Spring Decor and a Special Spring Recipe

We're partnering with Social Couture this week! Stop by and read their post on hosting a lovely spring brunch!

Spring is almost here! Freshen up your home with springtime decorations. Each spring festival has its own set of symbols we can use to decorate our homes, but in general I decorate my home with green boughs, branches, potted spring flowers, and all the symbols of rebirth: bunnies, eggs, chicks, and ducks.

In your garden, find a nicely shaped barren branch or a spring branch with budding flowers. To preserve freshness, smash the bottom of the branch with a hammer so it will better absorb water. Place the branches in a tall vase of water. Decorate the branch with tiny symbols of the season: blow out eggshells and tie them with a ribbon, tie skinny pastel ribbons in bows with long tails, and set tiny figurines of bunnies, chicks, or ducks amid the twigs. Display in a hallway or on a mantle for a striking spring statement.

Find a hand-hewn willow basket about five and a half inches (14 centimeters) high. Line it with plastic and set small, colorful spring plants still in their containers inside the basket. Between the containers, put moss from a floral-supply store or home-decor store. This makes a charming centerpiece on a dining room table or as a beautiful explosion of color anywhere in the home. Be sure to water it regularly, misting the moss occasionally to revive its bright green color.

Find unusual vessels like 1960's Danish modern coffee pots or tall heavy cut crystal vases and fill them with branches or pussy willows.

Fill old silver-plate trays that are about ten inches (25 centimeters) long and about three inch (7.5 centimeters) deep with faux moss or grass. Nestle some pale-colored faux eggs in the moss and place the trays around the house.

Find some fun, vintage-looking bunnies, eggs, or birds and create a small tableau on an old silver tray. Pair with votives or a dramatic par of candlesticks to center the scene. Place in a prominent spot such as on a sideboard, the center of the dining table, or on a kitchen island.

Coconut Cream Pie

This delectable cream pie is a wonderful mixture of lightly toasted coconut and dense homemade cream base with hints of velvety vanilla. I love the combination of the slightly salty crust, the creamy filling, and the crunch of the toasted coconut. This pie makes a lovely spring dessert and a culinary treat.

MAKES 1 (9-INCH) (23 CM) PIE; SERVES 6 TO 8

1/2 recipe (1 ball) My Mom's Extra-Flaky Pie Crust Dough (see below)
1 1/2 cups (114 g) shredded sweetened coconut
5 large eggs, beaten
2 1/2 cups (592 ml) whole milk
3/4 cup (150 g) sugar
1/4 cup (32 g) cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon (1.5 g) fine sea salt
3 to 5 tablespoons (52 to 70 g) unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
1 1/2 tablespoons (22 ml) vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 F (177 C) (Gas mark 4). Roll the dough out to a circle 1/8-inch (3 mm) thick and fit it into a 9-inch (23 cm) pie pan. Trim and flute the edge. Line with parchment paper and fill with dried beans, rice, or metal pie weights. Bake for 20 minutes, until browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Lower the oven temperature to 300 F (149 C) (Gas mark 2).

Spread the coconut on a baking sheet. Toast until golden brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool at room temperature.

In a medium bowl, using an electric mixer, beat the eggs until light yellow. Set aside.

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to the scalding point; you'll know the milk has reached the right temperature when a "skin" forms on top of the liquid.

In the top of a double boiler off the heat, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, and salt, then whisk in the heated milk until thoroughly combined. Put the pan over simmering water in the bottom part of the double boiler, then gradually add the beaten eggs, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove from the heat and blend in the butter with an electric mixer. Stir in the vanilla.

Stir in 1 1/4 cups (127 g) of the toasted coconut, then spoon the mixture into the cooled pie shell and top with the remaining coconut. Cover with wax paper and refrigerate until cold. Serve.

My Mom's Extra-Flaky Pie Crust Dough

Make sure that you don't work the dough too much or the crust will be tough and not flaky.

MAKES ENOUGH FOR 1 (9-INCH) (23 CM) DOUBLE-CRUST PIE, OR 2 (9-INCH) (23 CM) SINGLE-CRUST PIES.

4 cups (512 g) all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon (6 g) finely ground sea salt
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) (340 g) cold organic unsalted butter, cut into cubes
1/8 cup (28 g) cold organic vegetable shortening
1/2 cup (125 ml) ice water

Put the flour and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Add the butter in small pieces and shortening and pulse until the mixture resembles fine cornmeal.

