Easter Fun!

Easter fun for the whole family! Soak hard boiled eggs (with the shell on) in picked beet juice in the frig for 2 hours. Then crack open the eggs to reveal these gorgeous tie dye eggs! I have also cracked them and soaked them, either way works.

Another cute idea is to soak hard boiled eggs (with NO shell on) in the beet juice for 2 hours and slice in half lengthwise to reveal the beautiful hot pink outer layer contrasting with the white of the egg. Next, scoop out the yolks, toss in a bowl with mayo, mustard, salt, pepper and blend well. Then pipe back into the egg halves. Top the egg halves with some chopped chives.

Choose a white platter and place the eggs on the platter with some thyme leaves or chives (not chopped) along with some of the whole tiny picked beets (drained and patted dry). This is a gorgeous pop of color that your guests and family will love! I hope you give these a try. Happy Easter!

Please note: to maximize the intensity of the color these eggs are best done the day of for your guests. Sitting overnight will cause the colors to become somewhat muted, but still will look very nice.

Easter Table Setting

If you are planning to host Easter, here a few helpful hints on elegantly setting your table and creating a beautiful ambiance for your guests to enjoy. And remember, you don’t have to cook everything, asks your guests to help if they offer, and buy what you can, and of course make the rest and hopefully refer to my recipes!!

First, it helps to establish a theme for your table setting. This year for me it was a blue and yellow color theme which included a gorgeous paisley blue linen, yellow flowers. lemons (I always add an earthy touch), and blue napkins with yellow flower napkin rings. You can do a floral theme, any color theme, an earthy theme, or any combination there of! Next, pick out a linen that will provide a nice backdrop for your chargers/dishes and glasses. A crisp white pressed linen is always a great idea. Then think about the vibe of the table: formal/semi-formal/casual/kid-friendly. In this case, I chose a semi-formal table setting as I combined both my daily dinnerware along side my china (as they coordinated well), and I will use my good crystal stemware which has a gold rim. My silverware is relatively new and sparkling, so I don’t need to take out the fine silver, too much work. I could even do a gold-platted stemware to match with my yellow (and blue) theme.

For a more formal setting you may add a champagne flute which retains the carbonation from a sparkling wine or champagne along with a water glass and a wine glass. Technically speaking, if you want to offer red wine it should be offered in a glass with a wider bowl and opening for sipping and proper aeration. White wine can be served in your standard U- shaped wine glass. In the case of formal dining, use your china and very sparkly silverware – which don’t necessarily have to match, but does have to coordinate well. As an added touch you may want to have a name card at everyone’s place setting.

For a kid-friendly vibe anything goes, but do use glass versus plastic when setting the table. The kids will get used to it, but opt for lower glasses if possible, no stemware. Also bold color themes with kids can be fun: red, pinks, yellows.

I will typically place my serving platters on the table in advance and figure out what I can fit and where. Sometimes I’ll label the platter or bowl, and it helps me to remember what goes in it! I also place in each bowl or on each platter a serving spoon or fork. As a host you are pulled in many different directions, so make things easy for yourself. I usually put the kids in charge of serving water and filing up everyone’s glass. My husband will typically pour the wine. Delegate what you can!

Next, be sure you have seating for all of your guests. This is always the biggest challenge. If you don’t like a hodgepodge look buy nice folding chairs for your parties so you always have them OR you can rent them. I have done that and then all the chairs are the same. The table is so elegant when all the chairs match in my opinion, but it is an added expense.

Floral arrangements can be low so everyone can see across the table. Just go in your garden pick a few flowers or if you are going with an earthy vibe, cut some greens from the garden or buy some fresh herbs and place in clear mason jars and add a ribbon that accents the colors on the table. The table will smell so good!

Most of all, enjoy your guests and your holiday. Wishing you all a very Happy Easter and for those of you who celebrating Passover – Happy Passover! xo Mary

Rustic & Elegant Cake Designs

Many of my followers ask me about my cake designs, so I thought I would write a post dedicated to designing cakes. There was a huge learning curve for me with baking. I am happy to say, that I persisted and everyone likes if not loves all of my desserts. My dear friend who travels the world says my cakes are so delicious, so I suppose persistence pays off. All of these skills have been self-taught.

