Tuesday's Twist: Easter Leftovers

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

I have countless recipes to share with you, but every last inch of our fridge is packed with Easter leftovers.  It would be slightly ridiculous for me to make more food for you today.  I mean, I like you and all, but you're going to get leftovers.  Actually, sharing leftovers means you're practically family.  I'm not even going disguise these leftovers by turning them into something new.  We're just going to reheat and eat.  Or maybe we'll just eat them cold.  I don't know, what do you feel like?  I'm kind of thinking cold, but I suppose you can pick since I've already had them a few times.

While these leftovers taste great, they look a little, well, leftover.  I didn't bother with pictures on Easter so I'll just give you a recap of the recipes and events of the day.

* This Lemon Orzo with Asparagus is the only thing that looks, what shall we say, not-quite-as-leftoverish?  What's not to love about a dish that's flavorful, simple and comes together quickly?  I guess I can dig out the camera, but only for this one or we'll never empty out that fridge.

* These hot cross buns were one of the first things I ever made with candied ginger.  Needless to say I've been hooked (and slightly obsessed) with it ever since.  Candied ginger, golden raisins and dried cranberries are kneaded into a whole wheat dough flavored with spices and orange and lemon zest.  But you should have some of the leftover plain white rolls, I don't really want to share these.

*Save room for red potatoes roasted with rosemary and a touch of honey.  Sorry, no recipe here, I just chopped, tossed and roasted.

* The same goes for the salad, minus the roasting of course.  Chopped romaine layered with sweet peas, crunchy celery, radish slivers, green onion and a sprinkle of cashews, lightly dressed with a dill vinaigrette.

* I also threw together a quick fruit platter with strawberries, red and green grape clusters, fresh pineapple and oranges.

* Oh yeah, I almost forgot, ham.  Just help yourself.

* I'll even get you a clean plate for dessert, Grasshopper (mint) pie.  Well, sort of.  The crust was too hard and the filling didn't really set up, not a recipe I'd use again.  But if you throw the leftovers in the freezer it's just about right.  Actually, forget the plate, let's just eat it right out of the pan.

My mom's coworker brought us this fresh herb pot, ahhh so fragrant.  Rosemary and oregano have poked through so far, but the label has quite a few others listed.  Let's hope I can keep it alive long enough to see what else comes up.

After dinner we spent the afternoon viewing old family slides from the 60's and 70's.  My aunt and uncle have been diligently sorting boxes and boxes of slides from my grandma's house.  It was fun to see pictures of my dad's side of the family and hear the stories that went along with them.  After a few hours of that we got out the munchies like this Cranberry Orange Party Mix.

Food for Thought: "If we let ourselves, we shall always be waiting for some distraction or other to end before we can really get down to our work. The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavorable. Favorable conditions never come." -C.S. Lewis

Tuesday's Twist: Whipped Honey and Lemon-Rosemary Honey

Tuesday's Twist:  A basic recipe with a fun twist.  In other words, just another excuse for me to play around with weird recipes I've been dying to try.

I performed an operation yesterday with my dad.  It turns out my vintage mixer isn't quite as spry as it appeared to be two months ago.  I think it has arthritis.  Instead of its effortless whir, the gears and joints started to sound like nails on a chalk board.  I suppose it was to be expected seeing as she was built between 1944 and 1953.  Invasive surgery was our only option.

We prodded and pried then whacked and wiggled.  Much to my horror I have now seen her greasy, grimy guts.  And let me tell you, there's a lot of grease.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, but certainly not a good 1/4 cupful of ancient grease with far too much resemblance in both color and consistency to earwax.  But hey, it was better than blood.  At first I thought it was old Crisco and was ready to wipe out every last glob.  Thankfully my dad reminded me that grease keeps the gears working.  It was intentionally placed lubrication, not rancid Crisco or cookie dough. We (ummm, he) spread the grease back around and we eventually got everything sealed back up.   I'm happy to report our patient is back to moving with soundless ease.  With no complaints of pain or grinding joints she even felt up for a little something new, whipped honey.

Fermented Friday: Honey Beer Bread with Blue Cheese and Thyme

Fermented Friday: recipes featuring yeast, wine, beer or some form of fermentation

 A drizzle of golden honey over a crumble of creamy blue cheese will do wonders for skeptical taste buds.  The sharp, earthy flavors of blue cheese are toned down with sweet honey for the perfect sweet-savory balance.  While this pairing is often perched atop crackers, I decided to present it to you in an even milder form by incorporating it in beer bread.

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Balsamic Honey Granola with TVP

Weird Recipe Wednesday: Because some recipes are so weird I just HAVE to try them.  My curiosity always gets the better of me.

Yeah, I know, I've been putting balsamic vinegar in a lot of stuff lately. And by stuff I mean food.  Fruit, vegetables, ketchup, salad, grilled carrots and sweet potatoes, pizza, and now granola.  But it's Weird Recipe Wednesday, so it's okay. Right?

Granola with balsamic vinegar isn't quite weird enough for me so I added some TVP, Textured Vegetable Protein.  Let me explain. My friend Emma just finished an internship with The Soyfoods Council.  Her job was to develop creative recipes featuring TVP.  I had heard of TVP, but never actually used it.  After seeing all the great recipes Emma developed I was inspired to try it out for myself.  TVP is made from defatted soy flour; making it low-fat and high in protein.  It is typically re-hydrated and used as a meat substitute.