Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock, you know that the Royal Wedding between Prince William and Catherine Middleton happened early this morning.  So to celebrate, I’ve decided to bring you the Champagne Cocktail. I mean champagne is the cocktail of choice at most weddings, right?  And this fancier version seems fitting for the Royal couple.

The champagne cocktail may just be the oldest cocktail I’ll introduce in this series, as it dates back to the mid-1800′s.  It was the popular drink of choice at dinner parties and soirées, but wasn’t written down in recipe form until 1862 when it was finally published in The Bar-Tenders Guide written by Jerry Thomas.  Since then it’s been a popular choice at not only garden parties and weddings but can also be found in hip wine bars and clubs all over.

So here’s a toast to the happy couple.  May all your champagne wishes come true.

Champagne Cocktail

• 1 sugar cube
• splash of bitters
• champagne

Soak sugar cube with a splash of Angostura bitters and place in the bottom of a champagne flute.

Fill slowly with champagne and garnish with a lemon twist.

A few weeks ago, I decided to go on a diet.  Nothing too extreme, just trying to firm up some of my more flabby areas. As a new mom… okay, it’s not that new, actually my son is almost 2 years old; but it’s a good excuse.  Anyway, as a mom it’s hard to get to the gym and it’s really hard to eat right.  You want to make nice filling meals for your toddler so he gains a healthy appetite and palate.  Then after six months to a year of that, you’re so used to making delicious, fattening meals that you and your baby are enjoying, you don’t want to give them up.  But the seasons change and the weather gets warmer and suddenly you’re wondering how you’re going to fit into that bikini you bought last fall.  And even if that’s not what you’re wondering, it’s definitely what I’m wondering.  So, as I said, I decided to go ahead and try to lose those last 10 pounds that don’t seem to want to come off no matter how hard I try.

However, since I’m a foodie who loves flavor and spice, those diet drinks just don’t cut it. Then there are those extreme diets where it’s all about cabbage and soup, but those are bland and just plain tough to swallow.  And after I’m done, the odds of putting all the weight back on is good because I’m going to go back to eating the delicious food I was eating before I went on the diet.

So, after some research and discussion with my trainer, I discovered that as long as I cut out sugar, salt, and bread, there was still a lot I could eat and it would still be flavorful, almost as if I weren’t on a diet at all.

For example, did you know it’s okay to have a cheeseburger? As long as you skip the bun, you can chow down. Do you like chicken? If it’s not deep fried or covered in bread crumbs, there’s no limit to what you can do. But best of all if you’re a breakfast fan like I am, you can have omelets stuffed with cheese and ham every day of the week.  So that’s what I’ve been having.  Every day for the past two weeks.  And yes, it has gotten old. You don’t know what I’d do for a plain old bowl of cereal right now.  But I only have a few more pounds to drop, so just another couple weeks and I can have as much cereal with fruit as I want.

Anyway, since my breakfasts are currently limited to eggs and some sort of meat, I’m becoming unbelievably creative with my eggs and bacon.  My favorite so far has been this Bacon Mozzarella Scramble.  It’s so easy and so delicious, I’m making it three or four days a week.  All you need is a few eggs, a little milk, some shredded mozzarella and of course bacon.  After all, everything is better with bacon.

So whether you’re on a diet or not, whip up this Bacon Mozzarella Scramble for breakfast this weekend.  Both you and your family will be in for a yummy treat.

Bacon Mozzarella Scramble

• 8 eggs
• 1/2 cup low fat milk
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 4 strips of bacon

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Lay the strips of bacon in the skillet and cook until brown and crispy, turning once, about 4 minutes. Transfer bacon strips to paper towel to cool.  Reserve grease from bacon in pan.

While the bacon cooks whisk together the eggs and milk.  Pour the egg mixture into the same skillet you used to cook the bacon.  (The bacon’s grease will not only prevent the eggs from sticking to the pan, it’ll also provide delicious flavor to your scramble without adding salt.)

Once the bacon’s cool, crumble it up into small pieces.  Use a fork to fold the eggs over onto each other in the pan, thereby scrambling them.  As you do so add the cheese and bacon pieces to the egg mixture and continue to fold the eggs onto themselves until they’re a golden brown, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately with your favorite cup of coffee.

In case I haven’t mentioned it before, I’m a huge fan of the 30′s, 40′s, 50′s and early-60′s.  I have several pieces of furniture from that era, at least 1/4 of my wardrobe dates from that time period and about half my ipod is made up of swing music.  It’s why I dubbed Kitchy Cooking, well… Kitchy Cooking.  But I recently realized I don’t have a lot of recipes that hearken back to those laid back days of yesteryear.  So I made a decision.  From now on Fridays will be dedicated to a retro cocktail recipe.

