Can you believe Easter is this coming Sunday, the last day of March? After having two VERY busy weeks, I am now finally shifting my focus to my Easter/Spring decorations and the holiday meal. Will you be hosting friends and family for dinner? We are expecting about 10 for an Easter brunch after we attend sunrise services at church. Today’s post is inspiration for your Easter weekend~ from easy Easter DIYs to family traditions at the table. If your children are on spring break, some of these ideas would be fun to keep them busy and entertained.

Decoupage Easter Eggs

With a plethora of pretty seasonal paper napkins and hand towels, you can easily make these decoupage Easter eggs with your children or grandchildren. All you need are neutral colored eggs~either plastic, wooden or actual eggs, Mod Podge, paper napkins, and a paint brush. If you are using real eggs, you can find instructions on how to do this here.

What’s nice about these decoupage eggs, is that they keep from year to year and you can use them in a multitude of ways. This sweet lady bunny has a space for an egg on her yellow coat.

Or in a basket of straw as an Easter/Spring decoration or part of someone’s Easter basket.

Of course, you can use your decoupage eggs at your Easter dinner table too!

Think of all the possibilities depending on the color and style of your napkin! To see the complete post on How to Decoupage Easter eggs, click here.

Making Easter Nests~a fun DIY project

The joy of spring brings new nests all over our property. Instead of using real nests (not sure how sanitary that would be at the dinner table), I make faux nests. Back in 2020, I use Royal Worcester soup bowls at my Easter dinner table. However, the table is lacking something. So I whip up these cute nests using items I readily have on hand.

Since I have never made these before, it is fun to experiment and try something new. The supplies are simple~shredded paper (from our paper shredder but you can use whatever you have), Mod Podge, disposable styrofoam bowls, a few colors of spray paint, glue and moss.

Don’t they look so pretty on the Easter table?

To see the entire post on making DIY Easter nests, click here.

Easter Table Ideas

If you haven’t starting setting your table for Easter, here is a plethora of ideas from centerpieces to place cards. Today I will be going through the Easter boxes in the garage to come up with a theme for our table this Sunday. It’s a bit like Christmas because I seem to forget year to year what I have collected over time. We hope to set a table outdoors (weather providing) in the palm orchard, like we have the last few years.

Many of my Easter pieces come with wonderful memories. My dear friend, Gwen, gave me these porcelain lamb napkin rings over 30 years ago.

The Easter menu

Since we will be having a brunch, it will be easy to serve a homemade quiche, both green and fruit salad, hot cross buns and perhaps a smoked ham (husband is figuring that out).

The hot cross buns are so tasty, however, I am still struggling with getting the crosses correct. Here’s the recipe from Sally’s Baking Recipes, as I have good luck with her content. The crosses are made with a flour/water concoction and orange icing is added after baking.

The annual family dessert is a lamb cake. Easter lamb cake (known as agnuszek or baranek wielkanocny in Polish) is a traditional Eastern European dessert. As a child, I looked forward to my mother making this for Easter as it signaled the beginning of Spring.

To read more about this cake, check out the original post here.

Please share what you are doing for Easter and any family traditions you enjoy. Happy last week of March! I cannot wait to share pictures of our newest family member, a 9 week old Akbash puppy. More to come on that, but have a glorious week!

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Another rainy and chilly few days here in the Valley of the Sun. My garden is very happy about the additional moisture and of course, the cooler temperatures are always appreciated. Happy St. Patrick’s Day weekend! Tonight we are hosting a dinner party celebrating our daughter, Julianna’s 27th birthday. I will be serving my two favorite recipes which I did share with you this week. Welcome to another Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things this week.

Hosting a Cocktail Mixer

As you may know, I sit on the board for our neighborhood association. This week we hosted a cocktail mixer to introduce people to the association and recruit new board members. With about 40 people attending, I am hoping a caterer will help out with hors d’oeuvres, however, my favorite person is not available.

Using the large round wooden board from Sur La Table, with the help of Costco and Safeway, I create a charcuterie board using cheeses, meats, fruits, nuts and crackers.

