A few good links.

Best pie crust. Ever.

You can make caramel sauce with coconut milk. It is amazing with sweet potato pancakes. Or on a spoon.

Our version of Easter eggs.

Anyone interested in a recipe for sweet potato pancakes? Pinto bean soup with bacon, pine nuts, and green onions? Let me know.

Mind-blowingly good spinach. Who knew?

I did not realize that spinach could be amazing. But it can. And it is easy. I put this on top of cottage cheese on top of a baked potato for a quick meal.

Heat some olive oil (just a bit) in a large skillet over medium-ish heat. Add fresh spinach, 1 clove minced garlic, some salt and pepper, and REAL maple syrup. Perhaps a tablespoon or two. Stir until evenly wilted, remove from heat and add just a bit of cream.

That's it. It is very, very good.

Lavender Vanilla Sugar Cookies

1 T lavender
2/3 c sugar (I used vanilla sugar)
1 c unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 t pure vanilla extract
2 c all-purpose flour
1/8 t salt

Grind lavender and sugar in a coffee grinder or food processor. Combine with butter in a medium sized bowl and beat until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and combine. Add flour and salt and carefully carefully mix until just combined. Dough should be soft but not sticky, and guess what? No eggs. So go ahead and eat it without fear of illness. Form dough into two balls and flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill 2 hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface with a floured rolling pin to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut out with cookie cutters and place on prepared sheet. I sprinkled them with white sugar crystals at this point. Put back in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie. You want these underdone so that they are still soft. Let cool completely. No frosting needed.

Homemade Chocolate Pudding

Okay folks. This recipe is a must. It is amazing warm or cold. It is just amazing. I use 3 different cocoa powders that I buy every time I am in SLC at Tony Caputo's, but you can just use whatever cocoa powder you have on hand.

2 T cornstarch
1/8 t salt
1/3 c cocoa powder
1/2 c sugar
2 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 c milk (I've used skim, I've used half and half)
2 T butter
2 t vanilla extract
handful of chocolate chips (I used Nestle semi-sweet)

In a medium saucepan whisk together the cornstarch, salt, cocoa powder and sugar. In a bowl combine the milk and egg yolks and slowly add to the mixture in the saucepan, whisking until combined. Set over medium heat and stir constantly until the mixture thickens and boils for 1 minute.

Remove from heat and stir in butter, vanilla and chocolate chips until smooth. Eat immediately or later. If chilling be sure to put a piece of plastic wrap pressed on to the pudding to prevent a skim from forming. ENJOY.

Dessert in 30 seconds or less.

I realize I am odd and normal people do not have chocolate ganache and mascarpone cheese in their fridge on a regular basis, but you should because then you can make this crazy easy amazingly good dessert. You also need dried figs. Here's how it works:

Take a fig and slice it lengthwise. I use brown Turkish figs because I think they taste the best. But that's just me.

Take a scoop of ganache and put it on your plate or in a bowl. Take a scoop of mascarpone cheese and mix it into the ganache. Put a large dollop on each fig half. Pop the entire thing in your mouth and close your eyes. It's that good.

More cake.

This is now my favorite white cake recipe. Buy the vanilla bean, it is worth it. This recipe is from Organic and Chic by Sarah Magid. The only change I made was using a whole vanilla bean rather than a half.

Vanilla Bean Butter Cake

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 3/4 c white sugar
4 eggs
1 c whole milk
1 T vanilla extract
1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped out and reserved
2 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 2 8-inch (I used 6 inch) round cake pans (I also lined them with parchment paper) or place liners in muffin pans for 24 cupcakes.

Cream the butter and sugar on medium speed for 3 to 5 minutes until light and fluffy. Scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add eggs, one at a time.

In a small bowl combine the milk, vanilla extract and vanilla bean seeds. Set aside.

In another bowl combine the flour, salt, and baking powder.

With mixer on low speed alternate adding the flour and milk mixtures, starting and ending with the flour. When almost combined turn off the mixer and scrape sides and bottom of bowl. Finish mixing the batter by hand with a rubber spatula. Pour into prepared pans.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or 24 to 30 minutes for cupcakes. Let cool in pans for 15 minutes then invert on a wire rack and cool completely.

Vanilla Whipped Buttercream

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 c sugar
1 c whole milk
1/4 c all-purpose four
1 1/2 T vanilla extract

In a small saucepan combine 1/4 c of the milk with the flour and vanilla and whisk until completely smooth. Over medium heat slowly add the remaining heat and whisk constantly until it begins to thicken. Remove from heat and keep stirring. Cool in an ice bath to room temperature.

Cream the butter on medium speed. Add the sugar and beat until light and fluffy. With the mixer on low slowly add the thickened and cooled milk mixture and increase speed to medium and beat until light and fluffy.

100th Post - Connor's Divine Birthday Cake

I bought The Silver Spoon for Children cookbook for Connor several months ago and decided to try out the recipes for his birthday. We chose the Orange Cake because Connor is obsessed with oranges, and it is now my new favorite cake. It is easy and delicious. So delicious. Completely amazing. Make it tonight.

Orange Cake

7 T unsalted butter, plus a bit more for greasing the pan

1 orange

2 barnyard eggs (yep, that's what it calls for)

1/2 c supgerfine sugar (we used granulated because that is what we had)

scant 1 c confectioner's sugar

scant 1 c self-rising flour

1/2 t baking powder

Orange Glaze

scant 1 c confectioner's guar

1 orange (we used both the zest and the juice)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and butter an 8-inch cake pan and line with parchment paper.

Melt butter and let cool. In a medium bowl combine the eggs, superfine sugar, and confectioner's sugar with a whisk until light and fluffy. Stir in melted butter. Sfit the flour and baking powder onto the egg mixutre and pour in 6 T orange juice. Carefully mix tovether and pour into pan.

Bake for 18 to 22 minutes. Let cool in pan and then turn out on cooling rack. Place on cakestand and poke holes all over the cake with a toothipick or a fork. Whisk together juice from 1 orange, zest, and confectioner's sugar to make the glaze. Spread glaze all over cake, letting it seap into the holes until it is completelyl absorbed by the cake.

Top with sweetened whipped cream with a bit of vanilla and a thinly sliced orange sprinkled with sugar if you would like for decoration.