Braided Egg Bread

Our Grandma always used to have this terrific, dense bread at Easter that was braided and always (ALWAYS) had jelly bean eggs decorating it.  All the grandkids used to ohhh and ahhh when it was presented and we'd all secretly plot to get the most beans on one slice of bread.

A lot of my memories revolve around food and family.  Meals spent at the table (or kids table - remember those??) talking and laughing and enjoy the moment that it takes to eat a meal that's cooked for days!  I want our kids to remember the times like that and the joy on everyone's faces.



I wanted to recreate that bread (and the wonder, for the kids) and came across this recipe (with pictures - who can resist pictures) and thought that I would give it a try!

My Mom's a Peach!

Gosh.  Words would never be able to put a face to a name when it comes to my Mom.  Don't even try to ask me to use just ONE word to describe her either!

Funny.  Confident.  Grounded.  Busy.  Caring.  Spitfire.  A little insane (I had to get it from somewhere).  Natural.  Experienced.  Passionate.

Want me to try one word?  Here goes.  My Mom is: theonewhoyoucallwhenyouneedtohearthetruthandneedthatmotherlyreassurance-andtheoneyouwantonyourteamwhenyouneedsomeonetofightthegoodcause.

And my Mom called me today to say she had (just HAD) to show me something for my Blog.  Huh?  OK - let's see what you got!

I made ... Pastry!

If you know me, you know that pastry is the THING that really gets me steaming mad.  Right peeved off.  I have just never had any luck.  I've tried nearly every trick in the book and although my Mom says it's easy.  I have yet to find it as such.

Until Easter weekend.  I had to.  I mean really - who's going to sit back and let some silly pastry beat them into the ground.  Me?  Ha!

So I armed myself with loads of flour.  LOADS.  And butter.  And shortening.  I was prepared for anything.  And why, you ask???

My Dad and Mr. Hungry have a thing for Lemon Meringue Pie.  *sigh*  I am not a fan.  OfLemon Meringue Pie.  I love apple pie, but not lemon.  I mean, the lemon I can handle.  The meringue, not so much.  It's just eggs all beaten up and sweetened and baked for a bit.

So, being a good daughter and a giving wife, I made them guys some pie.

And we all know that pie starts with pastry.

Fried Cabbage and Bacon

When we used to have big family dinners with Grandma, cabbage rolls were always in the mix.  And I can make a mean (and even and ugly) cabbage roll but time does not always allow.  So, to pay homage to the cabbage roll for family dinners I sometimes make fried cabbage (which secretly I love more than cabbage rolls).

Everything tastes better with bacon.  Everything.

So fried cabbage HAS to be better with bacon, right?  Right.

And it is.  Trust me.  Trust the people who eat it. 

Or just go ahead and make some yourself and you'll be a believer too!  You just can't beat some delicious fried cabbage with bacon!

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

Summer is approaching (well, not REALLY as we woke up to snow the past 2 days) and in our house that means the BBQ gets put to full use again.

We BBQ in the winter too, but many days it's just far too cold to get it hot enough to do what it's supposed to do and it's just better to plan a meal that's cooked indoors.

BBQ sauce has never been a big favorite of mine.  Main reason?  Too darned sweet.  Now, I know people like different things and there's nothing 'wrong' with a sweet BBQ sauce - it's just not quite my thing.

So over the years I have tried probably over 100+ different kinds of store brand BBQ sauce and never quite found what makes me happy.  So, being worthy enough I finally decided that it was time to start making my own version of what I liked.

Problem was, there are literally thousands and thousands of different kinds on BBQ sauce.  And each recipe claims to be 'the best' BBQ sauce there is!

Check this out - it describes all the different kinds of BBQ sauce around the world and man, I wish I could try them all!  But it will give you an idea as to why the sauces are different (especially across the US, where it appears each region has it's own variety) and what makes them different.

So, off I went to find OUR BBQ sauce.  I looked at many, picked what I liked from them and sorted out what I had to do.  And wouldn't you know it - the first recipe I put together was THE ONE!  It changes slightly from time to time (depending on how funky I'm feeling) but here's the basic layout and perhaps you'll want to add your own spin!