Toppings started with browning minced garlic and red chili pepper flakes in olive oil, caramelizing onions, browning chicken Italian Sausage, and sauteing kale until soft. I assembled the dough on parchment paper while the cast iron pan preheated in my 525-degree oven. Stretched the dough then brushed with the garlicky olive oil (with garlic in it), a light sprinkling of mozzarella, caramelized onions, kale, sausage, a little more mozzarella, Parmesan then threw it in the oven for about 13 minutes. Right when it came off another dusting of Parmesan topped it off.

The verdict? This is one of the best ways to eat kale, hands down. The slight sweetness of the dough and onions with the slightly bitter kale and richness of the sausage and cheese was all I’d ever hoped for. Just a slight kick from the red pepper and toasty garlic pushed thing thing right into my comfort zone. And it has kale so it must be healthy, right? Definitely a keeper.

We were still in full-on working on the house mode when my then-boyfriend popped the question in our dining room and a year after we moved in we were going to have family over to the house and the outside, except for new windows, looked as it does above. Since most work had focused on the inside, we used our first time homebuyer’s credit for a few outside projects, one of which was having the landscape reduced to dirt.

See the solar water heating panels on our roof in the above photo on the left? We have the install papers from the 80s and they were non-functional but stayed there until recently.

Then once we had just dirt, we realized how darn expensive new landscaping is. Oops. So we brought in my dad and step-mom and laid sod. We hired out the house painting and new rain gutters and things were looking good. Everything pretty much stayed like that for a while and we still had some roses to trim two years later.

We keep most of the landscape in check these days and ultimately removed the rose bush in that strange planter triangle on the left (I have my eye on you, weird planter, your days are numbered…) so that the front of the house finally looked completely cleaned up and groomed. When we got to this stage, all of our neighbors would give us accolades as they walked by. It felt awesome.

Nothing much has changed for a while. We got the trees trimmed last year and I’ve added some plants to that expanse of mulch on the left. But it was time to take care of those solar water heating panels and finally get a new roof so as I mentioned, last Wednesday we got stormed by roofers.

And by Thursday afternoon they were done and used Friday for final cleanup. Yes, it was very fast!

I mentioned there’s one more project already on the books that we’re tackling this weekend that will improve this view even more and it involves paint. We already powerwashed the whole patio and sidewalk which has made everything so fresh and clean that even our neighbors said something! What do you think of the new roof color? Honestly it doesn’t seem like the biggest change we’ve made but it’s quite a functional one.

There’s actually one more project going on that will be visible on this part of the house coming soon, any guesses what it might be? Anyone else ever had roof work done and feel like they were being stormed!?

The farmer’s market has the most beautiful spring onions this time of year. They are displayed in lovely stacks of red onions and yellow onions with healthy green tops just begging to make their way home with your produce. So naturally, I bought some organic spring onions to take home. I’ve used these before for various things but had been ignoring them for weeks. I figured I’d think of something to do with them for a meal one night.
They sat on the counter for a few days until those vibrant green tops were threatening to become yellow tops and that’s when it came to me, Spring Onion Soup! Just like regular onion soup but with these guys. I’d been on a blended soup tear after buying myself an immersion blender (FAVORITE THING EVER, also, follow me on Instagram @alannaface for more pictures) so I thought I’d mix it up with a non-blended soup. I even took some great process images to share here.

Chopped up my onions with only a little of the green top, added butter and olive oil, deglazed with white wine, poured in chicken broth, salt, pepper and a few red pepper flakes and there you have it, soup! Looks good, smells good. I put it in bowls and topped with smoked gouda then broiled it for some bubbly cheese. On the side a little buttered toast with radishes and salt (my husband LOVES this combo). It looked good. And I was hungry, so even though the love of my life wasn’t home yet, I dug in.

