Chicken and Cashew Stir-Fry with Ginger-Scented Rice

For some reason, I always have trouble with jasmine rice. It isn't as forgiving as my old-reliable Uncle Ben's. I can't turn my back on it for a minute or it sticks and burns to the bottom of the pot. So I guess it's a good thing we've started eating early on Sundays because I had time to make a second pot of rice after scorching the first batch. Burned rice has an unpleasant smell. My family was kind enough to point this out to me as I chipped rice off the bottom of my pot in hopes of scrubbing it clean enough to try again. Because you can't have stir-fry without rice. (Although you could have it with noodles. Next time I'll try noodles.) Actually, once I managed to cook the rice properly it was really good. The first batch used up most of my fresh ginger so it wasn't quite as ginger-scented as it might have been, but it worked well with the chicken and cashew stir-fry. And the hardest part of that dish was cutting up the chicken, which I delegated.

Rhubarb Loaf

Local rhubarb has been appearing at the market, just in time for a Sunday baking/therapy session.  The weekend was so beautiful for being out of doors I was glad to have prepared these loaves (the recipe yields two) just after breakfast. The brown sugar/butter/cinnamon topping made the house smell dreamy while I cleaned up the kitchen. And I got to spend the rest of the day outside.

Lemon Spaghetti

There seem to be lots of people harshing on Gwyneth Paltrow of late. I can't turn around without stumbling on some newspaper or magazine piece about GP that vacillates between adoration and abhorrence. The woman introduced me to Forget You, so I hate to be too critical. (It's a superb running track. And a really great angry song, since you can get really potty-mouthed singing along if you reference the original version. In your head, of course.) Apparently GP has written a cookbook which partly explains the news coverage I've been seeing. I stumbled on her recipe for Spaghetti Limone Parmeggiano while searching Epicurious for dinner inspiration one night and made a mental note to try it. I'm a sucker for lemon but usually get my fix through desserts - think pie, bars and pudding. Why not lemon pasta?

(Best) Carrot Cake (Ever)

I was going to try a new Easter dessert this year after a few years of making carrot cake. But when I did a brief survey of the household I discovered (not surprisingly) that others had no interest in entertaining a new dessert. (We are a very consistent kind of household.) So I decided to take a different approach. If I was going to make carrot cake (again) I'd try a new recipe rather than use the same-old-same-old.

Hot Cross Buns

I've never enjoyed cooking with yeast. I find I'm too impatient when it comes to waiting for the yeast to do its thing so I end up rushing the recipe which usually ends in disaster. Last night I found I had some time on my hands. Enough time to wait for yeast to get...yeasty. It's the playoffs and the Habs are still in the hunt so no plans were made to do anything other than sit in front the television. Which was nice. There was popcorn to be had, for one thing. And the boys are old enough now that they ask intelligent questions about the game that David is only too happy to answer. What's a girl to do when all of her boys are otherwise occupied for several hours? Make hot cross buns, of course!

Lamb Loin Chops

If a picture is worth a thousand words what does this one say?


Let me tell you. Hopefully in less than a thousand words.