Nasturtiums are abundant in the garden right now, and it’s amazing how a pop of color can take your charcuterie board up a notch.

Store-bought French macarons from Costco and lemon yogurt covered pretzels from Safeway make for a colorful Spring dessert tray.

This is the first time buying the Green Chili Chicken Firecrackers from Costco. A quick bake in the oven, it’s always nice to serve a warm/hot appetizer. By cutting them in half, this became a one-bite finger food. I didn’t try them but the tray was nearly empty, so I’m guessing they tasted good.

No photographs but in addition, there is a vegetable tray with hummus dip, fresh shrimp on ice with cocktail sauce, small bowls of cashews, garlic herb almonds and salt and vinegar potato chips.

All in all a very productive and fun meeting.

Gardening Update

This week I plant 6 brand new San Marzano tomato plants. I love this variety of tomatoes as it makes the best sauce. Five out of the 6 plants are missing….just gone. What? For years now, I have grown tomato plants and the critters have never expressed any interest in them. Who/What is eating my tomato plants?

Scattering seeds this week in the garden. I love growing chamomile for its delicate flower and scent~wonderful to dry or make tea. Even though the growing season for chervil is short, it makes a tasty salad.

The castor bean seeds are a new experiment and not even sure it will grow here. Now in doing some research apparently the seed and leaves can be really toxic so I may pull the plants if they grow. Here I thought castor beans = castor oil, all good for you, right? Geez. Not the brightest thing I’ve done.

Do You Take Magnesium?

Gaia Herbs posts an informative article about magnesium. Do you take this mineral that supports muscles and bones, energy, brain function, and so much more? Here is the article and it appears I need to do further research about this.

Currently, I take Magnesium Lactate as this was recommended to me after having low magnesium via a hair mineral analysis years ago. Taking a bath and using Epsom salts is another way to absorb magnesium into your body. Will do a deeper dive and let you know what I discover.

From the Internet

With warmer weather prompting Spring growth, it is also weed season. Stacy from Bricks ‘n Blooms has a very informative post about Homemade Weed Killer and other natural ways to kill weeds.

If you are using weed killers with glyphosate, there is evidence of its connection with cancer. With so many chemicals in our gardening world, please find an organic way to control weeds.

This time of year I love to tackle small Spring cleaning projects. Barbara from Mantel and Table will get you motivated to clean out your linens drawer(s) with her post on Storing Napkins~How to Organize a Beautiful Linen Drawer.

Do you stop for roadside freebies? I am guilty of doing so with this set of Adirondack chairs. Check out how my friend, Rachel from the Ponds Farmhouse transforms these resin planters into DIY faux Concrete ones. It’s probably good that Rachel and I do not live near each other! Ha!

Since my goal is to always post beautiful things, I consider this next post valuable to keep all of us safe. Since I drive a very old car, I don’t have a wireless or remote starter to the ignition. But since many of you do, please read this very informative article for your own personal safety and to prevent your car being stolen while pumping gas.

Mary’s Must Haves

If you have the sourdough bread making bug, then this starter set is a must have for your baking. It is 27% off this week at $39.99. Not baking sourdough bread yet? This is also a great gift for someone who does.

Speaking of bread, my sweet friend and neighbor, Tevia, ordered some dehydrated sourdough starter from the internet and shared some with me this week. Yes, you can order starter from around the world and rehydrate it.

There is one that is several decades old from San Francisco, and with it I make this nice looking loaf of cheddar, rosemary and garlic bread. I will post this recipe shortly~it’s a family favorite. It is fun to experiment with different starters.

Cake Pans

After purchasing my favorite cake cookbook, Layered, I realize that I do not have good cake pans. Yesterday, in making the London Fog cake (a request from my daughter, Julianna, for her birthday), I want to share these cake pans that I love.

The cake recipe requires three 8″ round cake pans and these from Fat Daddies do not disappoint. It’s amazing that just having the right equipment makes such a difference in the success of the recipe.

I am in the process of trying to consolidate all my Mary’s Must Haves. There will be tab at the top of my home page where you will be able to find all the items and their associated links. Hope to have that complete in a week or two.