Not very far into this bowl of soup I was feeling kind of full. I chalked it up to snacking on too much smoked gouda before getting to the soup. I ate my radish toast and figured since I hadn’t eaten much from this bowl I’d top it with another piece of cheese and my husband could have it when he got home with some fresh radish toast. I got up, cleared the table and put my dishes in the kitchen, and cleaned up a little. I even put the second bowl in a container and figured we’d have leftovers for later. But man, my stomach was not feeling right. I tried to go relax on the couch a little and officially entered stomach ache territory. I don’t have to tell you how this ends, right? Nonetheless, I figured I just was over full and it was my own darn fault I was feeling sick.

Enter husband after work and I present him with the rest of the soup and radish toast. He’s hungry so he digs in and devours his soup and toast in approximately 30 seconds. Then he cleans up his dishes and comes to tell me his stomach kind of hurts. Uh oh. His digestive tract follows the same course of events mine did but luckily I could assure him that it was just passing through and not there to stay! But he may never trust another soup I make him, again?

Naturally I threw away the leftovers that I had put away already because who knows what I did to this soup. I still can’t fathom why it wrecked both of our stomachs but I can only think it was the onions since everything were ingredients we use regularly. Luckily my husband (and I) lived through this experience to tell the story.

Have you ever made a meal that made someone sick (this sure isn’t my first rodeo with it!)?

The asparagus has done its thing but still doesn’t get very thick. I’ve let it go to fern so it’s strong for next year. Every year it seems to produce a little more.

All the roses are starting to bloom. This remains one of my favorites but I say that about more than one of them.

My grandma has hundreds of orchids and she’s sent me home with some. This is one of the only two that I can get to bloom but it blooms every year!

Another flower from my grandma, an iris. Absolutely beautiful, I’m loving this addition to my irises this year.

The irises that bloomed for the first time last year despite always being in the garden have bloomed again and I believe there might even be more of them? It’s very exciting because these purple ones still smell like “fake grape” to me.

I let the front little garden get purposely overrun by California poppies which look nice around the irises. It’s great spring filler and then once some of the other flowers start showing up the poppies can easily be pulled out but will still come back!

It may not be a big ol’ plot of land on a farm, it’s certainly not an urban garden, but I like it. I squeeze in everything I can into my garden and Spring sure does make me happy here. How about you?

How do you pick the best artichoke at the market? Look for ones with the petals (these are flower buds, you know) that haven’t opened much and listen for squeaking when you give them a gentle squeeze. This applies for any size of artichoke, the ones you see here would qualify as large. Medium to large artichokes are some of the best for steaming. With luck you will find artichokes with some stem like these which is great because the stem is edible and similar in texture to the artichoke heart.

Before starting, prepare a microwave-safe dish — I use a glass one– with about 1/2-inch of water with a dash of lemon juice or white vinegar. Artichokes will oxidize and the acid will prevent them from turning brown. Also don’t forget to give these flower buds a rinse! They are from the outdoors and it’s best to rinse them of any contaminants (mine obviously had a visit from a birdy…).

If you’ve ever worked with fresh artichokes you know they have little thorns so use a pair of kitchen scissors to cut the tips of the petals off. The top of the bud doesn’t need to be trimmed because you will be cutting off the top inch or so.

Make sure to use a very sharp knife for slicing off the top of the choke.

Then slice off the stem. Dip the stem side of the choke in your prepared water and flip it around and put it petal side down in the prepared water.

Don’t throw away that stem! Pull off any small leaves, slice off the old cut end and then use a pairing knife or vegetable peeler to peel the stem.

When you have peeled the stem, roll it around a bit in your prepared water to keep it from coloring. I’m only preparing two artichokes here but this method would apply to as many as you need to prepare (think bigger glass casserole dish!). Keep the water in the dish and cover with plastic wrap.

For two large artichokes, start with 10 minutes in the microwave and then check them for doneness. Time should be about 10-13 minutes depending on your microwave. Add time for more artichokes. CAREFULLY pull back the plastic wrap (there’s hot steam under there!) and use a fork or paring knife to poke gently, if it easily slides into the flesh, it’s done. If there’s resistance, recover and return to the microwave for a few minutes.

To clean the thistle out of the artichoke, turn them on their base and remember there’s still steam in there so they are HOT. Be careful. Let them cool a little if possible. Then 1) gently “open” the choke, 2) pull out the center smallest petals which still have spikes at which point 3) you should see purple petals which you 4) should use a spoon to gently scrape out including the little hairy bits.

