kitchen rap

• in the spotlight… A Parade of Easter Goodies
• new to the kitchen
• Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh's Easter Food Memories
• from Kathleen's recipe box... Cider-Roasted Leg of Lamb with Butter Beans & Polenta
• from Kathleen's recipe box... Lemon Cream Pots
• publishing and subscription information

Golda's Kitchen has everything you need to make mouth-watering treats for your little bunnies and chicks in celebration of Easter. Bunny and egg pans turn an everday cake into a delicious holiday centrepiece or tasty cupcake treats. And a wide range of Easter cookie cutters, icings, and decorations provide all the kids need for an afternoon of fun.

View our complete list of Easter baking supplies.

Easter cake pans bunny $14.00 each info stand-up bunny $17.00/set info egg $14.00 each info stand-up egg $15.50/set info lamb $15.00 each info stand-up lamb $15.50/set info stand-up duck $21.00/set info cross $15.00 each info	mini cake and cookie pans   mini bunny pan, 6 cavities $15.00 each info mini egg pan, 8 cavities $15.00 each info mini egg pan, 9 cavities (non-stick) $28.00 each info mini decorated egg pan, 9 cavities (non-stick) $41.00 each info bunny cookie treat pan, 6 cavities $12.00 each info
cookie cutters and stencils   bunny cookie cutters, set of 9 $10.50/set info Easter cookie cutters, set of 9 $10.50/set info mini Easter cookie cutters, set of 6 $5.50/set info bunnies, nested set of 4 $7.50/set info bunny cookie cutter & stencil $3.50/set info Easter egg cookie cutter & stencil $3.50/set info Easter cookie stencils, set of 5 $4.75/set info	cake and cookie sprinkles Easter sprinkles, 2.5 oz $3.50 each info Easter egg sprinkles, 2.5 oz $3.50 each info Easter sparks, 2.5 oz $3.50 each info sprinkle assortment, 4 varieties $9.00 each info sprinkle assortment, 6 varieties $10.00 each info bunnies & chicks icing decorations, 11 pieces $4.00/pack info mini eggs icing decorations, 18 pieces $4.00/pack info small eggs icing decorations, 12 pieces $4.00/pack info Springtime icing decorations, 12 pieces $4.00/pack info
baking cups   bunnies & chicks, pack of 50 $2.75/pack info Easter eggs, pack of 50 $2.75/pack info Easter patchwork, pack of 50 $2.75/pack info	chocolate and lollipop moulds bunnies, 13 cavities $4.00 each info ducks, 6 cavities $4.00 each info Easter lollipop, 9 cavities $4.00 each info Easter treats lollipop, 9 cavities $4.00 each info eggs, 8 cavities $4.00 each info
treat and party bags bunnies & chicks $3.00/pack info Easter eggs $3.00/pack info Easter patchwork $3.00/pack info	chocolate and candy kits egg $8.00/kit info Easter lollipops $12.50/kit info hard candy lollipops $17.00/kit info

Keurig coffee and tea brewer

Enjoy your own perfect cup of gourmet coffee or tea -- brewed fresh and delicious -- in less than a minute with no grinding, no measuring, and no waste with the new Keurig single cup home brewing system.

The Keurig brewer is perfect for single coffee/tea drinker homes, or homes where one person prefers coffee and the other tea, or one prefers their coffee mild and the other strong. The brewer is also excellent when entertaining, as each guest can select their preferred variety of coffee or tea, and all can be prepared and served within a matter of minutes.

The Keurig brewer uses innovative K-cups, highly sophisticated mini-brewers. Inside each plastic K-cup is a cone-shaped, pure paper filter with the ideal grind and quantity of your favourite coffee or tea. The K-cup is sealed air-tight to keep light and moisture out, and to lock in freshness and flavour. Pressurized hot water (heated to 185°, the optimal temperature for brewing coffee) flows through the K-cup to brew the perfect cup of coffee or tea.

Since one cup is brewed at a time, every person can select their personal coffee or tea preference. To brew, just open the lid, place the K-cup inside the brewer, close the lid, and press the brew button. You can select either a regular cup size (7.25 ounces) or a smaller cup (5.25 ounces) for a more intense taste profile. After brewing, open the lid, remove the spent K-cup, and you're ready to brew the next cup. Since all the brewing takes place inside the K-cup, there is no residue left in the brewer to contaminate your next brew, allowing you to switch between strong coffees and delicate teas without rinsing.

The brewer has a removable 48 ounce water reservoir as well as an internal water reservoir which pre-heats the water, allowing a fresh cup of coffee or tea to be brewed within seconds. The drip tray catches any spills, or can be removed for filling a travel mug. The LCD display shows the time of day, prompts you during the brewing process, and allows you to program brewer on and off times.

