Happy Easter!

Before everyone goes of on their much anticipated very long weekend we just wanted to make sure we wish you and your families a wonderful Easter. Here's hopping the Easter Bunny brings us basketfulls of goodies! Aren't these Spring Chick cakes from Martha Stewart just gorgeous?! Delish! Happy Easter everyone! WSG x


Spring chick cakes recipe available on marthastewart.com

Posted by Emilie Harrison

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Spring Favorites: Tabbouleh

When the weather turns from a bleak and rainy April to a sunny and cheerful May, your clothes aren't the only thing that needs to change. Just as you need to switch out your scratchy wool sweaters for your favorite Lilly shifts, you also need to say goodbye to the warm, heavy food that probably got you through the winter and embrace the light and fresh foods that are perfectly suited for spring and summer. 

Enter tabbouleh, the food I was always afraid of when I was young. All that parsley! And tomatoes! Thankfully I came to my senses a couple of years ago, and now at least once a month I find myself whipping up a big batch to keep in the fridge and eat for lunch. It's light, yet filling, and the best part is that the longer it sits in the fridge, the better it gets. Perfect!

If you can wield a knife and boil water, then you can make tabbouleh. This would be perfect for a spring luncheon- maybe stuffed in a hollowed out tomato or red pepper? How gorgeous would that be? A grilled or toasted slice of pita bread would also go wonderfully. And a crisp glass of white wine. Plus this food is as gorgeous to look at as it is to eat! So give it a try- this may just enter into constant rotation in your kitchen as it has in mine!

Tabbouleh

1.5 cups bulgar wheat

2 cups boiling water

1 large tomato, chopped (or a carton of cherry tomatoes, halved)

1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, unseeded, & diced

3 scallions, minced

1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Lemon Juice (about 1/4 cup, or to taste)

Olive Oil (about 1/4 cup, or to your preference)

1 tsp salt

Optional: 1 bunch of mint, finely chopped

Put the bulgar in a large bowl (preferably one with a lid). Pour the boiling water over the bulgar, and let it sit in the fridge for about an hour (or more). The bulgar will absorb the liquid and fluff up.

Meanwhile, chop the tomato, cucumber, scallions, parsley, and mint (if using). When the bulgar is finished soaking, remove it from the refrigerator and add the chopped ingredients to it. Add the salt, lemon juice, and olive oil, and mix well.

The tabbouleh can be eaten immediately, but is best when it sits in the refrigerator overnight. You'll notice a significant difference in the blending and intensifying of the flavors. Really!

Serve cold or at room temperature.

MOS Note: Poor bulgar has got to be the food with the most unfortunate name! Nothing about it sounds pretty or delicious! But if you haven't tried bulgar, you've got to give it a chance, because it's simply spectacular. You can find it at most major grocery stores, or at whole foods and ethnic markets. Most supermarkets only have one type, but ethnic markets often carry a variety of sizes: fine, medium, course, and extra course. I used medium in this recipe. Bulgar is also delicious in pilaf and as a substitute for rice. And unlike rice, it cooks easily and evenly. If you add to much water, just pour the excess out. It has a rich, nutty flavor and a slightly chewy texture.

Bon appetit!

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Matters of Taste: Chocolate Chewies

These Sin-Free Chocolate Chews are as close to guilt-free as a tasty cookie can be. They have zero flour for all you carb watchers, and no butter or oil either! Yet they have a wonderful, chewy, light texture and trust me, these don't taste like health food!

You might recognize these as being nearly the same as the yummy Cocoa Chewie Cookies they sell at Whole Foods. But why buy them when you can whip up your own batch with minimal time and ingredients? These are the perfect cookies to wrap up and take to your favorite hostess. We've never met anyone who didn't love them!

Sin-Free Chocolate Chews
(Recipe adapted from King Arthur Flour's website)

2 1/4 cups (9 ounces) confectioners’ sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon espresso powder [MoS note: I have always omitted this and they still turn out wonderfully!]
1 cup (3 ounces) cocoa powder, Dutch-process or natural [MoS note: your basic Hershey's will work just fine, but these really pop if you go for the good stuff!]
3 large egg whites
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Whisk together the sugar, salt, espresso powder, and cocoa. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, stir together the egg whites and vanilla. Add the dry ingredients to the egg whites, and mix at low speed of an electric mixer for 2 minutes. The batter will seem dry at first, but will become shiny and smooth as it mixes. Add chocolate chips at the end.

Cover the bowl, and refrigerate the batter for 3 hours, or up to overnight [MoS note: if you don't have time to refrigerate, it's not the end of the world!]. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease (or line with parchment) two baking sheets. Drop the dough in ping pong-sized balls onto the prepared baking sheets; a tablespoon cookie scoop works well here. Bake the cookies for 12 minutes, reversing the pans (top to bottom, bottom to top) midway through. Remove them from the oven, and cool on the pan for 5 minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool completely.

Yield: fourteen big (3 ½") cookies.




Tip: These don't like being stored in the fridge- go for room temp! They will last about 3 days in an airtight container. Or, to really show them off, how about storing them on your counter in this fabulous crystal biscuit barrel?

Waterford Crystal Biscuit Barrel, $275

http://www.michaelcfina.com/

These cookies are also a hit with company! They'd be a great finish passed around the table at the end of a dinner party, or wonderful sitting out on the dessert table at a cocktail party. You could lay them out beautifully, overlapping slightly, on this simple tray:

Barona Tray, $25, Pottery Barn

http://www.potterybarn.com/

We hope you love these cookies as much as we do! Give them a try this weekend and let us know how they turn out!