While pulsing the motor, slowly add the 1/2 cup (125 ml) ice water through the feed tube. If the dough has not formed a ball, add a little more water, pulsing until the dough forms a firm ball. Do not overprocess or the dough will be tough. Divide the dough ball in half and wrap each ball in plastic wrap. Set aside in the refrigerator for 1 hour before processing with the pie recipe.

Happy Spring!

With love,

www.rosannainc.com

Teaching Children Healthy Habits

Photos courtesy of

John Granen Photography

Can you hear it? The wind of change is rustling the branches of the apple trees and garlic shoots in backyards across America. Our county is thinking seriously about the connection between living well and eating well. If you aren’t convinced that this phenomenon is indeed a national one, look no further than the White House. At the helm of the movement is Michelle Obama who is educating the nation about childhood obesity with Let's Move! Campaign and getting her hands dirty with the White House garden. The New York Times is running articles about the Permaculture movement, organizations like Family Eats and Oldways are going full steam ahead, and Edible Schoolyards are popping up in elementary schools across the nation.

New ideas are fluttering and buzzing through America’s cultural consciousness like so many brightly colored butterflies and busy bumblebees. As promising as all of this is, how do we net these ideas and transform them into action in our daily lives? It’s not hard at all. There are any number of (figurative) seeds you can plant to help this movement grow, many of which can involve your children.  

Bring Your Kids to the Farmer's Market

Teach your children that produce doesn’t grow in the supermarket. To really drive that point home, have your children talk to the farmers. These individuals are not only food cultivators; they can also function as teacher for city kids whose experience with gardens may be limited to the 2^nd grade field trip to a farm or the county fair.

Take a Field Trip to a “Pick Your Own Berries” Farm

Small farming communities exist an hour or so away from many large urban centers. Make a day trip to one of these regions and spend an afternoon harvesting blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries with your children. Go home and bake a pie, or cook up a batch of preserves. Outings like these help our children develop a more meaningful connection to the food they eat.

Plant a Garden

It’s not too late! If you don’t have a yard with space to garden, consider container gardening on a terrace or a windowsill. Buy semi-mature vegetable plants and herbs at your local nursery, or even at the drugstore. Now is the perfect time to start planning your fall/winter garden. Look up which crops grow well in your area and are good to plant for the fall and winter. Gardening with children and watching plants grow together can be a great delight and invaluable bonding activity.

Have Healthy Snacks On Hand

During the summer months when school’s out, stock your fridge and pantry with healthy snacks for hungry kids. Kids especially love crunchy foods—carrots, celery, apples, cucumbers, and snap peas can be big hits—especially when paired with hummus or a creamy yogurt dip. Salted nuts and seeds are great for satisfying a salt craving. Take advantage of the summer bounty and introduce your children to nature’s candy—peaches, berries, plums, apricots, and all the delicious hybrids under the sun. You can even puree these with yogurt and a little honey and turn them into ice pops for hot days. 

Teach Kids to Cook

Introduce a few healthy recipes featuring fresh produce as a fun summer activity. Hummus is an easy, quick recipe, as are smoothies. Involving your kids in cooking is another great bonding activity. I remember “cooking” with my mother when I was a very little girl, and how the thrill of being fed little nibbles of raw vegetables with a grind of sea salt even made raw cauliflower seem like a Big Treat.

Incorporate Veggies into Tasteful Meals

Trick little ones into eating their vegetables! Well-seasoned veggie stir-frys, summer pastas with sautéed vegetables, and fruit salads are wonderful ways to introduce fruits and vegetables to picky eaters.

Fruit is in the trees, vegetables are on the vine, and change is in the air. Summer is here. The time is ripe for you and your children to reap the benefits.

Here are a few recipes to help get you started.

Yogurt Dip

3 cups whole-milk yogurt

1 cup packed fresh mint leaves

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon honey

Drain yogurt in a paper-towel-lined sieve set over a bowl, chilled, 3 hours.

Pulse all ingredients in a blender until mint is finely chopped. Transfer to a bowl and chill, covered, at least 3 hours.

Hummus

Makes about 1 cup of hummus

1 cup canned chickpeas

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tablespoons tahini (sesame paste)

1 small garlic clove

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 teaspoons minced fresh parsley

1/2 teaspoon paprika

Cucumber, sliced

Cherry tomatoes, quartered 

Carrot sticks

Process the garlic in the food processor until it's minced. Add the rest of the ingredients to the food processor and pulse until the hummus is coarsely pureed. Taste, for seasoning, and serve chilled or at room temperature with cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, and carrots for dipping.

www.rosannainc.com