Tonight, for the birthday celebration for our daughter’s 27th birthday (which is actually on St. Patrick’s Day), I am busy in the kitchen making 2 Guinness beef pies, a Bailey’s Irish Creme cheese cake, my favorite arugula salad and of course, the London Fog birthday cake.

On Sunday, I am doing a 5k/10k with said daughter in order to work off some of the calories from the night before!

Next week, we are heading to Virginia to pick up our new puppy. I am not sure if I will have the opportunity to post, but I hope to share pictures of our journey (and our new little fella) along the way.

Until we chat again, have a wonderful weekend, a fun St. Patrick’s Day and we will connect soon!

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Whether you are Irish or not, I believe we all need the luck of the Irish right now! St. Patrick’s Day is special in our home as it is the birthday of both my daughter and my mother. To learn more about the history of this holiday, please click here. Today, I have two recipes for you: Guinness Pie and Baileys Irish cream cheesecake.

Most people think of corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day. But I am not a huge fan of the traditional dishes. Each year, I make both of these recipes and since they are so delicious, I make them again and again! The original recipe for Guinness Pie was published in the New York Times but if you try and get it online, they make you pay for a weekly subscription. Not sure how I scored a paper copy of it, but the printable recipe is below. I will provide a link to the cheesecake recipe.

Guinness Pie

If you need a pie crust shortcut, I strongly recommend Trader Joe’s pie crust. These are a staple in my freezer as I use them for both sweet and savory pies. You can find them in the freezer section of your local Trader Joe’s. This is my favorite preferred alternative to a homemade crust and super easy to use. However if you don’t have a Trader Joe’s, you can make your own crust or use another store-bought brand.

Before I start any recipe, I gather all my ingredients.

Since this recipe requires a bit of chopping, having sharp knives is important. The sharper the knife the safer the chop. Before you sharpen your knife, please note the type of knife you have. We have a sharpener for my Asian blades and a different one for the German blades. Here are several choices in knife sharpeners.

With all the vegetables chopped and ready to go, cooking commences.

Carrots, celery, onion, garlic, mushrooms are cooked in a oven-safe pot. I used my Le Creuset pot~~which I love (and wish I had a few more!). But any Dutch oven or heavy stock pot will do.

A side note about my Le Creuset~ this signature porcelain enameled cast iron Dutch oven is an investment, but you will not be disappointed. Mine is 5.5 quarts (or #26). With this recipe I believe you could go with a smaller one, maybe a 4.5 or 3.5 quart size.

I use my Le Creuset frequently. It’s perfect for everything from baking homemade bread to making soups and stews. This pot will be passed down to the next generation. You really can’t go wrong with purchasing it.  

While this cooks, your kitchen will smell so good!

The recipe calls for 3 pounds of brisket. Though it does not instruct to trim the fat from the brisket, I did~~about 7 oz. of it. The fresh rosemary is clipped from the garden. If you don’t have an herb garden, I really encourage you to have fresh herbs in a pot. Simple pleasures and how intoxicating is the smell of fresh rosemary?

The recipe also calls for 4 cups of stout beer. I had two bottles of Guinness but when I measured it, the volume was only 3 cups. However, the beer did cover the beef in the pot, so I didn’t feel a need to add more.

What makes this stew so delicious, is that, after sautéing all the vegetables and beef, is the slow-baking in the oven for 2 1/2 hours. After the appropriate baking time, freshly shredded cheddar cheese is added (or trotter gear, if you have it). Look at the rich texture and color of the stew! While the stew is cooking you can work on the crust.

Just a side note on trotter gear. It involves pig’s feet (ewww) so the cheddar cheese option is fine with me. But here’s a recipe if you are interested in making it.

The pie crust can be placed in either a 8-inch square Pyrex dish or a pie pan. I like using a 9″ deep dish glass pie dish. After I add the beef stew, I put the remaining cheddar cheese on top and then top it with a basketweave crust using different widths of dough. With the leftover dough, I use shamrock cookie cutters for a decorative touch.