Make sure get all the hairy parts off of the heart…

But leave as much heart as possible because it’s the best part!

If you’re feeling fancy these can be filled with a dipping sauce (like aioli or mayonnaise if you’re feeling lazy) or at this point you can put them on the grill, petal side down, for some extra flavor and char.

My husband and I enjoyed them as is with dipping sauce on the side. I mixed crushed garlic, fresh lemon juice, mayonnaise, kosher salt and harissa infused olive oil to make a dipping sauce. Melted salted butter, plain olive oil or a vinaigrette would also be great as a dipping sauce.

For those unacquainted with eating these, you simply pull off a petal and use your bottom teeth to scrape off some of the soft flesh. As you make your way to the more tender petals there’s more and more of the soft flesh to enjoy before you get the always wonderful artichoke heart.

No steamer basket needed! Do you have artichokes in your markets? What do you use to dip your artichoke in?

Add the oil to the wok on high until it’s shimmering then throw in the protein and vegetables to get them a little brown. If your vegetables release liquid, just wait until it’s boiled off and cook, stirring constantly, until you get some charred spots.

Once the char is going on, add the rice and mix it in letting it get some char. Then smoosh everything to the sides of the pan forming a little “well” in the center, add the eggs and garlic to the little “well” and stir vigorously to scramble the egg. Once the eggs are mostly cooked you stir the rice into the eggs and add the Sriracha/soy sauce mixture and stir.

That’s it, done. All your prep work is done before cooking and it’s only a matter of throwing everything in and stirring until it’s done. You can garnish with a little extra Sriracha and green onions if you have them on hand (which if you keep them on your windowsill you should!)

Using less than 10 ingredients, and all of which are pantry staples or leftovers, you can have a very quick meal that’s better than takeout! Can you picture this with shrimp and asparagus instead? What about chicken and broccoli? I might have to try some other combinations so I don’t have to wait for ham next year to make this again!

Sriracha and Ham Fried Rice (Adapted from here)

1/8 – 1/4 cup Sriracha (depending on your heat tolerance)
1/8 cup soy sauce
3 tablespoons toasted sesame oil (or another high smoking point oil like peanut oil, coconut oil, etc.)
1 1/2 cup ham
1/2 onion, diced
1 cup frozen peas
3 – 4 cups cooked rice, cooled (preferably day-old)
2 eggs
1 clove garlic, minced
Sliced green onions, green part only, for garnish

1. In small bowl, stir together Sriracha and soy sauce. Set aside. Make sure all ingredients are prepared before moving on (mise en place!).
2. Heat a wok (or nonstick or cast iron skillet) over high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil is shimmering. Add the vegetables and protein and stir occasionally until charring begins. This could be 3-5 minutes if your vegetables are not wet, otherwise, wait until the water boils off and then charring should begin.
3. When the vegetables and protein have some browning/charring add the rice and stir to coat rice in oil and combine ingredients. Continue stirring to get char on all ingredients, no more than 3 minutes.
4. Once all ingredients have a bit of char, move everything to the sides of the pan to make a “well” then add the last tablespoon of oil and heat for about 15 seconds. Add the eggs and garlic, stirring vigorously. Cook the eggs until cooked through then combine with the rice mixture.
5. Add the Sriracha and soy sauce mixture and stir to combine while heating for another 30 seconds or so.
6. Serve and garnish as desired. Enjoy!

I did not use the preheat the pan then try and plop a pizza in a blazing hot pan method. I stretched the dough in an unheated pan with plenty of olive oil, topped it and then put it in the oven waiting for the top to brown a little. I probably could have left it in there for even longer but I got hungry. It smelled so darn good.

