been in London for too many consecutive days and when faced witha significant Easter break, decided it was high-time I go and explore someplace entirely new.

Edinburgh was the chosen getaway as it is reachable by car (a mere seven hours away!), is notorious for being historic and fascinating, and is home to a friend we needed to visit. Pictures follow. Enjoy!


The dusting of snow we encountered during the drive.




The opening gate to the Ashdene House, our Scottish B&B.


The stone manor itself was lovely: high ceilings, a stately staircase, richly detailed carpeting throughout. However, the woman who ran it was a bit too stiff and strict to be considered either warm or welcoming - she reminded me of a no-nonsense school-marm. Yes, ma'm!


Fortunately, the school-marm's breakfast was delicious. To the left you see vegetarian haggis (who knew?!) made with grains and loads of spice. I can honestly say this in one of the few UK-breakfasts of this sort where I'd wished there'd been more.



One of Edinburgh's many tiny alley ways beckoning visitors away from the main drag - walk too swiftly or too intently and you'll miss them!



We spied the miniscule Halfway House down such an alley and noted it for later...




Playing bagpipes below zero while sporting a kilt - they weren't kidding about the Scots' hardiness.



Ha! The shop of kilt maker! (And a little dog who noticed my intrigue).




Even the bus seats get the Scottish plaid treatment.



Edinburgh Castle.




Me trying not to look like an ice cube in front of Edinburgh Castle (I am definitely not Scottish - or as hardy when it comes to the cold).




What's known as "The Royal Mile" stretching down away from the castle.



"The Witchery?" - few signs have caught my notice or fueled my imagination so readily.



One of the most green, well-manicured, sparsely populated graveyards I've ever seen.



A view from the cemetery we accidentally strolled into after climbing a long stairway up the hill called Jacob's Ladder. I love the look of the darkened grave markers against the mountain backdrop. It's so gripping, so haunting, so beautifully solitary.




A majestic stone structure of a different sort: one of the North Bridge's grand hotels.



These rock buildings are ubiquitous.




The Halfway House: a little pub on (eesh) Fleshmarket Close that "ends before it begins" when you walk inside.



Yay! Easter Eggs! Compliments of our pub's holiday display - after a little cajoling from our waitress - just in time!



The castle looming over the city on Easter Eve.

Spring Feast

It is rare that I have decent photos to show that my culinary skills extend beyond baked goods. This is because my savory feats usually happen (and are eaten) at night when the lighting is atrocious.

Our Easter banquet, however, took place on a well-lit afternoon. It was green and springy and appropriately egg-based. So even though the pictures of it come a week late (our internet has been ridiculously finicky recently), please indulge me. Bon Appetit!



The Easter spread as seen from the head of the table. A citrusy Sauvignon Blanc with green apple notes and steamed asparagus with garlic and lemon.



Since the internet was down, we pulled together this vegetable quiche using a cheese flan recipe from Food and Wine, a lemon souffle recipe from Gourmet, and our memories. The crust could have been crustier, but otherwise, it turned out marvelously.







There's little guesswork in salad composition. Nothing can go wrong when you're tossing together spinach, goat cheese, tomatoes, and balsamic vinaigrette.











I can't take any credit for the chocolate peanut butter nests. The flat woke up to find them on Easter morning. They were entirely Kasey's doing.

Easter Egg Duel

Forget tame Easter egg hunts. According to my Guatemalan roommate, Corina, in her country, they fill hollow eggs with confetti, then spend Easter Sunday chasing each other around, smashing eggs into peoples' heads.

Naturally, after learning of the tradition, we saw yesterday as the ideal chance to get crafty detailing pretty little eggs, don war paint, and go wild celebrating Easter.




Strangely enough, while the site of a cracked Easter egg usually saddens me, in smashing all those fragile, brightly colored orbs, I felt that never before have I put the tradition of decorated eggs to such good use. (Nor laughed or screamed so much in doing so).



Easter Egg Duels: definitely a new annual event.