The cake above is my Lemon & Thyme Cake – here is the link to this very delicious and rustic cake –https://marioochskitchen.com/recipe/lemon-and-thyme-cake/ which I made using my Vanilla Cake Recipe from my cookbook and then adapted it. The bottom of the cake is designed like a Naked Cake which essentially means you reveal the actual cake. It’s a rustic cake design and one of my favorite. I ice the sides of the cake with a good amount of icing, then use a pastry scraper to scrape off the excess and reveal the beautiful cake. It’s ALWAYS best to freeze the cake layers and work with a firm foundation. The good news is that the rustic cake design lends itself to slight imperfections, so just have fun experimenting. One important detail is the edges, be sure they are perfect, and be sure to smooth out the sides and the top if you do not add any other design elements.

The filling was made with a combination of goat cheese, honey, and some Mascarpone Cheese as well as some powdered sugar. It’s fun to experiment and have some unexpected tastes and flavors. Another nice option is a lemony filling or just the icing – these all work! The key is to taste the combination and be sure it pairs well with the cake.

For this cake, I added a polished design element as you see at the top of the cake. These are done using a piping bag, tip and done one by one, so a bit time consuming. I think part of my success is that the icing is store-bought, and very easy to work with and holds up very well. I use a piping bag, and place it inside another piping bag with a tip on it. This contains the icing very well.

Finishing touches on my cake are done with fresh thyme and lemons, and some lemon ribbons. I would have preferred they be curly ribbons, but I need a better tool. The lemons are candied by adding a few lemon slices to a pan along with a few tablespoons of sugar, water and lemon juice. Heat until the sugar dissolves, then simmer 12-15 minutes until translucent and soft. These look nice, but are not too tasty.

Above is my Lemon & Thyme Cake with a vanilla icing and a Mascarpone Lavender Infused filling served with a warmed Blueberry Blackberry Sauce. You can find more details on this cake by clicking on the link. Again, I used fresh thyme, blackberries and lavender to design this rustic cake. The combination of flavors were amazing!

This is also my Vanilla Cake Recipe from my cookbook, a family favorite as you might have already guessed. I added a store-bought chocolate icing, and some mini chocolate covered Oreos all around the sides. On the top of the cake I added in some fresh raspberries and chocolate hand-dipped strawberries. The filling was just a chocolate icing, but a chocolate mousse would have been great in this or a chocolate raspberry mouse filling.

I hope this has inspired you to create a beautiful cake for your next party or celebration. The Vanilla Cake Recipe is only in my cookbook which is available on Amazon – Mariooch’s Kitchen Food That Will Gather Your Family or on Ibooks on the Apple Store.

Spaghetti Squash Parmesan

This is one of the recipes that we keep circling back to because we cannot get enough of it! My Spaghetti Squash Parmesan is so yummy, healthy and low in calories and carbohydrates! Here is the link to the recipe /https://marioochskitchen.com/recipe/spaghetti-squash-parmesan/

Spring is upon us, so don’t forget to start planning out your garden. You can start your seedlings inside in March then plant outdoors after the last frost. When planting an outdoor garden, it’s always best to have a tiny fence around your garden to keep out the bunnies and other animals. When I was younger, I would help my mom plant everything in our garden: eggplants, zucchini, tomatoes, lettuce. She always had me plant marigolds to keep out the bunnies too. Great memories and time well spent!

I will be sure to post some pictures of my garden. We spray our lawn so I don’t want to plant a garden in the ground, it has to be in a raised contained bed OR in pots. I’m finally planning on having my apple trees become organic. I believe going organic takes about 3 years, so this year we aren’t spraying anywhere near the trees and I will only use organic fertilizer spikes to nourish the tree. I am very careful with the foods we eat and grow. Choose organic foods especially when you eat something in large quantities: spinach, kale, strawberries, eggplant, carrots, potatoes, apples. Conventional fruits and veggies are fine too.