If you are not familiar with a basketweave top crust, a standard pie crust top is fine.

Using green food coloring, I paint the shamrocks with a pastry brush. I did this for the first time last year and really thought it made the Guinness pie look more festive. Then pop the pie into the oven for another 45 minutes until the crust is puffy and golden.

This is such a flavorful, hearty pie, which is perfect for this time of year. Though the recipe yields 6 servings, I could easily get 8 out of the pie. Since we are having guests for dinner on Thursday, I will be making 2 pies. Plus the leftovers are equally delicious!

In addition, I will serve my arugula salad with lemon dressing so we have more greens for St. Patrick’s Day. We have a bumper crop of arugula that will bolt soon as the temperatures rise, so I am trying to harvest as much as I can from the garden.

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheesecake

The next recipe is very decadent but such a festive dessert for St. Patrick’s Day. Just a note: The recipe recommends a 5 hour refrigeration time so plan accordingly. Here is the direct link to the cheesecake recipe~~click here. I will be making this the day before and finishing it on St. Patrick’s Day before company arrives.

For the crust, put whole Oreo cookies in the Cuisinart to get 2 cups of crumbs~~approximately 18 to 20 cookies. Mix in melted butter.

The recipe tells you to put the crumbs in a spring form pan, yet isn’t clear on if they only go on the bottom or up the sides. Keep the crust on the bottom (per the pictures on the link). Bake for 8-10 minutes. If you need a 9″ springform pan, see one here.

The directions are a little vague about wrapping the springform pan. I wrap the bottom and the sides with double foil to make sure no water will enter the inside of the pan during the hot bath.

Once the cheesecake is finished baking and has cooled, it needs to be refrigerated for at least 5 hours or overnight.

I let mine cool overnight and will make the chocolate ganache the next day.

Last year I failed to get a photo of an individual piece, so this is from 2 years ago. My ganache last year is much shinier, which is the trademark of a successful ganache. Regardless, the taste of the cheesecake is just amazing.

I hope you will try these recipes because I only recommend the ones that I have personally tried and tasted. There’s nothing worse than spending time in the kitchen only to have an underwhelming dish.

Also, if you missed the post on decorating a St. Patrick’s Day table to go with these fabulous recipes, you can see that here. Enjoy!

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Welcome to the first Saturday Meanderings of 2024. I am really excited about this even numbered year. This week is turning out to be a very productive one, and I am thoroughly enjoying the last of the 12 days of Christmas, which is today, January 6th, the Epiphany. Thank you so much for joining me today for Saturday Meanderings, where we chat about all good things this week.

My Daughter’s Birthday

Today is my youngest child, Elisabeth’s 23rd birthday. She and her friends are celebrating at our cabin in the snowy mountains of Arizona. When I asked her about a birthday cake, she replies, “oh, I will just pick one up at the grocery store.” Wait? What? After years of a homemade birthday cake, well that is just unacceptable to me. After determining her favorite cake flavor is chocolate, I start planning to make a cake that would be transportable in a long car drive.

My favorite go-to cake cookbook is Layered by Tessa Huff. This dog-eared, food stained book has been well used over the years. I try a new recipe for her birthday celebration~a Black Forest cake. Four layers of sour cream chocolate cake with heritage frosting and cherry chocolate ganache between the layers, milk chocolate buttercream frosting on the outside with chocolate shavings and fresh cherries on top.

Because of the height of the cake, most cake carriers will not work. However, a last minute trip to Walmart, I am able to find this carrier with the proper clearance. The base of the carrier flips so you can use it for cakes or cupcakes. Now, I just hope the cake makes the car trip and is as delicious as all the spoons and bowls I licked.

New Product to Keep on Hand

We often have guests dropping by unexpectedly and we like to be able to offer up an appetizer. I discover this during the holidays and they are perfect with a glass or wine or champagne. Imagine freshly baked French cheese puffs that are ready in 25 minutes! Shipped to you frozen, an order includes 36 of these delicious cheese puffs.

