CATW: Suriname, Pork and shrimp pepper pot

Drum roll please ... my latest global culinary endeavor was this pork and shrimp pepper pot from Suriname. A delicious, creamy stew with spicy habanero pepper. Yum! Check out my other blog for details.

Easter Eats

If there's one thing I love more than a good dinner party, it would be dining as the guest of an equally as (or more) skilled culinary mastermind.

For Easter this year, I got to be an esteemed guest in my SoBe partner in crime's beautiful new home and enjoy a wonderful spread of traditional lamb and mint jelly, with all sorts of fixings.

Of course I'm not one to show up as a guest empty handed. For the cocktail hour (or hours as is the case with my friends) I whipped up these Rachael Ray Sage Sausage Bites with Balsamic Apricot Dip. These little Italian sausage meatballs are always a big hit with a sauce that offers the right mix of sweet and savory.

For dessert, I whipped up one of my all time favorite desserts - one I also consider an Easter staple. Carrot cake. I could not resist trying the Cake Boss Buddy Valastro's recipe, and turned to Ina Garten for the cream cheese frosting. The cake was perfectly moist and flavorful, and the cream cheese frosting rich, but not too sugary.

My efforts, however, were quite humbled by the spectacular spread. I'd never had lamb with mint jelly before, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavor combination (courtesy of Tyler Florence's take on years of tradition). It was lucky too that I saved room after the cocktail hour, since I could not get enough of another one of my friend's veggie pizza, a cream cheese, ranch dressing spread covering croissants and topped with carrots and broccoli. This recipe looks pretty similar to the one she told me.

Of course one of my favorite stars of the show were the lamb cupcakes another friend showed up with. The loving detail with which she placed little white chocolate chips to look like fur, and marshmallows for ears was just priceless!

Forget diamonds ...

... I think if Marilyn Monroe were a food friendly female around today, she'd have a new BFF. What woman's life isn't considerably enhanced by a KitchenAid?

At least that's how I feel now that I've acquired one.

I'm staying mums as far as the blog is concerned about how I acquired it. But I will say while some other things in life don't work out, the KitchenAid and I are looking forward to a long and happy relationship.

I took the honor of christening it on Easter Sunday by making one of my all time favorite desserts - carrot cake. Two words: life changing. I never would have imagined homemade cream cheese frosting so smooth, so fluffy, so quick and easy.

So yeah ... forget the diamonds. If anyone ever wants to marry me, I'm going to suggest going cheap on the ring. If you're going to spring a few thousand on me, I think I'd rather upgrade to one of those bad ass KitchenAids they auctioned off at the South Beach Food and Wine Festival. I'm thinking hot pink ... autographed by Emeril Lagasse ... Just thinking.