easter menu

lee and i don't do any religious holidays, but sometimes it is a nice excuse to have a lovely dinner. this year, we barbecued with our upstairs neighbors and had some great food!

marinated tofu kebabs
lamb kebabs
2 different kinds of mint sauce: english mint sauce and yoghurt mint sauce
mushroom and pea risotto
balsamic glazed pearl onions
a spicy green bean and tomato dish with feta cheese

and finally, carrot cake with lemon cream cheese frosting, served with salted caramel ice cream! again, no pictures, but i am getting notoriously bad at remembering to take photos these days!

carrot cake (makes 1 10-inch cake) adapted from a recipe for torta di carote del veneto from cucina ebraica by joyce goldstein

1/2 c butter (1 stick)
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
2 c gluten free all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp salt
approx. 1 lb. carrots, grated
1/2 c almond meal (i sucessfully substituted cornmeal here this time because one of the neighbors is allergic to almonds...)

1. preheat oven to 350 and grease and line a 10 inch spring form pan
2. in a bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. add the eggs, ginger, vanilla extract and lemon zest. mix thoroughly.
3. add flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. mix well.
4. fold in carrots and almond meal.
5. pour into prepared cake pan and bake until golden--about 45 minutes. cool, then frost with:

lemon cream cheese frosting

1/4 c butter
1/4 c cream cheese
2 c confectioner's sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

1. cream together softened butter and cream cheese.
2. add confectioner's sugar, 1/2 c at a time, until all is added and well blended.
3. squeeze in the juice of 1/2 a lemon and blend.

D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S!