Margarita La Reina Cocktail Recipe

A cocktail fit for a queen!
This recipe is adapted from a Margarita La Reina served at Dona Tomas Restaurant in Oakland. It is perfect served with Mexican food!

Margarita La Reina
Yields 1 serving

Ingredients
Coarse salt
4 tablespoons simple syrup
Juice of 2 medium limes
5 counts silver tequila
2 counts Cointreau liqueur
1 lime slice for garnish

Directions
Salt the rim of a chilled margarita glass. In a pint glass filled with cubed ice, combine the syrup, lime juice, tequila, and Cointreau. Cover with a bar shaker and shake vigorously for 5 seconds. Strain into the prepared glass. Garnish with the lime wedge and enjoy.

Asparagus Bread Pudding Layered with Fontina

Have you heard? Easter is this Sunday…Bring on the chocolate rabbit!

Growing up I had it easy. I would wake up Easter morning to find that a chocolate filled basket had waltzed into my room and was waiting for me next to the bed. There were no hunts, no agonizing wait to consume incredibly large amounts of sugar, just the sweet flavor of bunny ears before breakfast.

Now that I am a parent (and because I’m evil and it’s too much fun to see them sweat) I like to make my kids work for it. My favorite form of torture is the Pence Farm Treasure hunt. This isn’t your usual “Egg Hunt” my friend.

Our house sits on a lot that is just under an acre and a quarter. I hide clues for the kids in color coded plastic eggs all over the property. Each kid has their own color, and each egg has a clue to where the next easter egg is hidden. Chances are, that clue you find will send you all the way to the other side of the property from where you found it. It’s a lot of running and it gets the blood pumping y’all.

The eggs can be anywhere: In the chicken coop with the real ones, in the fruit orchard under the apple tree, in the garden with the potatoes or in Rocket Dog’s House with the pile of stolen socks from the laundry. The first rule of the treasure hunt is that there are no rules.

By the time the kids are done, they are sweaty and tired, and my husband and I have enjoyed at least one cup of coffee in relative peace and quiet…which, frankly, may be real reason we do the treasure hunt.

Enjoy your Easter Sunday everyone! And if you are looking for an easy dish for brunch, check out the recipe for Asparagus Bread Pudding Layered with Fontina. It is another one of my favorites from my classes at Tante Marie in San Francisco. Read more…

Hot Cross Buns

Hot cross buns are traditionally served during the Easter season, on Fridays during Lent, and on Palm and Easter Sundays. However, their roots are rumored to have come from pagan spring festivals. Easter and the spring equinox all represent the season of renewal of nature in different traditions.

Hot Cross Buns
Adapted from Levain Baker
Makes 12 buns

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Toasted Hazelnuts and Brandied Cherries

Flourless Chocolate Cake with Toasted Hazelnuts and Brandied Cherries Growing up, Passover was a mystery to me ’cause, well, I’m not Jewish. Over the years, I have had many Jewish friends, but I was clueless about the holiday’s meaning and traditions. I did know that if the calendar said we were getting close to Passover, it was a pretty good bet that I would stumble upon Charlton Heston in a toga while flipping through the channels.

It wasn’t until adulthood that I got to experience my first Seder. As a history major and enthusiast, I found it fascinating (although a bit tedious). But the food was amazing. (Rumors of gelatinous Gefelte fish abound, and I had been a little concerned. All right, really concerned. I was pleasantly surprised.) What I experienced was a delicious, deeply meaningful, and moving meal steeped in tradition and lessons for life.

We dined on Matzo ball soup and brisket. The haroseth was a favorite. How can anyone go wrong with apples, raisins and honey? The best was saved for last: a flourless chocolate cake with fresh berries. It was a perfect ending to a poignant evening.

The recipe below is similar, although just as delicious. You can purchase brandied cherries if you are short on time, or purée fresh raspberries or strawberries to use as a sauce.

Passover begins Monday March 25 at sundown. To all my Jewish friends past, present and future…Next Year in Jerusalem!

L’Chaim! Read more…