Orange Curd—Sunshine in a Bowl!

My whole family adores citrus, not just in sweet treats, but in many savory dishes as well.  I’ve made citrusy vinaigrette such as this one here and it’s been my family’s go-to salad dressing ever since.  With all the citrus fruit I get from my In-Law’s garden, it’s hard not to love these fruits.  If you haven’t done so, check out this Meyer Lemon Curd with Vanilla Sugar Recipe, it’s good on almost everything, such as toasts, scones, tarts, or even by the spoonful, ahem….don’t ask me how I know that.



So, with the super sweet oranges that I got recently, I’ve made some orange curd.  I put quite a bit of zest in this curd because I love the aroma from the zest.  The zest contains the essential oil and carries lots of flavor, even more so than the juice itself, in my opinion.  So, I didn’t strain this curd after it’s done cooking because I want as much zest in my curd as possible.  If you prefer a smoother curd with no zest, by all means pass the cooked curd through a strainer, the choice is yours. 



This Orange Curd taste like sunshine in a bowl to me.  It’s tart, its’ sweet, and it’s refreshing, yet it’s also very rich and creamy without any cream in it.  It puts a smile on my face every time I taste it.  I’m sure it’ll do the same to you if you give this recipe a try.  If the weather in your area is less than perfect, this Orange Curd  will brightens up your day.  Happiness could be really simple, as simple as a tablespoon of orange curd on a slice of homemade bread.  I believe happiness depends on our attitude in regards to how we perceive things around us. 



Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you enjoy today’s recipe.  So, please share with me, what kind of recipes make you feel happy?  I would love to hear from you and give your recipe a try too.   Meanwhile, be happy and keep smiling.  You never know who would fall in love with your smile. 

Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets—For Mother’s Day

Mother’s day is just around the corner.  How are you going to celebrate?  It’s one of the most popular holiday for dining out as we all wanted to give Mothers/Grandmothers a break from the kitchen.  As a mother myself (and the cook in the house), I will probably be cooking at home though, just to beat the crowds.  Good thing is that I don’t mind at all.  In fact, I enjoy spending time in the kitchen, especially baking.  I found it therapeutic (yeah, you can call me a weirdo for this one!)  I guess it’s the measuring and focusing that allow my mind to wonder off to a place that is far far away…to a dream land, perhaps.  In this case, a dream land filled with Meyer lemon goodness and cloud-like meringue softness.



These Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets were amazing.  The slightly golden brown crusts were flaky and buttery.  They were the perfect vessels for the creamy, silky, tart and sweet Meyer Lemon Curd in the middle; top off with slightly sweetened meringue that’s perfectly caramelized on the edges, soft and tender on the inside.  It melted in my mouth without a trace when I bit into one.  Doesn’t that sound like a dream on it’s own?  Yeah, I’ve been dreaming to create these tartlets for a while until I finally got a chance to to so.  Wait, am I the only one who dream about making food and creating recipes?  Please tell me I’m not alone! 



I think these Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets would be the perfect desserts to end a Mother’s Day meal, or any meal, period.  Guess what?  I haven’t plan the rest of the Mother’s Day menu besides this dessert.  That’s totally how things roll here.  Who doesn’t like to talk about desserts first? 



As you all know, I love recipes that can be made ahead, at least partially, especially for gatherings.  This Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartlets is one of those recipes.  I actually pre-baked the crust and made a batch of the Meyer Lemon Curd (fillings) the day before I plan to serve them.  The meringue on top has to be whipped up on the day of the party though.  Otherwise, it’ll get a little separated.  Good thing is, your guests will have fun trying to use the blow torch to caramelize these babies for you!  Yup, you heard me right, you get to play with fire use the blow torch in this recipe.  But if you don’t have one, don’t worry, you can still caramelized the meringue in the oven.  But that just doesn’t sound as much fun though. 



I’ll be posting other recipes to complete the menu for Mother’s Day.  Stay tuned.  Oh well, if I couldn’t post them all in time, I can always have those recipes for Father’s Day.   

Lemon Scented Thumbprint Cookies

March 20th will be the first day of Spring.  With the warm temperature in L.A., I feel like Spring has arrived…last month.    Anyhow, these Lemon Scented Thumbprint Cookies gave me the same feeling that Spring has arrived.  I love the colors of the jams and curds that sit of top of the cookies.  Vibrant, vivid, and very delightful.  They just put a smile on my face. 



I filled these Lemon Scented Thumbprint Cookies with some home made Meyer Lemon curds (recipe here), orange marmalade and raspberry preserves.  I’ll shared the orange marmalade and raspberry preserves recipe in future posts.  If you have your own favorite recipes, by all means go for it.  Otherwise, using store bought jams are just as good.  But I have to tell you though, the curds and and preserves are really easy to make and they taste wonderful. 



These cookies are fun to make.  It’s a great time to get the kids into the kitchen to help rolling and pressing the dough, too.  To make the indentation for the filling, I’ve tried using the back of a wooden spoon and a measuring teaspoons.  But nothing works better than my thumb!  Dah…these are called thumbprint cookies for a reason, I was thinking out loud!    Silly me.

Before you go, don’t forget to enter the current Giveaways on my blog. 

