(609) successful easter meal

tulips from Whole Foods for my mom. I'm going to be one of those girls with different flowers every week or so because our floral department is so beautiful.

temporary nametag for work

new favorite gluten-free beer

Rigby is ready for Easter with his bowtie

I can't express how nervous I was about these cupcakes. these are the first sponge cakes I've ever made GF. this was also my first experience beating egg whites to soft peaks, which was extremely nerve-wracking. I put them in the oven with my fingers crossed...and they turned out beautifully! I adapted it from my favorite ming! I used 1/2 C sorghum flour, 1/4 C tapioca starch and 3/4 tsp xanthan gum. I used my favorite chocolate buttercream recipe (halved) with fresh coffee to taste.

centerpiece of our meal: roasted chicken with a lemon ginger compound butter and braised fennel. I'm starting to become really turned off to meat but this was pretty damn good. We got it from Claire Robinson's book 5-ingredient fix. 

glazed carrots with thyme from Martha Stewart which were delicious but frustrating to make. I used regular carrots cut on an angle because baby carrots are genetically modified (99% sure). 

finally, the thing I was looking forward to the most: smitten kitchen's green bean salad with pickled red onions + fried almonds. it was definitely a family pleaser and was fun to make, though there were many steps. it was hard to gauge the salt levels for the pickling liquid. it's very good though, especially with the almonds. I will be making this again! smitten kitchen never lets me down

beets and eggs co mingling in my mason jar.

naturally beet-dyed hard boiled eggs come out of the jar.

beautiful pink eggs get halved and deviled, then topped with parsley. thanks to the year in food! this was another popular dish I made today

the spread + mama's tulips. happy Easter! I need a huge nap from cooking for about 7 hours straight....or a beer.