Happy Ostara!

Well, Spring has sprung -- although it snowed for a wee bit today, as if Winter wanted one last hurrah :)

We celebrated the Vernal Equinox as we always do: a dozen trinket-filled plastic eggs are hidden throughout the house, and in order to get the goodies in the 13th egg (a large, wicker egg-shaped container thingy) you must find all 12 of the small colored ones. That and a basket of little toys for each child to open takes up pretty much the whole morning.

For lunch we had eggplant lasagna from my FAVORITE recipe blogger -- her stuff is soooooo good I wouldn't even dream of tweaking it. To go along with it we had a simple salad of spring greens and our traditional crescent rolls (yes, Pillsbury) -- one of which is 3 points. Oh, and they are vegan! Not healthy, mind you, but vegan nonetheless.

It's our tradition to decorate cupcakes instead of coloring eggs. This is my tweaked version of a carrot cupcake recipe found in Isa Chandra Moskowitz's book, "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World". Without frosting they are 2pts ea -- I usually just let the gang go crazy with the different colored frostings & sprinkles while I blissfully nibble on mine naked (the cupcake is naked, that is, not me!)

Orange Carrot Cupcakes

(This recipe is halved to make only 6)

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup grated or shredded carrots

1/8 tsp baking powder

3/8 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

1/8 tsp salt

1 TBS grapeseed oil

5 TBS plain or vanilla soy yogurt

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1/2 orange

Preheat the oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with 6 cupcake papers.

Wisk the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add the wet ingredients and blend well. Evenly distribute the batter between all 6 cupcakes. Bake for about 23-27 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the muffin tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack. Cool completely before frosting/decorating.

Hoppy Spring, have an egg-cellent day!!!!!

Kiss me, I'm Irish!

And that's no blarney, neither :) Yet I confess we don't go all out for St. Patrick's Day. Maybe it's because March 17th falls so close to Ostara, the first day of spring -- a holiday we DO celebrate. Either way, my family and I wear our green, and we eat some sort of Irish inspired foods at our meals.

If you'd like a nice dinner idea, click here -- my Imbolc menu would make a lovely St Pat's feast.

This year we're very busy and so going quite simple -- that means cabbage & onions, along with "tatties in their jackets" (aka baked potatoes with the skins on). I'll roast a few carrots, too, and we'll have our traditional soda bread as always, along with a glass of Guiness, of course :)

Irish Soda Bread

WeightWatchers POINTS: 2

· 4 cups (1 pound) flour (I like whole wheat pastry flour)
· 1 teaspoon baking soda
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 1/2 to 3/4 pint of soured soymilk*

Mix dry ingredients together. *Add 1tsp white vinegar to 1 cup of soymilk and set aside for 5 minutes. Mix the soured milk with the rest of the ingredients and stir to form a loose dough. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth. Form into a round about 2 inches high and make a large X with a sharp knife in top of dough. Bake on a baking sheet misted w/oil at 375 degrees for 45 minutes. Makes 1 loaf, 8 servings.

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May the road rise up to meet ye, and the wind be always at your back!