Primavera, Printemps, Spring!

Some dainty daffodils...

Primavera, Printemps, Spring! Call it what you like, but it is burgeoning in the Memphis area. The daffodils are the precursor to all that gorgeous spring weather, and the first have opened in my yard. That means we celebrate. I am going back in time...to the 80's. I know, I know, it gets a bad rap. I lived it, graduated from high school, college, got married and had my first baby (on the last night of the 80's!). It was an epic decade for me, and I am a nostalgic kind of girl. Heck, I cry at airports, watching American Idol and sometimes even the dang news. I pine for the simpler ways, those days of little stress, and I loved the food. Some crazy orange centered daffodils

The 80's was when I learned to cook. I made stuffed Cornish hens for my roommates, dabbled in vegetarianism, ate my first avocado. I ate my way around London, Seattle and Miami. I remember many food moments.

Once, my dad came to Iowa City to visit me and we went to dinner at an Italian restaurant and I ordered Pasta Primavera. It was an amazing dish, a perfect example of the 80's, fresh vegetables, pasta and a cream sauce. It wasn't heavy, the colors were amazing, and it has stayed with me for years. So in honor of the first daffodils of the season, we make Primavera. Where else would I look for a recipe than the Silver Palate and the New Basics? These gems are the bibles of 80's cooking. They are packed with recipes and so much information about ingredients and cooking. My books are falling apart, are written in and stuffed with little scraps of papers and cards. I found 2 versions, one with creme fraiche and the other with a simple olive oil based sauce. I decided to merge the 2 and make my own with a little ricotta and cottage cheese (trust me)! Don't get me wrong, I would probably love a full cream version, but we do need to keep things a little lighter, and ricotta is a personal favorite. The cottage cheese is kind of a crap shoot here, not sure how it will do. I never buy the 4% fat, although it truly tastes the best. I despise the 2% and find the 0% fat is perfectly palatable, and it seems to melt when I put it on my omelet. So I decided to go with the non fat. I will say that the 4% would probably make the sauce richer. But we ate it all, no one complained a bit.

Primavera Has Sprung Pasta
Linguine or other flat pasta
1 cup assorted colorful peppers cut in strips
½ red onion sliced thin
½ zucchini, sliced
½ yellow squash, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1 cup non fat cottage cheese
½ cup part skim ricotta
½ cup shredded parmesan
½ cup half and half
salt and pepper
Grilled Shrimp (optional)

Saute all the veggies in olive oil and a pat of butter. Cook on medium low so the veggies don't get brown. Salt and pepper liberally. When they are still a little al dente, remove from heat.
In a blender mix the cottage cheese, ricotta and half and half. Blend until smooth.
Cook the pasta to desired doneness. Drain pasta and put back in pot, add cheese mixture and shredded parmesan and stir well. It will separate a little but keep stirring until the noodles are well coated. Place the creamy noodles in the bottom of serving dish and cover with the colorful vegetables. Pass additional grated parmesan and the grilled shrimp. Deeelicious!

Mardi Gras Pizza

So Mardis Gras is upon us. Finally. It's been the winter that never ended. Thankfully we haven't had snow in a month, but it seems like my stretches of spring weather come to a grinding halt with a dreary, rainy 45 degree day, like today. But Mardis Gras, Ash Wednesday and Lent are the precursors to Easter and the warm weather and sunshine. Although I will admit, we have run the AC twice in February. Go figure.

I love a Muffaletta, a famous New Orleans sandwich with ham, salami, cheese and the famous olive salad. I made it into a delicious pizza last spring, much to the happiness of my family. The link is here, Muffaletta Pizza. And honestly, I really want to make that again for Mardis Gras. My favorite flavors on a pizza....but we need to try something new, right? In the post from last year, I gave my favorite pizza crust recipe, but I have found these great dough balls at the market, and am sold. First of all they are very reasonably priced, they come in whole wheat, and they are soooo convenient. I decided to make this pizza a little more jambalaya-like, with andouille, okra, onion and shrimp.