See, my husband and I met swing dancing and we love martinis. Where most people register for wine glasses we registered for a dozen martini glasses.  And while I don’t have a dry martini waiting for him when he gets home  from work, (although I’m sure he wishes I would) I do shake them up every so often.  (Yes, we prefer ours shaken, not stirred.)  So since we’re such huge fans of the cocktail, I thought why not add them to my blog?

I’m starting with the Pink Squirrel which dates back to 60′s.  It was only popular for a couple decades and then faded from view.  It’s too bad because it’s really a delightful drink.  It’s beautiful to look at and it’s nice and sweet.  Some might say too sweet, but I think it’s perfect as I tend to like my cocktails on the sweeter side.

You may be wondering why I chose the Pink Squirrel to start my cocktail Fridays as opposed to the more classic Martini or Manhattan.  I chose the Pink Squirrel because it’s Easter.  And what better drink to have on Easter than something that’s bright pink and candy sweet?  And since its made with crème de cacao, it’s got a hint of chocolate that makes it the perfect cocktail for this holiday that, let’s face it, is all about chocolate bunnies and eggs.

So this Sunday why not give your Easter egg hunt a retro spin and whip up some Pink Squirrels? After all, don’t the adults deserve to have as much fun on Sunday as the kids?

Pink Squirrel

(makes 1 serving)

• 1 oz crème de noyaux
• 1 oz light crème de cacao
• 1/2 oz vodka
• 1 oz cream

Pour all the ingredients into a cocktail shaker.  Add 2-3 ice cubes and shake well for about 10 seconds.  Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve.

(sung to the tune of Happy Birthday.) Happy anniversary to me, happy anniversary to me, happy anniversary to me…Happy anniversary to meeeeee.

I can’t believe it’s already been a year since I started Kitchy Cooking.  Actually it’s been a little over a year.  My first post was written for Passover and since Passover was at the end of March last year I’m a couple weeks late.  But then I thought rather than celebrate my anniversary on a specific date, why not celebrate it on a specific holiday? After all the holiday was the reason I started my blog in the first place.  So since this is my blog and I make the rules, I’m going to celebrate my anniversary every Passover; that means some years my anniversary will be in March and some years it’ll be in April.  But don’t worry, every anniversary will be a recipe perfect for Passover, which I think is fitting seeing as how I celebrate that holiday every year anyway.

Thinking back over the past year, I realize how much I’ve accomplished.  I’ve grown as a blogger.  I’ve grown as a photographer.  Just look at this picture from one of my first posts.  I can’t tell you how desperately I want to go back and change my photos, but then I think I should keep them to remind myself how I’ve grown.  But what I’m most proud of is that I’ve actually started creating a few recipes of my very own.  I’m no longer simply copying or recreating other recipes.  That is the accomplishment I’m most proud of. 

When I started this blog I just wanted to share some of my favorite family recipes with newlyweds and new parents.  I wanted to show recently married couples that it was possible to make delicious dinners or desserts for the whole family in a pinch.  Sure, there are some recipes that take a little longer, but those are the ones that usually provide plenty of left overs.  I wanted to prove that you could put together a delectable party without stressing about what to make or how to go about it.  And while some posts don’t have anything to do with entertaining, I enjoy writing and creating the recipes so much I still want to share them with you.

So with that in mind, here is a new dessert perfect for that Passover Seder you’re planning.  I found this dessert over at Saveur and as I’ve started to do more and more, I put my own spin on it.  I mean sure, meringue, hazelnuts, whipped cream and strawberries all sound amazing, but my husband’s allergic to nuts.  So, since I want him to be able to eat whatever I make, nuts are always automatically excised from any recipe.  Then I thought, whipped cream’s sorta boring, so what else goes well with strawberries and meringue? Why vanilla custard of course. So I subbed the whipped cream for custard and got a delicious cake that’s the perfect ending to a warm spring Passover Seder.

I know this should be a piece of cake with a bite out of it. But I took 1 bite and couldn't stop eating it.

