I hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday weekend.  I love this holiday as we get the opportunity to blend family traditions from both sides of our families while creating new ones for our children.

We had a very relaxing day which included attending Easter service and the annual egg hunt in the orchard.  My girls also colored eggs~~ it is the only time of the year we buy store bought white eggs, which color and peel easily.

So what to do with all those beautiful hard boiled eggs?  There’s a breakfast tradition in my husband’s family passed down from his mother, Mabel.  A life-long educator, Mabel, wasn’t a gourmet chef, but a simple, straightforward cook.  She didn’t waste much and came from a generation where less is more. She learned to cook in a Home Economics class in school (remember those?) and this recipe is one of the first meals she made as a new bride for her husband, John (Scott’s father). This recipe, entitled Goldenrod,  is straight out of the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook.  We have the 1968 printed edition, and yes, Goldenrod is on page 267.

Scott makes his mother’s Eggs a la Goldenrod recipe for Easter and Christmas and it has become a family favorite.  This recipe utilizes all aspects of the hard boiled egg (except the shell of course!) and makes a wonderful special breakfast.

First, peel the eggs and slice in half.  Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Chop the egg whites and reserve. Smash the yolk with a fork until it is crumbly (or press through a sieve).  Make a white sauce and then add the chopped egg white.

Toast a slice of bread, butter it if you’d like.  Pour egg white/white sauce mixture over the toast and then sprinkle with the egg yolk (the goldenrod).  Season with salt and pepper to your liking.

Here is the recipe for Mabel’s Eggs a la Goldenrod.

[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:7]

Have a wonderful weekend!

 

 

Easter lamb cake (known as agnuszek or baranek wielkanocny in Polish) is a traditional Eastern European dessert. Every year during my childhood, we looked forward to Mom making the traditional Easter Lamb cake.  The cast iron mold was a cherished gift from her mother.  I knew, being one of 5 children, that I probably wasn’t the one who would inherit the lamb cake mold, so I purchased mine online several years ago on eBay.

The mold came in the original box and was made by Griswold Mfg. Co. from Sidney, Ohio. The price tag is still on the box~~~original price was $4.95 marked down to $3.95!!

In previous years I experimented with cake batter made from scratch and boxed cake mix, but this year I decided to make the recipe that came with the mold, which I believe to be from the 1920s.  Pound cake or firmer cakes seem to work best.

Season the mold by greasing it and then baking it for 20 minutes on 375 degrees.  Excess melted shortening can easily pour out (be care of the temperature) and then let the mold cool.

Once mold is cool, re-apply shortening and flour. You want to make sure the cake will not stick after baking. I make the batter according to the recipe, and put it in the face side of the mold first. In order to make sure the ears don’t break off, I put a toothpick (or shortened wooden skewer) between the ears.

With the leftover batter, I make a small bundt cake.  After I put the back side of the mold on top of the front side, I bake the mold face down on a baking sheet for 25 minutes and then turn the mold over for the last 20 minutes in the oven.

For the frosting, I make a Vanilla Swiss Meringue Buttercream from Tessa Huff’s cookbook, Layered. 

After frosting, coat the lamb with coconut, making the eyes and nose with Jelly Belly jellybeans.

Here’s the finished product!!! Isn’t he sweet? I am so happy that I can create this tradition for my family while bringing back fond memories of my own childhood.

I have purchased 3 lamb cakes molds over time that I will give to my children with hopes that they will continue this tradition when they have their own families. If you are looking for original lamb cake molds, try eBay or Etsy. The Griswold cast iron ones are the best. There are several newer aluminum ones, but the cake isn’t as detailed.

Have a blessed Easter Sunday!

Today is my birthday! My husband asked me what I’d like to do today and I said I wanted to go BACK to Blackberry Farm. A year ago was a BIG birthday for me and it’s hard not to reminisce about the fabulous surprise birthday trip to Blackberry Farm in Walland, Tennessee.

Traveling to Blackberry Farm has been on my bucket list for years.  Situated on a pastoral 4,200-acre estate in the Great Smoky Mountains, Blackberry Farm is one of the most intimate luxury hotels and as a result, can be challenging to get reservations.

My sweet husband secretly worked behind the scenes for nearly 8 months to coordinate and organize the birthday of the century.  Initially I thought we were meeting our college son for a family weekend. I should have suspected something when my husband happily agreed to make the travel reservations (not something he has EVER done).

The biggest surprise was that my husband planned all of this.  He has never been a birthday person.  Truly, for the last 22 years we’ve been married, birthdays have sort of come and gone without a lot of fanfare.  It was a little hard for me to understand at first because I am the type of person who wants to celebrate everything, and in a big way.  But, out of respect for him, I’ve kept his birthdays low key and haven’t expected much for mine.  So I truly had no idea he was capable of or had the desire to plan something this extravagant and then to keep it a secret for so long.

We flew into Knoxville and spent the first 2 days with our son who is a student at the University of Virginia. Family and friends, who came in from all parts of the country, surprised me at dinner on our second night and then we all celebrated for two more days in this beautiful place.

Blackberry Farm has an amazing spa (best pedicure ever!), horseback riding, fly fishing, archery, hiking, wine and food tastings, classes, and entertainment. All the food grown on the farm is used by the incredible chefs and nothing is served out of season.

I can’t even begin to describe the level of service.  We’ve been to fine hotels, but our experience at Blackberry Farm was more than that.  We felt like we were in someone’s beautiful home, treated like favorite family. To share this experience with people I love was more than anyone could hope for on a special birthday.

Scott arranged for our group to meet Blackberry Farm’s master gardening legend, John Coykendall. We had a Farmstead tasting tour where we learned all about the garden and heirloom seeds while tasting delicious food and beverages made with the ingredients from the farm.

Another blessing was having my siblings and their spouses there.  The last time we been together as a family was for our parents’ funeral in 2015.  It was so nice to be in such a lovely setting  for a happy occasion.  Gathering together at the end of the day was fun and hearing about everyone’s adventures at Blackberry Farm.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, Scott presented me with 3 beautiful leather binders, filled with birthday letters and wishes from all the wonderful people I had met over the course of my life.

So even though this year will be a quieter celebration, I am deeply grateful for my wonderful family and dear friends.  I am one lucky gal!

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