For the $100 Amazon Gift Card (who doesn’t like Amazon, right?)  Click here to enter.  Deadline to enter is March 30th, 2012.

For the Saucy Mama Condiment Kit (delicious products), click here to enter.  Deadline to enter is March 7th, 2012.

Good Luck and Happy Baking!

uTry.it Turns One! More Macarons…Oh yeah…and a Giveaway

uTry.it turns one today!  Woohoo!  It’s amazing looking back to the past 365 days.  365 days of happy memories because of you, every single one of you, my dear readers and food blog friends. 


When I wrote my very first blog post a year ago, I’ve never expected I would gain so much from writing a food blog (besides gaining the weights from testing out recipes, hahaha…). I’ve made so many news friends and fellow bloggers. I truly cherish all of your friendship, comments, supports, feedbacks and kindness. It’s overwhelming, but in a very positive way.





Did you know, the post that received the most comments and feedbacks in the past year was The Culinary Smackdown Battle-Cookies.  It was such a fun event/contest.  I really love to see all those scrumptious cookie recipes that you shared on my blog.  Maybe I’ll host another similar event again in the near future.  What do you think?


Speaking of cookies, the French Macaron was the type of cookie that got the most recipe posts in the past year from the cookie category.  Probably because it’s a plain canvas that I can create so many different flavor combinations in these little cuties.  What can I say, they are absolutely addictive.  If you haven’t make these cuties before, here’s the post for some basic Macaron making tips. 




To extend my appreciation for your supports of my blog, I’m hosting a Giveaway on uTry.it’s Birthday.  The prizes from the giveaway will help you to a step closer to making these Macarons as well.  That is, if you haven’t make them before. 


This Giveaway is now Closed. Thank you for everyone who participated.


Prize #1: Silpat Non-Stick Silicone Mat 11 1/2-by-16 1/2-inch.  It fits perfectly on my 12 by 17-inch baking sheets.  A must have for Macaron making. Of course, you can use the Silpat when you make any other cookies, breads, meringues, etc.

Product image from Amazon

Prize #2: Bourbon Vanilla Powder 2.5 oz. by Nielsen-Massey Vanillas. A key ingredient for Macaron making.  Adding lots of flavor but not moisture, which is essential for successful Macaron making. 

Product image from Amazon

Rules for the Giveaway:

This giveaway is open to anyone, anywhere in the world.  1 winner will be selected using Random.org and the winner will get both prizes. Must be a uTry.it public follower/member through Google Friends Connect to participate.  (See the right hand side bar under “Follower” with the button “Join this site”).  You have until Wednesday, August 31st, 12 midnight PST to enter this giveaway.  Winner will be contact via email shortly after the giveaway is closed.

Mandatory Entry: 

Leave a comment and tell me what kind/type of recipes you would like to see more on my blog.  Is it desserts,entrée, or entertaining appetizers? Do you like Chinese, Asian, French, Italian or whatever you can think of?

Additional Entries: (you can do any or all of the following, just leave a separate comments for each)

1) “Like” uTry.it’s Facebook page.  Here’s the link. 

2) Share this giveaway with your friends on Facebook.  Please include the link to this post when you share.

3) Follow uTry.it on Twitter.  Here’s the link.

4) Tweet about this giveaway.  Please include my Twitter handle @utry_it and the link to this post in your tweet.

5) Subscribe to my blog via email.  You’ll receive an email to verify the subscription.  

6) Subscribe via RSS feed.

Meyer Lemon Curd With Vanilla Sugar

As I was planning for my Baby Girl’s Birthday, I couldn’t resist but to incorporate something refreshing into the cake.   Here’s a little sneak peek on what went into her birthday cake, and I made some more as party favors for guests to take home.  My latest creation—Meyer Lemon Curd with Vanilla Sugar.  I’ll post the picture of Baby Girl’s birthday cake on my next post, I promise.  But let’s talk about this Meyer Lemon Curd with Vanilla Sugar first.



I have a jar, a huge jar actually, of Vanilla Sugar in my pantry that I have been using for baking.  It’s easy to make the vanilla sugar.  Simply split some vanilla beans in half (length wise), scrape the seeds out and snuggle the pods and the seeds into a jar of regular granulated sugar.  Just make sure the pods are covered by the sugar.  Let it sit for at least a few weeks before using.  The sugar is infused and perfumed by the fragrant and sweet scent of the vanilla beans.  As I used up the vanilla sugar in my baking, I refilled the jar with more sugar and add another vanilla bean every once in a while if necessary.  It’s wonderful and adds a lot more flavor to the baked goods. 



Why did I choose Vanilla Sugar instead of regular sugar in this recipe?  Because I ran out of regular sugar on the day I needed to make the Lemon Curd!  LOL….But what a lovely and tasty mishap!  This Meyer Lemon Curd turned out with another depth of flavor like a little surprise.  It certainly add a layer of sweetness without adding more sugar.  You can even see the little vanilla seed in the curd and it smells wonderful.



Simply spread the curd on a slice of bread and it’s the perfect breakfast or afternoon pick me up.  Here’s a simple white bread recipe that yields the most soft and fluffy loaf of bread if you miss that post from the past.  If you have some Lemons or Meyers Lemons on hand, make some Meyer Lemon Curd with Vanilla Sugar.  You’ll love what you created.