I just received my second order of Bougie Gougies and love having them available in the freezer when I need them. Each box has 36 cheese puffs. They are a bit pricey, but you are paying for the convenience. Now my goal is to learn to make these. Has anyone made gougères from scratch?

New Year’s Eve Brunch

Instead of an evening New Year’s gathering, we decide to do a brunch this year. As I age, I find myself wanting to go to bed earlier and late nights are suffered the next day. I serve the tried and true brunch recipes of my egg casserole, blueberry coffee cake, and a fruit salad (without the unripened cantaloupe). In addition, I try a new recipe of Spiced Dark Chocolate Cherry Saltine Toffee (recipe below) and a Coconut Mojito cake (from the Layered book mentioned above).

The saltine toffee recipe (from Virginia Willis, author, Secrets of the Southern Table) is excellent and listed below. Now you know why I need to diet and exercise in January!

Daily Planner Week 1

In my post earlier this week, I share my new daily planner and annual calendar. It is so nice to get back on track and I can report that everything that I tasked myself with this week I accomplished! So far it is working!

In addition to using a planner, each day I am trying to keep ahead of my email in-box. At the end of December, I had nearly 10,000 emails in my inbox….mostly junk. Daily I am taking 30 minutes and cleaning and purging. Does anyone else have this problem?

Frost Warnings

This next week it will be quite cold in Phoenix. I believe the City’s temperature reading comes from Sky Harbor Airport and our property is approximately 6 to 9 degrees cooler. When you see those astronomical summer temperatures, it is mainly due to all the concrete and tarmacs surrounding the airport. Since we have so much vegetation here and in our surrounding neighborhood, it’s important to pay attention to the weather forecast.

My garden is covered with Christmas lights and a layer of protection. Since my garden greens and tomato plants are so abundant right now and I’m taking extra precautions.

Mary’s Must Haves

I don’t know if it the cold weather or I’m exerting muscles in a different way, but I am using Arnicare Gel frequently. This homeopathic topical gel, is quickly absorbed, non-greasy, fragrance-free and helps reduce muscle pain and stiffness.

Every night I put it on my left knee and left wrist (injured in my fall last year), and it really seems to help. I like the fact that it is a natural pain reliever from the Arnica montana plant.

This time of year I am content being in a pair of comfy leggings and a warm sweater. I bought these for my daughter for Christmas and she loves them. You can get all black or a combination of colors. Super soft, and non-see through, they are also high waisted. Can’t beat the price at $36.99. See it here.

During this time of year when so many people are getting sick, these lozenges are a good item to have handy. At first I balked at having to buy 12 bags, but they are small and we go through them quickly. Each drop contains elderberry and a throat-soothing herbal blend. The 5 mg of zinc per lozenge may help your immune support. I always take a bag when traveling and like the fact they are non-GMO, gluten-free, no cane sugar, artificial sweeteners or colors. See it here.

I bought these cute cotton socks last year and received them after Valentines Day. These socks are so adorable and would also be a great Valentine’s Day gift. The price is so low at $13.99. It also looks like the delivery date will be a while so order them soon to get them before February 14th!

This weekend we will be dismantling Christmas decorations, which is always bittersweet. Do you have any fun plans? Stay warm out there and have a happy weekend!

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For the last Saturday Meanderings of 2023, I am including two weeks of good things to chat about. With every intention to post last Saturday, well, you know how life goes the week before and after Christmas. Happily with a house full of family and guests, I never finished my post and here it is, a week later and there is more to add. So grab a cup of coffee or tea, and let’s chat about all good things over the last two weeks.

Before Christmas

What a week! On Saturday, December 16th we made the 6 hour drive to Newport Beach, California where we celebrated my husband’s birthday.

Newport Beach

With the average house price in Newport Beach being nearly $4mm, it is obviously a place we cannot buy, but we certainly love to visit. We always stay at Marriott Newport Coast Villas, which overlooks the Pacific Ocean and is situation right on the Pacific Coast Highway. This location is just perfect for our family and after coming here every summer when the children were younger, it feels a bit like a home away from home.

