Raspberry and Passion Fruit Mousse Verrines

My friends T & M are coming over for dinner tonite and since they just recently returned from a tropical getaway, I wanted to surprise them with a tropical-y dessert so that no one would notice that it's actually cloudy and chilly outside. What could be more tropical-y than passion fruit and raspberries? Nothing. I couldn't help but top them with the handful of blackberries and kumquats I had leftover from making fruit tarts. Whether the flavors would marry or not was not the issue (although they did!). The verrines just needed a nice pop of color and these did the trick. It also helps my campaign of getting the word out about kumquats!

Fruit Tarts

Over the weekend, my friend R hosted a girls' nite filled with creativity, cordials, and crafts. And although I couldn't be a part of it, I wanted to contribute to it. So I sent over some fruit tarts topped with my new favorite find--kumquats! I see them all the time,  had no idea how to eat them, but  remembered my friend G talking about working with them when she worked at Pierre Herme. Because I love the bright orange color, I decided to just buy a batch of them and see what they were all about. They are spectacular--anyone who likes citrus will dig these. They have a sweet outer skin and a tart inner flesh so you're supposed to eat the whole fruit.  They're packed with vitamins A&C, and have traces of calcium and iron. They really complimented the strawberries, blackberries and pastry cream I put into the fruit tarts. Because some of them have seeds, I recommend eating them sliced.  Hope the ladies' enjoyed them as much as I do!

Chocolate Macarons

What do I do when I have an excess of egg whites? I make macarons of course! These are so tricky to make. I could make 3 perfect batches and then the next batch will be a complete flop. Since I haven't made any in a couple of months, I thought I better not get too rusty so I hunkered down to make a couple of batches. I also thought they would make nice little favors to give to friends I will be seeing this weekend.
I churned out some chocolate macarons and filled them with a peanut butter concoction (recipe is courtesy of Aran Goyoaga of Cannelle et Vanille) http://cannelle-vanille.blogspot.com/2008/08/chocolate-macarons-and-tropical-storm.html. My next batch will be coffee macarons filled with milk chocolate ganache...pictures to come!

Spring Break & JC Dinner #3

After this harsh winter, I was desperate to escape to somewhere warm during spring break. Since my friend C is leaving the hot Florida weather soon for a bigger city with brighter lights, I thought it appropriate to visit her in Miami one last time where we like to indulge in the hot weather and our favorite Taiwanese restaurant (Mr. Chu's in Coral Gables). I literally counted the minutes until I could run onto the beach.  The sand between my toes did not disappoint!

We did venture out onto Ocean drive a couple of times where we enjoyed dinner and music....and a couple of mojitos...

When we returned home, we had the third JC dinner to look forward to at S and M's lovely abode. I made a cream of mushroom soup with garlic croutons, parsley, and a dash of brandy; our gracious hosts made a pork loin with sauerkraut and potatoes (my FIRST encounter with sauerkraut and it was delish); N had the kid friendly dish of chicken and rice, healthy veggies, and chocolate graham crackers; and R topped it off with Pastry Cream enhanced with fresh strawberries and sugared almonds. The nite was topped off with beautiful easter decorations, hide and seek, lots of laughter, really good czech beer, and a champagne that is parenting friendly! We had so much fun we all lost track of time and rolled out of there way past our bedtimes. Thank you S and M for a wonderful meal and for hosting!