Cinco de Mayo

Since we are a border state to Mexico, Cinco de Mayo is often celebrated here on May 5th. Cinco de Mayo is NOT Mexican Independence Day and it isn’t a federal holiday in Mexico either. So why do we acknowledge this holiday? Cinco de Mayo was first celebrated in the United States in Southern California in 1863 as a show of solidarity with Mexico against French rule. This holiday is more of a general celebration of Mexican heritage and culture. A unusual fact: Denver, Colorado has the largest Cinco de Mayo celebration.

I love to cook but I can honestly say I really don’t make many Mexican recipes. The reason is because we have SO many great restaurants who serve authentic south of the border food. We take the accessibility of this cultural food for granted. But if you are interested in participating in this fiesta, here are some quick tips.

What You Need

Here is a relatively easy way to celebrate Cinco de Mayo and enjoy some of the tasty foods available. Some important items to have on hand are:

Carne Asada~ is a dish of grilled and sliced beef, usually skirt steak, sirloin steak, tenderloin steak, or rib steak. It is usually cooked with a marinade and some searing to impart a charred flavor.
Tortillas
Guacamole
Cilantro
Cojita Cheese
Chopped white onion
Lime slices
Salsa
Corn on the Cob
Watermelon

Fortunately, we have some grocery stores who offer a full variety of ethnic and Hispanic food choices. We are able to purchase carne asada, already marinated and ready to go. Food City provides everything we need for this meal. And their produce department is off the charts!

Preparation

It takes minimal prep work to dice the onions, slice the limes, crumble the cheese and chop the cilantro.

The best basic guacamole recipe is from Serious Eats and takes 15 minutes to make. See the recipe here.

Best Basic Guacamole recipe from Serious Eats

Another FABULOUS recipe is Elote which is grilled Mexican Street Corn, again from Serious Eats. You will LOVE this! Recipe here. I have made this multiple times and it is a winner.

Easy Cooking

A quick grilling of the carne asada and cutting into bite sized pieces, is all it takes to prepare the meat.

Put all the fixings into bowl so your guests can help themselves to the cheese, onions, cilantro and limes.

Warm the tortillas in an oven or microwave and wrap in a towel until ready to serve.

This is such an easy, simple and delicious meal to serve anytime, but definitely for Cinco de Mayo!

For dessert, slices of cold watermelon and cookies are a great option.

For more Cinco de Mayo ideas, a group of blogging friends create a Cinco de Mayo Virtual Supper Club. See my friend, Rachel’s Cilantro Lime Black Beans side dish. Rachel also has wonderful ideas for Cinco de Mayo table setting too! Click here to see more.

My friend, Chloe from Celebrate and Decorate makes a fabulous tissue paper garland which is perfect for this holiday. To see her post, click here.

I hope you are inspired by all the festive table decorations and delicious food. May is just around the corner and remember, Cinco de Mayo is May 5th.

Happy Wednesday, my sweet friends! I am traveling this week and hope to get a Saturday Meanderings out to you. Enjoy the rest of April and we will chat again soon.

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

Wine Tasting and Historical Tour

Each year we support the Scottsdale Artist School. Over time, the School has evolved into one of America’s foremost independent art institutions, offering a robust slate of art programs for adults; and a youth academy for teens and children. Last November, during their annual event (which was virtual), we offered to host a wine tasting and historical tour for 20 at our home.

Of course, at the time we were all in the midst of COVID. An event where one can be outside, social distance and taste wine, sounds like a good contribution. We have never done a wine tasting here before, so I did need to think through the details of hosting this event.

Determining Location and Time

Our property looks its best in April. Nearly everything is in bloom and the weather is perfect. Months earlier the auction recipient and I determine a date. Two hours of wine tasting seems the right amount of time and 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. is selected.

Welcoming the attendees at the front of the house makes the front porch the ideal location to start. From there my husband and I walk the yard and designate 3 other parts of the property. Areas of interest, a shady spot under a tree, and other factors point us to the right locations for a total of 4 tasting stations.