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Goodbye Summer, Hello Comfort Food

So, summer is over (insert sad sigh) and autumn has arrived with noticeably cooler mornings. This means one thing, hearty comfort food! I am a soup fiend in the cooler months and yesterday I celebrated the first pot of homemade tomato soup made from the most delicious cherry tomatoes fresh from our veggie garden. My sister Edwina is quite the chef and rich, hearty meals are her speciality. I recently received a copy of the new Country Style cookbook Country Chefs and thought it'd be right up her alley. The book features stories and recipes from Australia's best-loved country chef's including Stefan Manfredi, Stefano de Pieri and South Australia's very own Maggie Beer. If you're planning an autumn or winter wedding this would be a great book to get some menu ideas from. There's nothing quite like sitting down to a hearty meal with family, friends and nice wine. Ahh... one great thing about winter! A couple of recipes that really took my fancy were Stefano Manfredi's Prawn & barley stew, Patrizia Simone's Asparagus & taleggio cannelloni and Annie Smithers Braised lamb shoulder on white bean & tomato stew. Delicious! The cookbook will be on sale in Australia on 29th March for $39.95. Visit www.countrystyle.com.au for release details.



Posted by Emilie Harrison

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Let's Talk Turkey Day!

It just occurred to us that Thanksgiving is THISCLOSE to arriving and we are already dreaming of turkey and stuffing and pie, oh my. We love the fact that unlike most other holidays, the dining room table (or rather, what's on it) is really the focal point of Thanksgiving festivities. Creating the perfect atmosphere for enjoying your feast becomes truly important, even if you're not normally a tablescapes queen a la Sandra Lee.

We are happy to report that Thanksgiving tablescapes have come a long way since plunking down a conucopia, raiding the plastic fruit and faux leaves section at Michael's, and calling it a day.

This Thanksgiving, we are really feeling feathers as a unique, chic, and inexpensive way to add a fall touch to your Thanksgiving table. We'd love to welcome our guests to the front door with a delicious wreath, like this one from Better Homes and Gardens....

...or this perfectly fall-ish Royal Pheasant wreath from the Pemberley Collection.

We love the tablescape that Jane Carroll created using small feather wreaths, not to mention the fact she serves salad in a hollowed out pumpkin. What a chic table!

I have a feeling this centerpiece would last about 12 seconds on my table before I'd be surrounded by a tornado of frolicking cats and half eaten feathers.But still, what an easy, inexpensive way to add height to a table. We've noted before that you can buy pheasant feathers on Ebay for a song- throw them in your favorite vase (stuck into some florist's Styrofoam to keep them in place) and you've got a breathtaking centerpiece.

We also love how these branches add height to this rustic, yet charming, table from Country Living.

For a slightly fancier Thanksgiving, break out the orange and yellow taper candles. This table from Country Living captures the right blend of being elegant and inviting.

And finally, Martha Stewart shows us how it's done with an assortment of baby gourds, one of my favorite fall decorating items. Stack a few of these in the center of the table and you can call it a day and move on to more important things...like cooking!

While decorations are key for setting the mood, what everyone really cares about are the edible items on the table. I churned out two of these amazing pumpkin roulades last Thanksgiving and am gearing up for another go-round in two weeks.  Trust me, if you set this on the table the pumpkin pie sitting next to it will positively look like a snoozefest! Don't be put off by the fact it requires rolling- all you need is a light touch and it will turn out beautifully (even if the Pillsbury dough boy typically does most of the prep work in your baking!). Give it a go and tell us what you think, will you?

Pumpkin Roulade with Ginger Buttercream

Recipe courtesy Ina Garten

Ingredients

For the cake:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour


• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder


• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda


• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon


• 1 teaspoon ground ginger


• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg


• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt


• 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature


• 1 cup granulated sugar


• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (not pie filling)


• 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar, plus extra for dusting

For the filling:

• 12 ounces Italian mascarpone cheese


• 1 1/4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar


• 2 tablespoons heavy cream


• 1/4 cup minced dried crystallized ginger (not in syrup)


• Pinch kosher salt

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 13 by 18 by 1-inch sheet pan. Line the pan with parchment paper and grease and flour the paper.

In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt and stir to combine. Place the eggs and granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and beat on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, until light yellow and thickened. With the mixer on low, add the pumpkin, then slowly add the flour mixture, mixing just until incorporated. Finish mixing the batter by hand with a rubber spatula. Pour into the prepared pan and spread evenly. Bake the cake for 10 to 12 minutes, until the top springs back when gently touched.

While the cake is baking, lay out a clean, thin cotton dish towel on a flat surface and sift the entire 1/4 cup of confectioners' sugar evenly over it. (This will prevent the cake from sticking to the towel.) As soon as you remove the cake from the oven, loosen it around the edges and invert it squarely onto the prepared towel. Peel away the parchment paper. With a light touch, roll the warm cake and the towel together (don't press!) starting at the short end of the cake. Allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the filling. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the mascarpone, confectioners' sugar, and cream together for about a minute, until light and fluffy. Stir in the crystallized ginger, and salt.

To assemble, carefully unroll the cake onto a board with the towel underneath. Spread the cake evenly with the filling. Reroll the cake in a spiral using the towel as a guide. Remove the towel and trim the ends to make a neat edge. Dust with confectioners' sugar and serve sliced.

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