Author Archives: Nancy

EASTER DEVILED EGGS

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It’s that time of year when I get lots of visitors to the blog looking for cute deviled egg ideas for Easter.  Apparently deviled eggs are not just popular in the South!  So for those of you hunting for a fun appetizer for an Easter meal, here’s the  annual roundup of Easter deviled eggs.

Going through old photos, I came across this version of deviled egg chicks I made years ago:

Nailed it!

Yep, my very own Pinterest fail.  Funny — I don’t remember them looking that awful.  What I do remember is that those zig zag edges were a pain in the ass to cut.  But even though they were truly awful it didn’t matter — the family loved them and thought they were hilarious.  My point is don’t be afraid to have some fun and try one of these Easter deviled egg ideas.

Your family will cluck with approval at these cute little chicks from swellkid:chickie eggs

Not handy with a piping bag?  Food & Whine shows you how to have your chicks and eat them too, without the fuss:

Use a small ice cream scoop to make these stand-up stand-out Easter chicks (Larry, Moe, and Curly) from delish:

chickeggs

Or perhaps these cuties:

You could give them a 70s vibe with with crackled colored eggs:

Foodista

doughmesstic.com

A plateful of cute Easter critters from saveonfoods.com:

bunny_deviled_eggs

These colorful ones from Real Mom Kitchen are sure to wow:

Easter-Deviled-Eggs[1]

Little hens and chicks from eye candy (not sure which one she made first, the hen or the chicks):

eggchicks[1]

Keep ’em guessing with deviled egg bunnies/mice from MyFudo:

0404-bunny-eggs_vg[1]

T’was the night before Easter and all through the house . . . .

Or trim radish slices to make less ambiguous bunnies, from kraftrecipes.com:

Crisped prosciutto makes for interesting bunny ears:

E Is for Eat

Everyone will ooh and aah at this pretty springtime presentation from Hungry Happenings:

Making deviled eggs into daisies [1]

Let your creative juices flow when you’re making deviled egg flowers:

Found at forkly.com

momalwaysfindsout.com

pretty food.com

diyjoy.com

If you’re inclined to pull out your piping bag, you can make beautiful sunflowers:

Crouton Crackerjacks (youtube video)

Perhaps try your hand at decorating your deviled eggs with fresh flowers — like these picture perfect eggs from She Keeps a Lovely Home:

 

Use your imagination to create beautiful flowerscapes on your deviled eggs:

thewondersmith.com
delicioustable.com

 

Or maybe these showy deviled eggs from Created by Diane:

What kid could possibly resist these adorable bunny eggs from Paas?

bunny_deviled_eggs_Lg

Another cute bunny idea (although I might leave the whiskers off) comes from PapaWow:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

And adorable bunny feet eggs from Hungry Happenings:

bunnyfeeteggs

A basket of deviled egg cuteness from Taste of Home with candy-coated sunflower seed eggs and sprouts:

exps150356_SD2401785A12_05_1b_WEB

These baskets, with edible flowers, are almost to pretty to eat:

homeiswheretheboatis.net

If you’d prefer something a little more reverent for Easter, you might try these carrot crosses from Happier than a Pig in Mud:

carrot crosses 063[1]

Carrots are popular Easter decorations, and these carrot-topped deviled eggs are an easy way to dress up a deviled egg platter:

 

Taste of Home

Food Network

Oh my stars, aren’t these wonderful (and clever)!

tablespoon.com

Not deviled eggs, but here’s two fun ways to serve hard-boiled eggs for Easter and use up those leftover dyed eggs:

Hard-Boiled-Egg-Chicks-and-Bunnies-Made-From-Dyed-Easter-Eggs_700pxTitle2

fivehearthome.com

eastereggs1

servingupsouthern.com

Gather a few giggles with these hatching eggs from Hungry Happenings:

hatchingeggs

Of course, you can give them even more personality, if you’d like:

dontgobaconmyheart.co.uk

I’d love to see your creations!

 

easter-lily[1] Happy Easter!

POSOLE VERDE

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Posole or pozole is a traditional Mexican soup or stew.  Posole comes in all the colors of the Mexican flag (i.e., green, white, and red).  No matter which version you make, hominy is a key ingredient.  You can read about the process of making hominy here, which involves a process called nixtamalization.  (I know, I know . . . z-z-z-z-z-z.)

While we’re still enjoying cool weather, I busted out the stockpot and made Posole Verde  — for all you non-Spanish speakers, that would be the green version.  Despite all the naysayers on the internet, I used canned hominy, as opposed to searching for Latino markets with dried hominy and then soaking it overnight.  So much easier to just pop the top on this can of hominy and get on with things:

While I was making the soup, I could not get the phrase “homina, homina, homina” out of my head — a phrase made popular by Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, used to express “shock, befuddlement, or general speechlessness.”  As I puttered around the kitchen, I found myself alternately muttering “homina, homina, homina” and “hominy, hominy, hominy” to myself.   I definitely talk more to myself now that I’m an empty nester.

This soup is great — hearty, tangy from the tomatillos, satisfying.  Set out a plate of garnishes and let everyone prepare their own bowl.

Print
POSOLE VERDE
Author: 
Recipe type: Soup
 
Ingredients
  • 1-1/4 lbs tomatillos, husked, rinsed, and halved
  • 2 large poblano chiles, halved lengthwise
  • 1 large jalapeno, halved lengthwise
  • 2 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 medium sweet onion, chopped
  • 2 large cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 29-ounce can hominy, rinsed and drained
  • 1 cooked chicken breast, shredded
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
  • ¼ cup roasted and salted pepitas, ground
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
  • Salt and pepper, to taste
  • Garnishes: thinly-sliced radishes, cilantro leaves, diced avocado, crumbled queso fresco, pepitas
Instructions
  1. Preheat the broiler. Place the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeño on a baking sheet (cover sheet with foil to make clean up easy). Broil vegetables, turning occasionally with tongs, until the skins of the peppers are blackened and the peppers have softened, approximately 15 minutes.
  2. Set aside until cool enough to handle, then remove and discard the seeds, stems, and blackened skins from the peppers. (Avoid touching eyes after handling jalapeños!)
  3. Transfer the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeño to a blender, and blend until almost smooth.
  4. In a large stockpot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion, garlic, and cumin, and saute, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened, approximately 6-7 minutes. Add the tomatillo mixture and chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Add the hominy, shredded chicken, oregano, pepitas, and cilantro, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. If soup is too thick, add a little more chicken stock to thin soup to desired consistency.
  5. Ladle the posole into bowls and garnish as desired with avocado, queso fresco, pepitas, radishes, and cilantro.

Roast the tomatillos, poblanos, and jalapeno

Pureed roasted vegetables

Grind the pepitas

Soup’s on
Avocado, queso fresco, pepitas, radishes, and cilantro for garnish

Hominy, hominy, hominy