Food and Beverage

Caprese skewers, brushetta, tomato & olive polenta bites

I feel very fortunate to have someone who caters for us frequently, knows my kitchen and is a talented and creative chef. Julie Greder designs an innovative menu with multiple options. After some discussion, we decide on an Italian theme with heavy hors d’oeuvres and food that will complement the wine.

This is the first time we engage a sommelier, who is highly recommended to us by our local Safeway liquor manager. We contact Mardi Keckeis and we are instantly good friends. Mardi walks the property and hears our ideas on how we want to the evening to progress, while making wine recommendations.

I put Mardi in touch with Julie and they work on the perfect food/wine pairings.

Renting Glasses

Since I refuse to have a wine tasting with plastic glasses, I rent flutes and both white and red wine glasses from Party People Rentals. This truly is the easiest option. The cost is minimal and the good news is, that you don’t have to wash the glasses before returning them. Who wants to clean 100 glasses?

Fortunately I have 100 glass plates in my garage, so we use those instead of paper ones.

The Day of the Event

With the help of our healthy, young houseguests, tables are placed around the yard. We decide to add some chairs at the 3rd tasting location as an option for sitting.

With a start time of 5:30 p.m., at 4:00 p.m. I place tablecloths and flowers on the tables. By 4:30 p.m. I am in the shower and getting ready for our guests. The caterer and sommelier are here so I can now focus on just getting cleaned up.

And So It Begins..

Our guests arrive and we are delighted that it is an entire family. They haven’t gotten together since before COVID and you can see they are happy to gather and share time together.

The first tasting is Belstar Prosecco D.O.C. with Lemon Basil Ricotta Brushetta and Shrimp Scampi.

While on the front terrace, my husband explains the history of the property.

The next wine station is near the well tower, guest cottage and gardens. Here we feature a white wine and a classic Brushetta, Caprese Skewers and Tomato and Olive topped Polenta bites. We talk about the well and how we water our property. The hen house is a big hit!

Since it is nearing golden hour, it is the perfect time to take a family photo for our guests.

Next we head to the orchard. A delicious red wine, Massolino Barbera d’Alba, is the perfect accompaniment to Stuffed Mushrooms and Risotto. Nasturtiums from the garden add color to the plate.

The final stop is dessert bites on the back terrace with a sparkling sweeter wine, Rosa Regale. Chocolate Cannoli Tarts and Lemon Raspberry Zabaglione round out the event.

All in all, I believe the evening and tasting went well. And to raise money for such a wonderful organization is an added bonus. I’m still on my Fast Metabolism diet so I didn’t get to taste any wines, but they certainly did smell good!

Happy Tuesday! It’s the last week in April. Our houseguests all leave today so the house will feel empty and quiet.

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

Feeding a Crowd

For many years I did cook for large groups of high school athletic boys, in addition to my family of 5. However, since we are now empty nesters, a meal may consist of cheese and crackers and a glass of wine. Funny how one adapts! But having a house full of guests this week, with healthy 25-26 year old young men, I am quickly reminded of how much they love to eat. Here are a few of my “go to” recipes for feeding a crowd.

Breakfast

Generally, I like to do a breakfast spread that can stay out for a few hours to allow our guests to come in and eat when they want. This egg casserole is delicious either hot or cold.

Depending on the size of the piece, it can feed a lot of people. Since it is an easy recipe, it is generally served at our July 4th brunch and holiday weekends. See blog post and recipe here.

We are also blessed with having a lot of oranges from the orchard. The trees need to be gleaned when the first orange blossoms occur. So there is a wheel barrow full of them and perfect for squeezing fresh orange juice~again something that can be made ahead of time. Or it’s fun to engage your guests into squeezing the fruit too.

For beverages, everyone gets a quick tutorial on how to use the Nespresso machine so they can help themselves to coffee, espresso or lattes in the morning. The coffee station has everything you need from German rock sugar to Torani flavored syrups. Coffee cups are handy and available.

Other Breakfast Ideas

Homemade granola (see recipe here).

Quiche (use store bought pie crusts for extra ease).

