An egg is an egg is an egg…………..not so fast!

Asher’s Coconut Cream Egg

When I was growing up, on Easter morning, we would rush downstairs to raid our Easter baskets. In the center of the basket was always a large chocolate egg. You know, an egg, made out of chocolate, shaped like an egg. An egg as an ovoid, not simply an ellipsoid. …..impressed? Actually I needed to look those words up! Simply stated, an ovoid is a fully shaped egg and an ellipsoid is an oval, slightly egg shaped, which can be flat in form.

Do you want an egg in your Easter Basket or an ellipsoid?

Today, I have my own children and I, uhh, *cough* the Easter Bunny rather,  has a preferred egg; Asher’s coconut cream. Asher’s chocolates has been making chocolate Easter eggs in Pennsylvania since 1892. Recently however, I noticed a change in the eggs from ovoid to a hockey puck like ellipsoid. It appears that for the mass market, the eggs have been flattened like a Reese’s Peanut Butter Egg. Don’t get me wrong, I love a peanut butter egg, but they are accessories to the basket, usually left in their packaging, not the centerpiece.

The ellipsoid (Flat)  Asher’s Egg

Retailers need to produce as much revenue per square foot as possible, especially in today’s economy. I understand that more than anyone. Flat packaging can pack more inventory into every square foot. It appears, however, that packaging has dictated the product. That is completely counter intuitive to everything I believe in as a former merchant and a current consumer. A flat egg is no longer a centerpiece, but an accessory. Would you want to be the bride or always the bridesmaid?

Thankfully, there is one place I have found where you can buy the original, old fashioned, Asher’s chocolate Easter eggs. That place is The Pennsylvania General Store in The Reading Terminal Market. The Pennsylvania General Store is an eclectic mix of products and specialty foods made in the great state of Pennsylvania. They also have a mail order company which ships Asher’s Easter Eggs, as well as, many other Pennsylvania goodies all over the country. The company has a great story.

Asher’s Egg from The Pennsylvania General Store

The good news is that not only does The Pennsylvania General Store carry ORIGINAL Asher’s eggs, they are also on sale! Check out their online sale here. They are also offering free samples of the eggs in their Reading Terminal Market location on Saturdays between 11AM and 1PM from now until Easter.

I use apples and oranges as candle holders on our mantle

My centerpice is apples, with a pineapple top filled in with boxwood greens.

My grandfather made the mold from wood.

I add cloves to oranges for a great look and smell

Sugared Fruits are MY FAVORITE and a great activity with the kids!

Sugared fruits are used with greens and pine cones throughout the house

Sugared Fruits

Egg whites

Sugar

Assorted fruits such as red and green apples

pears

grapes

ornages and clementines

Roll the fruits first in egg white using a basting brush to cover

Then add to a bowl of sugar

Use a spoon to coat and lightly roll in sugar.

Let the fruits dry on wax paper.

Sugared fruits look beautiful in a crystal bowl or scattered amongst greens.

Thank you to Hillary Chybinski for motivating me to finally get this post done by posting her 12 days of Christmas blog.

Merry Christmas!

Peppermint Bark

I made this last night and someone asked for the recipe. It made me realize that I had never shared the recipe! It is so eacy and fun for the whole family!

Peppermint Bark

3 bars of Ghirardelli Semi Sweet Chocolate

3 bars of Ghirardelli White Chocolate

1 pack of peppermint candies or candy canes

Melt chocolate over a double boiler

Take a cookie sheet and line it with parchment paper. Spread chocolate flat across paper until smooth. Stick cookie sheet into fridge to cool and harden.

I have my children open the candies and place them in a ziplock bag. Seal the bag and on floor (our floor is stone, no harm no foul, if your floor is tile, you may want to do this outside), lay down a towel, followed by bag of candies, followed by another towel on top. With a kitchen mallet, have the children slowly smash the candies. The candies shouls be in small pieces and sandy. They love this!

This picture is for effect. Make sure you have a towel under and over candy!

Melt the white chocolate in the same manner and spread over the white chocolate.

Spread melted white chocolate over cooled chocolate VERY quickly as to not melt 1st batch of chocolate. Press scattered candies on top and refrigerate until hardened.

Tear into pieces and serve!

Riedel Wine Tumbler

When I was at a party a few years back, I was completely thrown by the fact that they handed me my wine in a stemless glass. My first thought was, “what a bunch of hicks.” After further debate, only in my own head, not with anyone else; I realized what a fine idea this was. After all, these people were far more sophistimicated (an ironic word that we made up 20 yrs ago, and yet it sticks with me…) than me. The longer the night went, the happier I was not to have to try to balance the stem in my hand as I made the careful landing on the table!

So, I eventually followed suit and added to my ridiculous collection of crystal and glassware. We almost never use stemware any more since purchasing these. This makes me sad on one hand because we have a million and twenty-six stemmed glasses, but it has made life so much easier! Children or animals running around; no worries. There is so much less stress not worrying about a glass being tipped over. And they are light and delicate even without the stems.