 Strawberry Meringue Cake

Ingredients

• 10 egg whites
• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 Tbsp cornstarch
• 4 egg yolks
• 3 cups milk
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced into large chunks

Directions

Preheat oven to 325°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.  Gradually add 1 cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks.  Fold in 1 more cup of sugar.  Pour meringue into center of prepared baking sheet.  Using a rubber spatula, carefully spread meringue out into an 8-inch-wide circle (it will look like a tall cake).  Bake meringue for 20 minutes, reduce to 275°F and bake until golden brown and crisp on the outside while still gooey on the inside, about 40 minutes more.  (The meringue may crack while cooking, but that’s okay.)  When done, turn off oven and leave cake inside overnight.  DO NOT open oven door.

While the meringue is baking, prepare the custard.  Bring remaining sugar (1/2 cup), cornstarch, egg yolks, and milk to a boil in a large sauce pan over medium heat, stirring constantly with a whisk.  Continue whisking constantly until thickened, about 20-25 minutes.  Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract.  Place heavy duty plastic wrap on surface to prevent “skin” from forming and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

To assemble cake: carefully run a spatula or knife under bottom of meringue to loosen it and transfer the meringue to a cake stand or serving platter.  (I needed a couple spatulas and an extra set of hands to transfer the meringue, but if you have a pizza spatula, that’s perfect.  Also if meringue cracks a bit more during the transfer that’s okay.)  Spoon 1 1/2 cups of custard over the meringue and spread into an even layer.  Heap strawberries on top of custard and serve immediately.  If you have leftover custard serve it in a side dish for guests to dollop on top of their cake.

My husband and I moved to the South Bay about 10 years ago.  We moved here because we both wanted to get out of Los Angeles and we’d been coming down here quite a bit on the weekends.  It’s a wonderful area, right on the beach.  And even though you’re only 30 minutes south of the west side, it feels like you’re in a whole other state.  We love it down here, and one of our favorite things about the area are the restaurants.

Practically every restaurant in the South Bay has tables outside.  I know, it may not sound like much, but when the weather’s warm all I wanna do is sit outside, especially when you’re as close to the beach as we are.  Something about watching the surfers ride the waves while having a delicious meal screams Southern California.  One of our favorite restaurants is Hennessey’s Tavern, an Irish pub that has a location in each one of the three beach cities in the South Bay.  They serve everything from breakfast to dinner, orange juice to Guinness and of course corned beef to french toast.  It was at this little tavern that I discovered the best French toast I have ever had the pleasure to devour: Cap’n Crunch French Toast.  I know! Doesn’t it sound deliciously evil? Don’t you want some? Right now?

While there were plenty of other standard breakfast choices on the menu, this french toast was the only thing I saw.  It jumped out and screamed “eat me” in such a loud voice, I just had to try it.  I was so happy I did.  I’m a big fan of salt and sweet and this French toast perfects that combination.  It’s a nice thick sliced bread like King’s Hawaiian dipped in not only egg but crushed Cap’n Crunch cereal. Have you ever heard of such a brilliant breakfast dish? Neither had I.  And from now on, whenever we visit Hennessey’s for breakfast, all I order is the Cap’n Crunch French Toast.

So a few weeks ago I decided I wanted to try and recreate this amazing breakfast choice.  But being the baker I am, I had to put my own spin on it.  I love fruit on my French toast, more specifically I like jams and jellies.  Yes, it’s true, I’m one of those weird people that prefers jelly on my french toast.  I believe syrup should be reserved for pancakes.  So, since I like those tart jellies, I thought what if I crushed Cap’n Crunch and some freeze dried strawberries together?  A delightfully sweet, deliciously tart crust was created.

The final French toast was just what I hoped for – the perfect mix of salt, sweet and tart.  If I thought Hennessey’s version was amazing, these were one step better.  And since there was fruit in the crust, I no longer needed to add jam; just the tiniest sprinkle of powdered sugar and a new favorite breakfast food was born.

Cap’n Crunch French Toast

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 cups Cap’n Crunch cereal
• 1 cup freeze dried strawberries.
• 8 thick slices of Kings Hawaiian or egg bread
• 2 Tbsp butter

Place Cap’n Crunch and freeze dried strawberries in a large zip lock bag.  Crush the cereal and strawberries under a rolling pin, pour into a bowl, and set aside.

In another bowl whisk together eggs and cream.

Heat 1 Tbsp butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Dip 1 slice of bread into egg mixture so both sides of bread are soaked.  Then dip in Cap’n Crunch mixture.  Press mixture into both sides of bread so it sticks.  Repeat with other slices.

Drop slice of bread in pan and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Flip and cook other side for 1-2 minutes or until bread is golden brown and crispy.  Repeat with the other slices of bread.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar if you like and serve immediately.