It’s Good Friday!  I cannot believe it is Easter already.  I have been very sick the last few days with what I will call the Stomach flu that got Zesty but I am slowly on the mend as I type this post.  I don’t ever remember being so sick as I was on Wednesday of this week.  However, with that being said we have to move on and keep plugging away.

Do you ever wonder what one of my favorite snacks would be?  You may or may not.  If you had to guess what one of my favorite snacks would be  – what do you think you would guess?

• Potato Chips ( very good guess )
• Homemade Oatmeal Raisin Cookies ( another great guess)
• Fresh Olives ( not so good!)
• Pita and Homemade Hummus ( a good guess indeed )

One of my favorite snacks of all time has to be…..

Homemade biscuits from the oven with a little butter, some homemade strawberry jam and a little slice of aged cheddar cheese on top.  Oh my stomach is growling right now as I look at these pictures.  I am in love with biscuits… as you have likely figured out from previous biscuit posts.  If you have a spare 10 minutes in your day – whip a batch of these up for yourself or your loved ones and you will be a happy person.

So now that you know one of my favorite all time snacks, I think we should get to the bread winners from Monday’s contest.  Below are the 4 lucky winners of Dempster’s Oven Fresh Baguette.

Comment 39:

claire says:

March 31, 2010 at 3:19 pm

I love jelly on bread for the sweet and flavored olive oil or hummus for the savory:-)cc

Comment 10:
Janette says:

March 29, 2010 at 12:38 pm

Nothing better then the smell of bread coming out of the oven, with just a swipe of margarine.

Comment 2:
ann marie says:

March 29, 2010 at 9:53 am

Oven cooked bread is the best thing in the world and my fave topping is garlic butter and mozzarella cheese toasted in the oven till all gooey and melted.

Comment 6:
Meg says:

March 29, 2010 at 11:55 am

mmmmm….I could eat some warm bread NOW! I love all sorts of toppings but some raspberry preserves sound yummy right about now!

Congrats to all the winners. For the winners, please send me an email and I will get the coupons sent to you as soon as possible. Enjoy the rest of your Good Friday and have a great Easter weekend.

Take care

zesty

Happy Monday to you!  I first want to thank everyone for their kind words regarding Friday’s House update.  I greatly appreciate it.  How was your weekend?  Mine was a bit nutso as we have been trying to find a second vehicle and a Nintendo Wii.  We checked all over PEI for  Wii and came up empty so we took a trip to New Brunswick yesterday for a Wii and still came up dry.  We looked at a few vehicles as well but just couldn’t find the right one.

So here is a little challenge.  Can anyone find a Wii in their area and if so I will buy it and ship it to myself!  Sound like fun?  Looks like I may have to buy one online at this point or wait a little longer.

Ok I really have to share with you an amazing recipe today.  Do you ever feel like you want to impress your house guests or company with an over the top appetizer? If so, this is the one for you.  It is quite simple but the results are amazing.  I honestly just didn’t make the title up with having proof to back it up.  You have to try these cheese puffs.

Ingredients

• 6 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter ( softened )
• 1/2 Cup Milk
• 1/2 Cup Water
• 1/2 Tsp. Coarse Salt
• 1 Cup Flour
• 4 Large Eggs
• 3/4 Cup Grated gruyere cheese
• 1/4 Cup grated Asiago cheese

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 Degrees F.
2. In a saucepan combine butter, water milk and salt.
3. Bring to a boil and then add flour; Remove from heat and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon.
4. Dough will dry out and pull from sides of sauce pan.
5. Put back on medium heat and beat a further 50 seconds to dry the dough even more
6. Transfer dough out of hot pan to a bowl and add eggs one at a time; beating vigorously with each egg.
7. After last egg add the Gruyere cheese and beat well.
8. Grease or line cookie sheets with parchment paper .
9. Drop dough from a teaspoon allowing room to expand.
10. Sprinkle tops with Asiago cheese and bake for 15 minutes at 400.
11. Then lower the temperature to 350 and bake another 15-20 minutes to dry the interior.
12. Remove from oven and let cool on a rack for a few minutes
13. ENJOY!

Zesty Tip: Make sure to beat the mixture well after each egg addition and the thing to look out for here is to ensure the center of the puff is nice and dry and flaky.  Lowering the heat after the first 15 minutes is key to allow the inside to continue cooking but not brown the outside too much.

Zesty Around the Blogsphere

Before I go – you should check out a fun pancake recipe I feature on Picky Palate yesterday.  I think you might like it especially all the oatmeal lovers.  It is called Whole Grain Oatmeal Apple Pancakes.  Let me know what you think.

I hope you have an amazing Monday and I hope you have some luck finding a Nintendo Wii.  I better get going here and get ready for work.  The sunrise was amazing this morning from the dining room table and I think it gave me a little extra boost of energy.

Take care

zesty