Four days of chock-a-block activities with the whole family (and significant others), from Disneyland to our favorite beach, the time is filled with lots of laughter and new memories. This Marriott property is so well maintained with beautiful landscaping too.

One of the highlights of blogging is meeting some truly wonderful people. During my September trip to Newport Beach, I learn that Wendy, from WM Design House lives in the area. So on this trip, we schedule time to meet for lunch and immediately, we become fast friends.

I love scheduling 4 to 5 days before Christmas to do something extra special with our family. Not only do we focus on my husband’s birthday (which can get lost in the holiday crunch), but hotel prices are still reasonable and accommodations available. Plus it’s a nice break from the holiday frenzy.

The Loofa (or luffa) is Ready!

This loofa plant has been the highlight of the garden this year. The vine is slowly dying off and I am picking dried loofa from the vine. If you recall, here is how it looks over the summer. At this point, this vegetable is very edible. Surprisingly, it did very well in our exceptionally hot summer.

As it matures, the fruit lightens in color and loses water weight. The shell hardens and starts to separate from interior fibers. Here is what the loofa looks like now.

The dried skin easily peels off and the seeds shake out from the inside. I find this plant so interesting! If you would like to grow this in your garden, here is a link to luffa seeds. I haven’t used it yet as a body scrubber but will keep you posted!

Annual Holiday Competition

My son, Benjamin has long-time friends (Emily, Max and Jeffrey) who gather each Christmas and compete in a food/drink cookoff. To date, the competition has included BLTs, stuffing, and hamburgers. This year they decide to do a cocktail one with categories of stirred, blended, shaken and shooters.

With a cleared kitchen island, each friend has a prep station. Official descriptions and judging sheets are provided to us and our friends, Rick and Janie. Not only are the drinks innovative and delicious, but it is so joyful to see the camaraderie between these incredible friends. Judging scores includes presentation, taste and innovation.

From tropical pinã coladas to snowball Negronis, this group did not disappoint. Operating as skilled mixologist, each and every drink is delicious.

Cocktails are rated with a numbering system and judged with a blind tasting. It’s always hard to pick one winner because such effort and attention is done by all three participants.

Christmas Day and After

Christmas morning is a very casual and relaxing affair here at Bella Terra. After the traditional breakfast of Eggs a la Goldenrod (see the recipe here), smoked salmon (made by my husband), bagels, and fresh squeezed orange juice for mimosas, we open our presents in the living room. It is possible there are more dog than people presents!

A late afternoon dinner is served in the dining room. What is fun about this year’s meal is that it was thrown together without a lot of forethought. The menu includes a smoked pork loin, a salad made from fresh garden greens and sweet potatoes, prepared in the most delicious way (recipe to come soon), cornbread muffins and a previously homemade (and frozen) pumpkin pie.

The table centerpiece is simply created with bottlebrush trees gathered from other parts of the house. Though our dining room is small and can only accommodate 10 people, it is very conducive to lively conversation and ambiance.

Celebrating the 12 Days of Christmas

I know many people are already dismantling their Christmas decorations, but not here at Bella Terra. This year, I decide to truly celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas (from Christmas Day to January 6, the Epiphany). My mother kept all decorations up until January 6th, a tradition we continue here.

What I love about this time between those two dates is the unique period of tranquility. I can fully enjoy the quiet beauty of the winter wonderland of our home without the stresses of the holiday bustle. In this sense of peace and stillness, I will slowly read and enjoy all the Christmas cards and letters we’ve received. Daily, I am watching a Christmas movie.

Even though Valentine’s Day merchandise is in the stores, I plan to be present and enjoy the peace and quiet of these 12 days. I invite you to join me in using this time for quiet reflection, to connect with nature’s stillness, spend quality time with loved ones, embrace deliberately slowing down, and savor your traditions and rituals.

When do you take down your decorations? Do you celebrate the 12 Days of Christmas?

As we say goodbye to 2023, I send you the biggest hugs and best wishes for a healthy, happy and exciting 2024. Keep those you love close to you and always extend a hand to those less fortunate. That’s what life is all about. See you in the New Year!