spring garden cake

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The fruits (or shall I say vegetables?) of my labor. Sticky fingers dyed with food coloring formed these mini marzipan carrots, potatoes, radishes, rhubarb, cabbages and peas. They were then placed in the crushed chocolate wafer cookie 'dirt' patches as if they sprouted out in the springtime sunshine right here upon this carrot cake topped with yummy cream cheese frosting. It is sure to bring many smiling faces and happy tummies. Hmmmm, to eat it with a fork or a little shovel?


making a garden out of marzipan

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I'm sure you've seen a garden cake before. I just googled it and found lots of pictures and variations of this springtime novelty. Typically it is carrot cake decorated with vegetables.  Many, many moons ago Martha had it on the cover of her magazine. I remember sitting in my red kitchen in Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts with my friend, Gia, molding vegetables out of marzipan. If Martha could do it so could we! We made carrots, cabbages, peas, and I really can't recall what else. I just know that it was a very time consuming process. So time consuming in fact that we skipped baking the cakes where these vegetables would 'grow' and ordered them from The Otherside Cafe, who back in the day made a mean carrot cake.

I thought I would make one for Easter this year. I'm feeling nostalgic as I sit here shaping these peas and carrots on this rainy Portland morning. It was not only faster to create this mini spring harvest with two sets of hands but the company and conversation made it seem like such a festive endeavor. Days like this I miss living on the east coast.

dyeing quail eggs is quite extraordinary.

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After dyeing brown eggs I was inspired to dye quail eggs to use in my Easter centerpiece. Their tiny size appeals to me  but mostly I am in love with their fabulous speckles.  I was eager to see how quickly these little tan shells would soak up color.

Much quicker to absorb the color and so amazing with the brown spots!

My heart is aflutter at the sight of these little beauties.

In my ideal world, I was planning on blowing out the yolks and saving the eggs. The yolks are too big, the holes are too small, I am too dizzy, forget it. I'll be keeping them in the fridge to use on Sunday in my garden themed table setting. Until then, I will smile every time I open the door to get a snack.

carrot and seed salad

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My husband brought me home the Rose Bakery cookbook as a little surprise one day. Filled with great photographs and a nice collection of recipes, I was excited to make something from it. However, entertaining an almost-eight-month-old often keeps me from the kitchen. I noticed he was flipping through the pages yesterday and consequently the bunch of carrots I picked up from the farmers market found its way to the counter. He set out to make the carrot seed salad. Sounded good to me.

Eight medium carrots, grated. Place in a serving bowl.

One cup of pumpkin seeds (or sunflower seeds) tossed with one tablespoon of canola oil (or sunflower oil), seasoned with salt, spread out evenly on a baking tray and put in a 350 degree oven, tossed frequently until lightly roasted and crisp, about 15 minutes. Cool.

The dressing is equally as simple. Half cup of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt, half teaspoon of ground black pepper, and one tablespoon of superfine sugar are whisked together.  Once combined, about three tablespoons of olive oil (or sunflower oil) is whisked in. Can be adjusted to your liking by adding more salt, sugar, or lemon juice.

Pour dressing over the carrots and mix well.

Sprinkle with seeds and a handful of chopped chives. Done.

The combination of the carrots with the toasted pumpkin seeds and the tangy lemon juice is so yummy. Perfect in it's simplicity. I couldn't stop "tasting" it as we cooked the rest of our dinner.

dyeing brown eggs

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This never even crossed my mind. Why haven't I tried this before?

"Because your mom didn't do it," replied my husband.

True. I grew up in a white egg household,

convinced that brown eggs actually tasted different than white eggs.

Farm-ier.  Funny. I had never even tried one.

What does farm-ier even mean?

Now brown eggs are the only kind I buy.

Well, except for the two dozen I pick up at Easter time.

White eggs for bright springy colors or pretty pastels.

Yesterday, while flipping through the pages of this month's Sunset Magazine, I came across a dozen dyed brown eggs.

The colors were so earthy, rich and beautiful.

I happened to have four hard boiled eggs in fridge so I gave it a try.

It takes a lot longer to dye them but once you plop them in the cups of color you can just walk away.

This may not be ideal for smaller ones who are anxious to stripe, decal, and sparkle, but for me it is worth the wait.

The result is jewel toned loveliness.