Breakfast pizza with store bought pizza dough (add bacon/sausage, eggs, cheese, herbs).

Lunch

Lunch has been relatively easy with this group of friends because they love Arizona tacos~something difficult to find in Washington, DC. Taco crawls to different places are a way to taste the authentic Mexican food which is abundant here.

But if I need to prepare something, I would suggest a sandwich bar with deli cuts of meat, lettuce, tomatoes, spreads (mustard, mayo, pickled onions) and a great bread or bun (or homemade sourdough bread)! A few bags of different chips and you are good to go.

Another easy solution is the heating up the pizzas I recently found from Naples, Italy. They come directly from the source, packaged beautifully in quantities of 8 and a wonderful item to keep on hand in your freezer. Add some more toppings and 10-12 minutes in the oven and you have an authentic Italian 10″ wood-fired pizza. I am getting ready to order another batch from Talia di Napoli. See resource here.

Dinner

You can’t go wrong with steaks on the grill and a big salad. I also just tried Rachel Ray’s lemon smashed potatoes, which can be made ahead of time. Everyone said they were delicious as I could not indulge being on my Fast Metabolism diet. Here’s the recipe and sorry, I failed to take any pictures of them.

One recipe that is simple to make and does feed a crowd is lasagna. Using store bought tomato sauce and oven-ready lasagna noodles (see here) helps with the quick preparation of this dish. The tomato sauce I always use is Rao’s, if I don’t have any homemade sauce available. You can find it at most grocery stores, Costco and on Amazon here. It does not contain any sugar (check the label as most pasta sauces have lots of sugar).

What makes this recipe flexible is that you can make it with zucchini instead of pasta. Also, you can add beef, turkey or sausage if you like or not. I find it helpful to make a smaller casserole of vegetarian lasagna at the same time. Both freeze well too.

Lasagna, a big salad, garlic bread and a nice bottle of red wine and dinner is served.

Desserts

Whipping up a batch of chocolate chip cookies takes me approximately 17 minutes from start to finish. How do I know this?

While in high school, my son would ALWAYS ask me to make cookies. One night, I was very tired and getting ready to head to bed and he made another cookie inquiry. I suppose I could have said no, but I knew he had more studying to do. With his help, we made them together very quickly….about 17 minutes.

Having the ingredients on hand makes a difference! I sprinkle the top with Maldon smoked sea salt flakes for an extra flavor. You can source it here.

Another easy dessert is a Fruit Crisp. Apples, pears, peaches, cherries…really any fruit works. With a crispy, oatmeal/brown sugar/butter topping, all you will need is a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Here is the recipe to my favorite peach crisp. Just substitute another fruit and double the recipe if you are serving many.

Hopefully with the world opening up you will be entertaining with lots of people soon. Fresh food sources are the key to making great food! Do you have any tried and true recipes for feeding a crowd? If so, please do share.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

Mary’s Lasagna

This recipe is so flexible~add turkey, beef, sausage if you want or substitute the noodles for zucchini

1 large jar Rao's Homemade Marinara or any flavor you like
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles
1 cup grated whole-milk low moisture mozzarella ((can use pre-shredded))
1/2 cup grated Romano (or Parmesan) ((can use pre-shredded))
olive oil for baking dish
4 Tbsp thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

For the Filling

16 oz ricotta cheese (whole or skim milk)
1/2 cup shredded whole milk low-moisture mozzarella ((can use pre-shredded))
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese (can use Parmesan)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cloves garlic (minced)
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
1 large egg
freshly ground pepper

For the Filling

Stir all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl.

To Assemble

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Mix the remaining mozzarella and Romano together in a medium bowl. Set aside.
Lightly coat a 9 x 13 inch baking dish with oil.
Spoon enough tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish to thinly coat. Add the manufacturer's suggested amount of water for the oven-ready lasagna noodles. I add 1/2 cup.
Arrange the noodles in rows down the length of the dish. There may be a bit of space but that is okay. Dot half of the filling mixture and carefully spread it over the noodles in a thin layer. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the basil, then top with sauce (approximately 3/4 cup).