As with all wine glasses, they come in different varieties to accommodate different wines. I went with the middle of the road that works with everything, at least in our house. If you are that particular, use the stemware or don’t come to our house!

Riedel has an a huge selection,  and the prices have come way down.  Here is a box of 4 for $29.99 at Sur la Table. The cylinder box they are packaged in is also fun! We also found a box set of 4 for $29 at Napa Style.

What a great, yet inexpensive holiday gift!

Or be like me and buy yourself a little something, something…

Cheese Grater from Pampered Chef

I can think of nothing better than freshly grated Parmesan cheese over pasta! A cheese grater is an essential tool in the kitchen. Fresh cheese to top salads, make dressings and sauces, and fresh grated cheeses for a classic mac and cheese are all reasons to own a good cheese grater. No to mention using it to make my Angel Hair Pasta in Lemon Sauce They are also incredibly easy to use and extremely affordable (sung in a high pitched excited voice).

Now, my cheese grater is old and even the link provided above is not the same model, but it works today like it did 10 years ago! Writing this blog post made me start thinking about how much I enjoy Pampered Chef products. Again, this is just an opinion and not an endorsement, however I must say I love everything I have ever purchased from there. Until today I had no idea that you could go online and buy things directly. I was almost considering having one of those house parties myself until this discovery! But, I digress….

The current cheese grater comparable to mine appears to be $19.50. There are a million options out there! This one is a Kitchen Aide from Amazon.com at basically the same price and looks pretty cool.

Another great stocking stuffer~just saying!

Green Herb Snips

These are one of my most used tools in my kitchen. Essentially scissors, I had a feeling the term “herb strippers” would attack more people to check them out! I’m sure I was right. Deny it.

In any case, these scissors do more than cut, they strip. This is a particularly great tool in the summer. They can be used to cut fresh herbs from the garden and then used to strip herbs such as thyme and rosemary from the stems.

Herb Stripping

These are from William Sonoma also, but to be clear, although we do love the store, it is not our intention to be an advertisement for them. It is pure coincidence.  These cost $12 there and once again are less expensive than the ones we found at Bloomingdales. Those are $18.99.

Another great stocking stuffer idea!

Artisanal Salts

Any home cook loves to discover a new herb or spice to use in their favorites recipes. Over the last few years artisan salts have become all the rage in gourmet cooking catalogs and magazines. Not only do they add different dimensions of flavor to a dish than regular salt, they are beautiful in presentation as a garnish, presented in salt cellars or decoratively  sitting in one’s cooking area.

Pictured above, on the left, is a French salt purchased in Western France on a recent vacation. It is Sel de Guerande and is the finest Fleur de Sel, which is a hand-harvested sea salt. Believe it or not, the salt itself, although perhaps not packaged as beautifully, is available at Amazon.com for really reasonable prices.

On the right is a pink Himalayan salt. This salt actually gets its color from trace amounts of magnesium, calcium and copper from the beds where it is mined. This salt is so pretty, all practical purposes aside! It looks so lovely sprinkled on top of the butter for your table service. It has a smooth, mild flavor and makes a really nice stocking stuffer. The one pictured was purchased from Dean and Deluca for $16.50. They also have an assortment of other artisan salts such as Murray River Salt, Alaea, Fleur de Sel, and Fumee de Sel.

Last year I gave myself an early Christmas gift and purchased a Himalayan salt block. I thought I would cook Kobe Beef on it and make it a real conversation piece at my next party. Wrong. It sat sweating on my granite counter top in the summer and collecting dust this fall. So, these are great if you are looking for something pretty on your counter, but I wouldn’t recommend them.

Here are some other places that sell artisan salts, although we have never personally purchased anything from them:

Saltworks – They seem to have a nice selection.

Artisan Salt – Wow, I may be getting some early gifts from myself!!

Salt Traders – The packaging looks a little weak, but decide for yourself.

If you have any suggestions for terrific artisan salts not mentioned, please let us know!!!

Butter Crock

Every year it gets more and more difficult to come up with ideas for holiday gifts, especially ideas that won’t break the bank! So, we had this great idea that we would do some posts on gift ideas for the “foodie” in your life. Hopefully these ideas will inspire some new ideas that would not have otherwise occurred to you.

So, of course as with all things in life, the first item I chose seems to be utterly impossible to find, in the exact style I show! This is a French Butter Crock. It replaces the typical butter dish and adds a little extra flair to any dining table. There are many types available and it is the type of item that most people would not necessarily purchase for themselves. They are available in neutral materials such as cast iron or porcelain as to coordinate with any type of dishware.

Here are some ideas of places to purchase and styles available:

Le Creuset makes a collection of stoneware crocks in various colors for $29.99.

Sur La Table has porcelain crocks available for as low as $15.50.

Real Goods has an artisan butter keeper for $26.99

If you find one like the one pictured, let us know!!