Carrot cake is a quintessential dessert of spring. This recipe is moist slightly sweet, and perfectly spiced. It is paired with a rich and velvety cream cheese frosting.
Asparagus is so beautiful this time of year, so I wanted to create a recipe around it. I made some basil and pumpkin seed pesto, and drizzled it on toasted bread with asparagus, avocado, and shaved Parmesan.
Because his family is a true-to-the-bone pancake family, I really wanted him to share with me the secrets to making a good pancake, thin and delicate, perfectly browned on the outside, soft on the inside. He gave me a recipe, one that he has memorized. A set of very specific instructions, the right temp, the right amount of time for frying. I followed it to a tee, and sure enough, the pancakes came out the way I had always dreamed they would.
In my family, we traditionally eat sprouts boiled, with butter, white vinegar, salt, and pepper. Ever since I can remember, this has been the way. Last year, I was on a brown butter kick. Literally, everything I made had it in the recipe. I tried sautéing some sprouts, after a quick steam, in some delicious nutty aromatic butter, and it worked.
After an afternoon of rearranging the cupboard, I was able to dig up a couple of bags of dried cranberries and some sliced almonds, which were perfect additions to this salad. I added some shallots, sliced celery, a sweet simple dressing of olive oil, garlic, balsamic, and maple syrup. My go-to salad dressing, perfect for all occasions. The amazing thing about this salad is that the flavors settle in and improve overnight