If you'd like to add sprinkle some mozzarella and Romano cheese too, that's fine
Repeat with another layer of noodles, filling, basil and sauce and some cheese.
Finish with a layer of noodles and add more sauce. Top the casserole with the Mozzarella and Romano cheeses. Cover tightly with foil (and remove foil 10 minutes before final baking time).
Place the baking dish on a baking sheet. Bake until bubbly and golden-brown, 40 to 50 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes, and then sprinkle with the remaining basil.

Notes: If you want to add meat (ground turkey/beef), sauté onions and garlic in olive oil until softened. Add meat and brown. Season with salt, pepper, garlic powder and other seasonings you enjoy. Drain off any excess fluid. Add the meat between the noodle layers. Or cooked up a bit of spicy Italian sausage and add.

If you would like to substitute zucchini for the pasta noodles, thinly slice the zucchini lengthwise. Line zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with salt. The salt will draw out the moisture. Let sit for 15 minutes to drain. Blot moisture off the zucchini and then arrange the zucchini in rows down the length of the dish. I use a mandoline slicer to make sure my zucchini are about 1/4 inch thick.

If you have more ingredients, I tend to make more layers, depending on the size of my baking dish.

P.S. Just a reminder that any words that are italicized bring you to the source. If it is a product on Amazon, please note that I am an Amazon Affiliate. If you purchase something through my website, I receive a small (very small!) stipend, which doesn’t affect the price you pay at all. My goal is to make sourcing the items easy for you. Thank you for your continued support.

Saturday Meanderings

Happy Easter (or Passover) weekend! The weather is certainly warmer in Phoenix but hoping it will get back down to something less than 88 degrees. Our Easter dinner will be small but we will do all the traditional family events just the same. Welcome to Saturday Meanderings where we chat about all things good and wonderful this week.

Amazing Online Magazine

I just discovered Chic & Country magazine and I am SO impressed. This virtual magazine comes out quarterly (I think) and you can access it anytime.

Chic & Country is a magazine about country style interiors with a touch of French chic and Nordic whites, featuring house tours, home stories, decor ideas, food recipes, flower design, gatherings’ styling, gardens and unique travel destinations. The subscription is $20.00 a year. This is my new go-to read just before bed. Here is the link.

Doing a 5K

My daughter has a goal to do 52 hikes annually. And she’s added a few 10Ks as well. As a result, I am supporting her efforts to be more active so I am participating by signing up for the same races~but only the 5Ks. I can no longer run, as my knees cannot tolerate the impact after multiple knee surgeries. In completing the Shamrock Run last month, I received this Mr.T-like medal and cool t-shirt, so I am looking forward to participating in the Hippity-Hop run today.

A 5K sounds impressive but it is only 3.11 miles and my fast walking time is about 50 minutes. The good news is that I can log my time and get another t-shirt and medal!

Disappointed with Results

One of my garden goals this year is to grow abundant amounts of strawberries. Typically I will buy starter plants from our local nursery, but this year I purchased strawberry starter roots online from Gurneys. Twenty root stock and crowns arrive and I plant them according to the instructions.

All the strawberry plants showed good signs of growth for a few weeks and now nearly 50% of them are dead. Literally. No reason, as I am taking care of them. Every day I go out to my garden another plant has died. So I am supplementing with locally grown starter plants from Whitfill. Live and learn, I guess.

Best Cake Ever

Hands down, my new favorite cake! I made this for my daughter’s birthday in March and am excited to make another for this weekend. It is a London Fog Cake~ a chocolate cake with coffee, smothered in Earl Grey tea infused buttercream and then drizzled with salted caramel sauce. Oh my.

The recipe is from my favorite cake cookbook, Layered, by Tessa Huff. Truly a winner. And if I have shared this with you before, it’s worth repeating…..it’s that good!

New Eating program

My metabolism is very slow, unfortunately. Unlike my son, who has an extremely fast metabolism, mine just chugs along. Barbara, from Mantel and Table, recommends this program to me to jump start my metabolism. We are both doing it for the next month.