One of my favorite parts of the recipe is that it makes enough for two 12-inch pies (my second ball of dough went in the freezer with the rest of the shredded mozzarella, pepperoni and some sauce!) or you can make one larger square pizza with all of the dough. If I’m making pizza dough these days, I like to make enough to freeze some for the next time my husband suggests pizza for dinner which is at least every other week! In our house, pizza gets served with a simple green salad with chickpeas and an Anchor Steam on the side.The best part about this recipe is that you can use unfed sourdough starter which is great for those of you who might have starter but forgot to feed it however many hours in advance you need to. Or even for those of you who have “discarded” starter after feedings. See the King Arthur recipe for way more details than I give you below which only tells you how I made my pizza.

Recipe: Sourdough Pizza Crust (originally from King Arthur Flour)
1 cup sourdough starter, unfed (straight from the fridge is fine)
3/4 cup hot tap water (do not overheat water as it will kill the yeast)
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon instant yeast

1. Stir sourdough starter and measure 1 cup into mixing bowl. A stand mixer with a dough hook works great for this soft dough.
2. Add ½ cup of the hot water and the rest of the ingredients. Mix to combine, then knead, adding the additional water (and more as needed) until dough is smooth and slightly sticky, about 7 minutes at medium speed using a stand mixer. Dough should easily come away from the side of the bowl. If it’s still sticking to the bowl, you may have too much liquid and may want to sprinkle in a little flour and continue kneading.
3. Pick up dough and oil the bowl then return to the bowl for a rise. The dough should double in bulk, about 2 to 4 hours. If your starter is not used often, this rise will take longer and if you regularly use your starter it should take less time.
4. When dough is doubled, divide in half if using a 12-inch pan. Reserve half the dough or wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. With the other dough fold it in half to deflate then coat the bottom of a baking pan liberally with olive oil, and place dough in the pan. Gently stretch the dough to the edges of the pan.
5. Preheat the oven to the highest setting, for me this is 525-Farenheit. Let the stretched dough rest for 15 minutes while the oven preheats.
6. Top the rested dough and pop the whole thing in the oven. Bake until the edges are browned and the cheese is brown and bubbly, 10-15 minutes. Enjoy!

If memory serves, since I’m not seeing that I wrote about it on the blog at all, I’ve hosted maybe two or three Easter brunches in years past. Family and some friends have convened over ham, brunch food and chocolate eggs because it somehow seems strange to ignore Easter. Which is exactly what I wad going to do this year. Our dishwasher (you know, the one that is only two years old from our kitchen remodel!?) is broken so I said, “No hosting since we can’t do dishes.” But then everyone kept asking, “Sooooo…. are you hosting Easter?” And I finally gave in with my husband’s permission. But, you all get paper plates and plastic utensils!

And since of course it’s me, we didn’t just end up with a small Easter gathering but a group of 10 to be hosted. That’s about the size of a Thanksgiving for us which I spend weeks thinking about. However, we decided to do this gathering with only about three days notice! Luckily, everyone volunteered to bring brunch dishes and I simply made a ham, a chicken in the slow cooker (thanks, Pinterest!) and baked some bread the day before. Easy peasy.

One Polish tradition that I have been forgetting to do for a while is breaking the “Christmas wafer” or in Polish, “oplatki,” before our meal. I distinctly remember doing this before dinner at my grandma’s house and at my great uncle’s home for Christmas and Easter each year. Everyone gets a small piece of the wafer and then goes around and breaks it with everyone else. Then we say a prayer and eat it. From Wikipedia:

Breaking off and exchanging part of opłatek with someone is symbol of forgiveness between two people and is meant to remind participants of the importance of Christmas, God, and family.

In our family we did it for the big holidays (Thanksgiving too? I can’t remember!) and it was a nice way to mingle with family. I haven’t done this in years and years and though this stuff is a big mouthful of cardboard (flour and water) it brought back memories of when I was little as soon as I tasted it on Sunday. I may have to hunt down more and keep this tradition.

Hosting a sit-down meal on the fly for 10 makes me think I’m going to have challenge myself to a bigger gathering for the next Thanksgiving! I’m glad we were able to have everyone join us and we had a beautiful meal with ones who I’m happy are part of our lives. I was also happy my sister and I were able to introduce everyone to a Polish tradition we value.

Do you have any holiday traditions that you celebrate on Easter or another holiday?