Golda's Kitchen is pleased to offer a selection of Timothy's World Coffee gourmet coffees and tea for use with the Keurig brewer. A sample pack of 18 coffee and tea K-cups is included with each Keurig brewer. Packs of 25 K-cups are available in 7 varieties of gourmet coffee (including mild, medium, and dark roasts, as well as flavoured and decaffeinated varieties) and 3 varieties of tea. And each cup of gourmet coffee or tea costs less than the comparable cup at the coffee shop.

As I enjoy the lovely coral-coloured tulips and butter yellow primula that sit on my desk, outside my window a very blustery late winter storm is doing its best to convince us that spring is far away. Yet a few weeks from now it will be Easter and, though I remember many that have been similarly snowy, like everyone else at this time of year, I am yearning for milder temperatures and a bit of green. Pastel coloured eggs, dark chocolate bunnies, roasted leg of lamb with fresh mint sauce, ham on the bone with English mustard and a big pan of old-fashioned scalloped potatoes, these are the foods I continue to associate with Easter.

As a young girl, after a breakfast of boiled eggs with toast and tea, I would trip off to Sunday school on Easter Sunday. Complete with new bonnet perched on bouncing ringlets, short white gloves, navy blue spring coat and gleaming black patent leather shoes, I walked to church already thinking about the wonderful aromas I knew would be waiting on my return. Sometimes my Mum roasted a leg of lamb but more often than not, it was a big, pink ham cooking in the oven that filled the house with its sweet spice fragrance thanks to its brown sugar crust studded with cloves. Baking alongside and bubbling in its own rich sauce would be those wonderful scalloped potatoes, speckled golden brown, whose layers included thinly sliced white onions. Accompanied by bright green Brussels sprouts tossed in butter and followed by either a sharp-and-sweet tasting rhubarb tart with whipped cream or sky-high lemon meringue pie -- Mum's was the best -- this was one of my favourite holiday dinners.

So, in tribute to remembered and the current foods of Easter, here are a few of my favourite things that are tailor-made to welcome the new season.

Until next time, cook and eat with love,

Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh

Kathleen Sloan-McIntosh is a Toronto-born food writer whose work has appeared in major Canadian newspapers and magazines. She it the author of seven cookbooks: Rustic Italian Cooking, The Global Grill, The Sticks & Stones Cookbook (with Ted Reader), The Wine Lover Cooks (with Tony Aspler), Great Potatoes: A Cook's Guide to Over 150 Delicious Recipes, A Year in Niagara: The People and Food of Wine Country, and New Celtic Cooking (with Ted McIntosh)

Cider-Roasted Leg of Lamb with Butter Beans & Polenta

This method of cooking a leg of lamb at a lower temperature for a relatively long length of time results in a very tender, well-done piece of meat. While it has been the culinary vogue for some time to cook lamb just to medium rare, I often think that lamb really benefits from this longer, slower cooking method -- just as my Mum would have preferred! Read the entire recipe through before you begin. You may want to prepare the butter beans ahead of time as they reheat easily.

To serve, remove as much excess fat as you can from the lamb's roasting pan. Place the pan over a low heat and add the remaining cider to deglaze the pan, scraping up any bits clinging to the bottom of the pan. Let this boil briskly for a few minutes, then strain into a little saucepan and keep warm. Taste for seasoning. Slice the lamb. Divide the polenta among 6 warmed plates. Spoon the butter bean mixture on top and around the polenta. Lay slices of lamb over top and serve immediately with the reduced cider mixture.

Makes 6 servings

Lemon Cream Pots

Sort of a cross between a parfait, a custard, and panna cotta, this lovely, lemony sweet is perfect after a spring lamb or chicken dinner. It's especially good when sided with a little bit of rich, dark chocolate. Or use cooked rhubarb to serve as a topping or a base. Use traditional custard cups or ceramic ramekins for this recipe.

1. Preheat oven to 325°F (165C).
2. Combine the lemon juice and sugar in a small mixing bowl and whisk to completely dissolve the sugar. Set to one side.
3. Whisk the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl. Gradually whisk in the cream, then the lemon juice mixture, making sure to thoroughly combine all the ingredients.
4. Carefully pour the mixture through a fine sieve into another bowl. Stir in the lemon zest and let the mixture stand for a couple of minutes.
5. While the mixture is resting, place custard cups or ceramic ramekins in a baking pan. Use a ladle to half-fill each cup with the cream mixture. Carefully pour enough hot (not boiling) water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the cups. Lay a large piece of parchment paper or foil loosely on top of the cups and place in the centre of the oven. Bake for 30 minutes or until custard is set.
6. Remove from the oven and transfer the cups to a baking tray. Let cool, then loosely cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. Serve in the cups garnished with a leaf of mint.

Makes 8 servings