I am completing my first week and love it so far! Grounded in real science and written by nutritionist, Haylie Pomroy, it’s a 28 day program. The hope is to mix things up and get my metabolism working at an optimal level. Will let you know how it goes! Here is a link to the book if you are interested.

Annual Lamb Cake

As a child, I have fond memories of Mom’s lamb cake at Easter. Made in a cast iron mold, this cake is now an annual tradition in our home. I will be baking it on Saturday, with an orange blossom cake recipe. So excited to try this new cake as right now, our orchard is filled with orange blossoms. If you would like to see a post on how the lamb cake is made, click here. Isn’t he cute?

Easter Dinner table

Since we are expecting a few more guests, Easter dinner will be in the dining room. A few weeks ago I did a post on a yellow and blue Easter table (see here), but for Sunday, this one is more blue and pink.

If you missed the post this week on these sweet decoupage eggs, click here. The block print tablecloth is just the right shade of blue for Spring. The bunny plates from Pottery Barn connect the patterns and colors in the Royal Doulton Juliet plates. Scattered about are birds, bunnies, and even a stone frog.

That wraps it up for Saturday Meanderings. I hope you have a glorious and blessed weekend. My goal is to stay away from my phone and social media and just relax a little. I know I will be making adjustments to the Easter dinner so I do not stray from my new eating plan, but it will still be wonderful to share it with family and friends.

This post shared with Between Naps on the Porch Tablescape Thursdays #654

St. Patrick’s Day Dinner Ideas

Top of the morning to you! Tomorrow is St. Patrick’s Day and time to make a special meal. Typically, corned beef and cabbage is served on St. Patrick’s Day, but a few years ago I discovered two recipes that are winners. Thanks for joining me today to get some St. Patrick’s Day dinner ideas.

Guinness Pie

If you love pot pies, you will definitely find this recipe from the New York Times exceptional. Beef with tender vegetables is cooked and reduced in stout beer for hours. Then it is laden into a flaky crust and baked. It is truly incredibly delicious.

This year I am making 3 pies~one for my daughter in college, one for my neighbor who is having hip surgery and one for us. Using a cookie cutter, I will add decorative pastry shamrocks to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.

Using green food color on pastry shamrocks

Last year, I did use green food coloring on the pastry dough. Surprisingly, it worked out well ! May branch out and do a pot of gold design this year!

Every year I make this recipe, I ask myself, “Why am I not making this all the time?” So good and hearty especially on a cold night or rainy afternoon.

For the complete tutorial and recipe, click here to see last year’s post.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Boozy, sinful and decadent, this Bailey’s Irish cream Cheesecake is topped with a thick layer of chocolate ganache. This is a great St. Patrick’s Day dessert and your friends and family will love it! Recipe from Oh My Goodness Chocolate Desserts.

Most of the ingredients I have on hand, with the exception of the Oreo cookies. Since I am also making 3 cheesecakes, I did need to buy more Bailey’s and cream cheese.

Crumb the Oreos and mix with melted butter. Push this mixture into a 9″ springform pan, partially up the sides. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Perhaps the most challenging part of this recipe is wrapping the pan with two layers of aluminum foil. Make sure the foil is tight and secure so no water gets in during the baking process.

Pour in the cheesecake mixture into the prepared pan. Bake, rotating once halfway through.

You will need to refrigerate the cheesecake at least 5 hours or overnight, before adding the ganache.

Look how beautiful this cheesecake is!

I suppose a good glass of red wine or an Irish stout will be perfect with the main course. And you won’t need a drink during dessert because there is plenty already in the cheesecake.

Hope you have a fun and festive St. Patrick’s Day. If you did not see my St. Patrick’s Day table, click here.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

Boozy, sinful and decadent this cheesecake is loaded with Bailey's Irish Cream, and topped with a thick layer of chocolate ganache and Oreo crust.