12" Mardi Gras Gumbo Pizza
1# Andouille Sausage
¼ red onion, chopped
½ cup chopped peppers (I used multicolor but green would be fine)
½ cup sliced okra ( I used frozen)
½ cup chopped raw shrimp (cleaned)
Pizza Sauce
Assorted Cheese (I use mozzarella and provolone)
Chopped green onions
Pizza Crust

Saute andouille sausage in a little olive oil. When the sausage is cooked thru, remove from pan and drain extra grease. Saute onions and peppers until golden, add okra and cook until thawed and tasty. Remove veggies and add chopped shrimp to pan with some Cajun seasoning (Penzey's is delicious) and a little beer (hey, you should be drinking one about now anyways) to release the browned bits from the pan. Cook through. Layer pizza dough with sauce, the andouille, veggie and shrimp mixture. Top with shredded cheese. I sprinkle the cheese with a little Penzey's Cajun spice mixture and green onions. Bake in a very hot oven, I crank mine to 450°. We decided after eating the whole pie, that the shrimp rocked, and next year we are skipping the andouille and going with a shrimp and okra cajun pizza. And darn if I couldn't talk anyone into eating that little crawfish on top!

So, it is Mardis Gras, and tomorrow we fast, so why not have dessert? In keeping with the New Orleans theme, I decided to skip the King Cake and go for the Banana's Foster.

Banana's Foster
4 Tablespoons butter
¾ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon cinnamon
4 bananas
¼ cup dark rum

Melt butter, brown sugar and cinnamon in a fry pan. Add bananas and cook until they are a bit caramelized. Remove pan from heat and add rum. Mix until well combined and then carefully tip to flame (or ignite). When the flame dies down. Serve over vanilla ice cream. Serves 4. The original Banana's Foster recipes I came across call for banana liquor, but if you read my post on Dark and Stormy's it would come as no surprise that I am allergic to this too! But this simplified version is equally as delicious.
Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Anna's Closet

There is something fantastic when tragedy leads to triumph, when grief gives way to hope. In 2005 a young girl who was a junior at my daughter's high school was killed in a car accident, her name was Anna. A story was passed on to Anna's mom about a girl who borrowed a dress for a formal from Anna. The orange dress looked fantastic on the underclassman, and Anna insisted she keep it. Her generous spirit lives on in a fundraiser called Anna's Closet. This is my daughter's Senior year, and the last time she will participate in this great fund raiser.

Throughout the year, the committee requests donations of dresses from girls at other schools, celebrities and alumni. All the dresses are sold at a one day sale for $10 each. The money raised goes to Emmanuel Center in Memphis to buy books for their after school program and the dresses that don't sell will be donated to the Center so that girls who might not be able to afford a dress for Prom or other event can have one.

What a great idea. Most formal dresses are a wear once and done type of purchase. Teenage girls seem to think that everyone remembers what they wore last year. I can't remember what I wore last week! This year they have hundreds of dresses. For $10 each, a girl could buy a few to hold on to for the next couple of events. Some of the dresses still have price tags on them! Who does that? Buys something and never wears it? Me? Oh yea, maybe once (or twice). This year they even had a bridal store donate dozens of pairs of shoes. Can you imagine buying a new pair of shoes for $10? Last year the line to get in the sale was easily a half mile long. Crazy shoppers looking for a bargain. As gas edges closer to the $4 mark, who wouldn't want a $10 dress?

So naturally, in the planning meetings for this fundraiser, someone mentions they need cookies and before you can say "Boo!" someone I gave birth to said "My mom will bake the cookies". I love that kid. Last year I didn't get much lead time. This year they decided they wanted cookies for the silent auction the night before, and only 4 dozen instead of 15 dozen. That sounds like a lot more fun to make to me! Of course when icing came to cookie, I discovered how unfashionable I am. I dabbled on a few dress cookies with icing and sanding sugar. The hands down favorite were the soutache stitching orange on orange that are at the head of the blog. Certainly the prettiest, but also the most likely to lead to arthritis. I tossed in a few silver stars, I figured not everyone wanted a big cookie. Who are those people?And since I had a little dough left, I made a few 50th Birthday cookies for my friend who hit her milestone this week. Another fun day in the kitchen. I am hoping to get some savory food made this weekend, man cannot live on sugar alone. But hey, it tastes good, so get in there and bake!