Archives for May 2016

by on May 27, 2016   •   16 Comments Organization & Productivity

8 ways to maximize refrigerator storage capacity when entertaining

Do you find yourself playing Tetris with your refrigerator on summer holidays or the average action-packed weekend? Trying in vain to squeeze one more platter of shrimp and tomato kebabs in between a watermelon and the ice tea jug?

Often the contents of a refrigerator are manageable on a day-to-day basis: however, as soon as you turn hostess, it fills to capacity—and over! Overnight, shelf space becomes precious real estate, and items risk getting crushed, or worse yet, spilled, from the influx.

Welcome to a common entertaining dilemma.

My very first apartment was a small loft with a postage stamp kitchen and a only mini-bar for a fridge, but I found ways to make it work—even with my love of fresh produce. Now, even though I have a regular-sized refrigerator, I still take similar measures to keep things organized when I’m entertaining.

Here are some creative strategies I developed to keep things cold and maximize the storage capacity of my fridge before a long weekend of entertaining.

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by on May 19, 2016   •   387 Comments Giveaways

Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake and a KitchenAid mixer giveaway

Today is our wedding anniversary, hence the cake.

It’s a light, lemony creation, which I’m serving up with a dollop of ricotta and maple-roasted rhubarb that was picked straight from my garden. Spring, long weekends, anniversaries – there is much to celebrate these May days and cake is just the ticket.

In addition to the recipe for Lemon Ricotta Pound Cake with Roasted Rhubarb, I’m sharing about the cookbook that has been living on my kitchen counter: Make It Easy: 120 Mix-and-Match Recipes to Cook from Scratch–with Smart Store-Bought Shortcuts When You Need Them. Oh, you’re going to love it.

And since we’re celebrating, our friends at KitchenAid want to give one lucky Simple Bites reader a brand new stand mixer! This post is packed, so let’s jump right into the fun.

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by on May 11, 2016   •   26 Comments My Culinary Journey

Behind the scenes of our photoshoot with Parents magazine

We started and ended the day in the yard; a team of twelve and one heck of an ambitious shoot list.

The day began slowly: we discussed our plan of action over cups of coffee while the morning sunlight warmed our backs. The day ended hastily around 4 in the afternoon, as the pitter patter of rain fell around our heads and we dashed to get everything  –food-equipment-children –out of the rain. It was an unforgettable day, for all sorts of reasons.

But let’s back up for a second. You may be wondering what is involved when booking a photoshoot and story with America’s largest parenting magazine. Did they just drop a comment one day on my Instagram and say ‘hey wanna work together?’. Uh, no. There was much more to it than that.

Here’s as much of the story as I can remember, and a bunch of iPhone photos from our homestead on that warm August day.

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by on May 2, 2016   •   13 Comments Quick Bites

Herbed Avocado Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches

Originally, I thought I’d keep this post short and sweet. It’s egg salad, after all. How much could I say on the subject?

Quite a bit, as it turns out. As I was working with each ingredient, I thought about why I prepared them the way I did, and how the sum of their parts all add up to a sublime sandwich that has everything going for it: taste and texture, crunch and creaminess.

These Herbed Avocado Egg Salad Tea Sandwiches recently graced the tiered serving plates of an afternoon tea baby shower I had the pleasure of hosting. A few guests asked for the recipe, and since Mother’s Day is coming up soon, as well as picnics and other spring parties, I decided to share my method here.

We’ve also just picked up six spring chickens from a nearby farm and are already getting our first brown eggs from the pullets. Also, my chives are starting to take off in the garden. So you see, eggs and herbs are always the first harvest from our urban homestead, and these delicate tea sandwiches are a perfectly appropriate way to celebrate.

Let’s get cracking (pardon the pun) and see how they are made.

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