Quick and Easy Strawberry Tiramisu

A great use of local, fresh strawberries that will
 soon be available for picking at our local farms.

With the Spring holiday and graduation season in full gear and the invitations for house parties increasing, many of us will be accepting invitations with this common closing comment: I'll bring dessert. 

If you don't bake very often you may be tempted (as I often am) to go for a store-bought solution. But you must agree, while store purchased goodies are certainly appreciated, there is something truly special and personal about home made creations. They are not just gifts of food, but of a person's time, and are as fun to give as to receive.

This Strawberry Tiramisu recipe is easy and pretty enough to make even a novice like me look like a pro. If you make this in a rectangular baking dish, we recommend presenting this in a slightly larger flat basket lined with colorful kale and garnished with long stemmed strawberries. For a more personal touch, make your own version of strawberry jam or compote.
(click "read more" for recipe and to continue reading this post)

PEACE VALLEY LAVENDER FARM – Bucks County, PA, provides the special ingredient in Grilled Salmon with Lavender and Honey Lavender Ice Cream

The perfectly named Peace Valley Lavender Farm

I was quite intrigued when my sister first told me about a farm in Doylestown, PA that grew and harvested lavender. Even with expectations high considering the farms name and my sister’s gushing description, I still had one of those “oh my” moments once we reached our destination. I can’t imagine a more appropriately named location than Peace Valley Lavender Farm.  

The farm is perched on a hill, with fields of blue-violet blossoms carpeting a view of a rolling countryside that includes Peace Valley Park and Lake Galena. 

During our visit Patti Lyons, who is co-owner with her husband George, explained that they harvest several varieties of lavender used for products made in the farm's workshop.  


A quaint and well appointed gift shop on the premises provides a selection of products for bath & body, as well as floral arrangements and home decor products. Gift baskets on display during our visit seemed like perfect mother’s day gifts. For more information regarding the farm and their wide selection of products, visit their website here.

For those, like us, interested in the culinary applications of lavender, the shop sells lavender infused honey (8 oz. $6), Organic Dark Chocolate Bar with lavender ($3) and organic culinary lavender (5oz $6). Recipe cards with a small packet of product attached, such as the one we used to make the cookies above, are available for those wanting to try a sample ($2). (click "read more" for recipes, photos and to continue reading this post)

Update: MIKONOS Restaurant in Ewing, NJ

It seems alot of people are searching the web for MIKONOS Restaurant in Ewing. We know this because most of those Googlers are winding up at our little site here.

     Last week we mentioned in a Side Dish post that we stopped by a new restaurant, Mikonos in Ewing. We mentioned that they were brand spanking new and still working out kinks, but were overwhelmed - in a good way - with new customers who simply saw the Grand Opening sign and ventured into the restaurant.
     The restaurant does not have a website yet, so this blog is where those seachers land. With that in mind, we've added some information for those of you looking for MIKONOS.

     One reason that may be fueling the public attention is that the restaurant had been undergoing renovations for months, and area residents have been teased with the prospect of a new dining spot during that entire time, myself included.

     I stopped in Mikonos again and hopefully we will soon be doing a feature here. In the interim, information is available on the front of the scanned takeout menu above. 

     If you go, or oder takeout, remember they are in the early stages of operation and didn't expect to be so busy. I have to admit, I enjoyed the souvlaki very much. 

Contact information and a note from the back of the menu:

MIKONOS Restaurant  

50 Scotch Road

Ewing, NJ 08618

609-883-9333

fax: 609-883-9332

Side Dish - what we're reading, eating and talking about . . . Gourmet Books, André's Wine & Cheese Shop and Bravo TV's Top Chef.

Andre's Wine & Cheese Shop's Sweet Pita Pie:
 Fig jam, goat cheese, salami, sundried tomatoes

Used book shops are a great place to pick up cookbooks for a fraction of their original cost. We came across a shop in Doylestown, PA, Central Books at 35 West State Street, that had a nice selection of relatively new cook books in excellent condition. I picked up a 1994 edition of Gourmet’s America published by Condé Nast Books. It was a bittersweet pick-up as it reminded me of how much I miss receiving the now deceased monthly edition of Gourmet Magazine. The website version is certainly worthy of its namesake print predecessor for content, but it lacks the tactile pleasure of the published version. I was shocked when I first heard of Gourmet’s demise and couldn’t understand the basis of Condé Nast’s decision to cease publication. At the time, Vikram Doctor wrote an excellent piece in the Economic Times breaking down the breakdown of the Ruth Reichl edited Gourmet. It’s still available online here and is a good read for anyone interested in the state of food journalism . . . While in Doylestown and  upon recommendation from our friends at Central Books, we stopped for a bite to eat at André’s Wine & Cheese Shop (22 South Main) . It was our first time at Andrés and we will definitely be back. The selection of imported cheese was excellent and we found the cozy atmosphere quite charming  . . . Finally, it’s not often that a cooking show makes you cry.  But as we watched the finale of BravoTV’s Top Chef All Stars , it was hard not to tear up at the emotional finale last week while watching Michael Isabella and Richard Blais bare their creative culinary souls and put it all on the line in their head to head battle. That such a long competition could be decided by such a small margin was extraordinary; it was not unlike watching two great marathoners simultaneously lean for the tape.  As devoted followers of the show we have declared this the best season yet. According to the ratings, we were not alone in our opinion.

Side Dish - what we're reading, eating and talking about . . .

If you have even a modest interest in the Garden State’s fresh, organic or local sourcing food scene, you should be reading edible Jersey. I devour every beautifully photographed and well written issue. Both the print and online magazine are filled with resources for farm to table shopping and special events. Even the advertisements are must reads, for an introduction to new places or a reminder to make a return visit to a few old favorites  . . . Kudus to our friends John and Lisa at the wonderful blog Eating in South Jersey, they received a mention in New Jersey Monthly's Best of NJ Issue . . . Yesterday I stopped by a new Greek restaurant, Mikonos in Ewing, NJ, basically on a whim. I found the owner beside himself. He was positioned for a slow, soft opening and he and his team were not ready for the sheer volume of diners that lined up for lunch and  streamed in for dinner. He was shocked at the traffic generated by simply hanging a "Grand Opening" sign out front. Not that he was complaining, he smiled as he admitted it was a nice problem to have. This got me to thinking, we often read about the 60% failure rate of new restaurants, but how many properly planned, financed, managed and marketed restaurants serving great food and offering excellent service succeed? Who keeps that stat?  . . .

Picked up these sweet little brussel 

sprouts Wednesday 

they made a lovely companion to an Angus T-bone. Onion, olive oil, butter, salt & pepper were the only other ingredients needed to create this . . .

It’s April 1st, which means goodbye to: snow (we hope), green beer and too-short days and hello to: daffadils and asparagus- evidence that the growing season has begun, the opening of seasonal Community Farmer’s Markets and the swapping of treadmills and stationary bikes for outdoor tracks and pavement.