For the crust

5 Tbsp unsalted butter (melted)
2 cups Oreo Cookie crumbs ((use whole cookies with filling))

For the Cheesecake filling

3 (8 oz.) packages of cream cheese (softened)
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup Bailey's Irish Cream

For the Chocolate Ganache

1 1/4 cups heavy cream
12 oz semi-sweet baking chocolate-chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together Oreo crumbs and melted butter, press the mixture into 9" springform pan and bake for 8-10 minutes; set aside to cool.
Once the crust is cooked, wrap pan with two layers of aluminum foil and bring the foil up the sides of the pan and make sure it is tight and secure so no water gets in during the baking process!!
With electric mixer, mix cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until smooth.
Add cornstarch and continue to mix until fully incorporated, decrease the speed to low and add eggs one at a time, then add vanilla extract and Bailey's.
Pour batter into prepared pan and place in a roasting pan. Fill rosting pan about a quarter of the way with hot water and bake at 350 degrees for 55-65 minutes, rotating once halfway through (until the cheesecake is set around the edges and slightly loose in the center).
Remove springform pan from the water bath and set on a cooling rack to cool, then remove aluminum foil and refrigerate (for at least 5 hours or overnight). When it's completely cooled run a thin knife around the edge and take off the ring of the springform pan.
Over a double boiler melt chopped chocolate until completely smooth and has no lumps, then stir in heavy whipping cream (from the fridge). It should be very thick and creamy so you could spread it on top tof the cake but also on sides without dripping. Use just 2/3 of the ganache and set the cake in the freezer for 5-10 minutes to harden the ganache. Take the cake from the freezer and reheat the rest of the ganache but this time it should be smooth (but not too thin) so you can pour it over the cake to make the smooth and shiny surface.
To keep the shine of the ganache, let it cool at room temperature and then store the cake in the fridge.

Easter Tablescape Ideas

Today, I am happy to share Easter tablescape ideas with many talented friends. Welcome to the Easter Table blog hop. At the bottom of my post you will find links to other holiday table ideas.

Since Easter is early this year, we will more than likely have our Easter dinner inside at the smaller round table located in our family room . We have always celebrated with family only and unfortunately not all our children are in town and can participate.

The Centerpiece

The set of tulipieres I purchased from The Enchanted Home a few years ago, is the star of the show. To see more about these tulipieres and how to fill them, click here. Since daffodils are now available and affordable vs. tulips, I find this to be the most attractive and economical solution.

The Tablecloth and Dishes

With a neutral damask white tablecloth, this year I am experimenting with blue and white with the yellow daffodils. These blue and white dishes I have never used. This set remains out in our pool house for guests.

Each blue and white plate is a different pattern but in the same tones. I believe I may have purchased them from Horchow years ago. However, Amazon surprisingly has a great selection of new and vintage blue and white dishes. See here.

Stacked on top of a white beaded stoneware plate from Pottery Barn, provides a nice contrast to the gold charger.

I really struggle choosing the charger. The brushed gold ones did win in the end over the wooden scallop and silver ones. It’s time I invest in something neutral like white or wicker, which would look even better. To find super affordable brushed gold chargers, click here.

The Glassware

A simple Lenox water and wine glass with a gold rim complements the setting. Hard to believe these glasses are over 44 years old!

Pots de creme with a gold handle by JSC are small vessels for more fresh daffodils. I collect pots de creme and use them for many purposes.

Handmade nests and handprinted eggs as a place card

Easter Touches

The clay bunnies are a whimsical addition to remind everyone of the spring and Easter theme. Homemade nests from shredded paper and glue (see post here), hold a real egg shell painted with the guest’s initial~as a place card.

My favorite Wallace go-to flatware with a bee motif works well with this blue/white/yellow theme. Blue embroidered napkins are an antique store find.

Here are some fun overhead shots of the table.

I am so happy to share my Easter table theme and now onto the others!

If you enjoy this post, please share on Pinterest.

My sweet friend, Chloe from Celebrate and Decorate is hosting this Easter Tablescape Blog Hop. All you need to do is click on the names below and you will (hopefully) be taken to their website to see what they have in store for Easter. You will be able to open a new tab with each so you can return back to this page and just keep going. A fun way to see LOTS of other bloggers without having to search. Enjoy!