My grocery store has been doing a very good job of catering to my need to immerse myself in all things spring, stat. I walked in a few days ago and was greeted by a huge tower of daffodils. Behind them was an equally large tower of asparagus, and behind that, a sea of red strawberries. Needless to say, I wound up leaving with a cheery bouquet of daffodils, a couple of bundles of asparagus, and more strawberries than I could ever (reasonably) eat fresh so I simply had to bake a treat.
I’d like to call this strawberry-lemon buttermilk bread, mainly because I’m eating a slice with my morning coffee as I write this, but it’s really more of a cake and I’ve got to say, it’s everything I wanted it to be: light, bright, optimistic, and tasting delightfully like spring. The crumb of the cake is tender and moist, there’s a strawberry in nearly every bite, and the lemon glaze is a much-needed pop of sunshine.
One surefire way to determine the success of a recipe is to eat the dish every night for a week and if you find yourself craving more after it’s gone, you know you’ve got a winner. For instance, you know a batch of baked shells is worth sharing with the world (and by “the world” I mean my mother and the three other kind souls that read my blog) when you single-handedly take down three-quarters of the pan and, when they’re finally gone, you find yourself wishing for just one more dinner’s worth. Forgive me for a moment while I lament the fact that these little beauties will not be my dinner again tonight.
In a continued effort to simplify my life, spend less money, and wash fewer dishes, I came up with this recipe for roasted chicken thighs and radishes. And, of course, I’m always on a mission to eat well. I’m happy to say, this chicken covers all of my needs.
Twice last week I had the good fortune of running across a recipe that I couldn’t wait to try and, more remarkably, I actually had all of the necessary ingredients for each recipe on hand and ready to roll. My luck continued from there, as both recipes turned out every bit as good as I had hoped and will undoubtedly work their way into my repertoire.