A Very Veggie World and Country Crock

Fun decoration at the entrance.

Volcanoes with cranberry lava. Eggplant wagons with zucchini wheels. Pizza with mozzarella stars and tomato stripes. It sounds like a fantasy world. It's no fantasy, but it is A Very Veggie World, a book of 25 veggie-fun recipes by Clare Crespo in partnership with Country Crock.

I attended the launch of this wonderful little book yesterday in New York City with my fellow Crock Country Chronicle Correspondents. It was more than just the usual book launch, though - it included a hands-on cooking demonstration by Clare Crespo herself. We teamed up at 4 different stations and created 2 of Clare's recipes from the book, the Veggie Wagon and the Pizza Flag. Not only were both very simple to prepare (even for kids, there were several there as well) they were yummy, proving that veggies, in the spotlight and not hidden, can be delicious for grown-ups and kids alike.

Clare Crespo, the author of “The Secret Life of Food” and “Hey There, Cupcake!” is personable and sweet and her enthusiasm for all things veggie just shines. She walked us through each recipe step-by-step, stopping at each station to offer praise, encouragement and tips when needed. The children who were at the event had fun making, and especially eating, their creations as well. Each recipe used the freshest of vegetables prepared using Country Crock spread in a simple and easy-to-do manner and the results were picture perfect and palate pleasing at once. Get your own FREE copy of Clare's beautiful book at A Very Veggie World or at Country Crock.

Enjoy the photos below of some of the recipes from the book, the beautiful food served at the launch and the participants making their own versions of Clare's recipes.

One of the Asparagus Bouquets at the entryway.

Each table was decorated with these centerpieces.

Veggie Pets

Beautiful Butterflies

Fall for Them Leaves

Crocky the Caterpillar

Mt. Veggie Volcanoes

One of the framed photos of Clare's work: Veggie Stoplights and the display below

Clare Crespo greeting the crowd

The beginning of our Pizza Flag

My team, Toni, Caroline and Laura decorating the "flag"

Our finished Pizza Flag! Not only pretty, but delicious.

Hippo Dip

The main table filled with veggie goodies

Eggplant Wagons in the making

Adding sauce to the veggies that will fill our wagons

Filling veggie wagons

Eggplant Wagon train!

*Disclosure: My trip to NYC for the launch of A Verry Veggie World and my posts for Country Crock are sponsored, compensated and/or reimbursed by Country Crock and Unilever. As such, all content and opinions are required to be honest and belonging wholly to myself.

Lime Tart with Coconut Crust

Lime Tart with Coconut Crust

Wow, is this stuff ever good. I don't know how else to start this post because this tart turned out so well I wanted to eat the whole thing. I settled with a single fork-full and fed the rest to the kids, who liked it just as much.

The filling is nearly identical to my favorite Key Lime Pie, but the crust is the real star of the show here. Lime zest, flaked coconut and butter ... what's not to love? I think it's perfect from now until oh ... Christmas? Yeah, that would work.

Use Key limes if you can get them. They're sweeter and smaller and worth the effort to find.

Close-up of the crust. Mmmmm.

Lime Tart with Coconut Crust
Makes on 9-inch pie
Printable Recipe

1  9-in pie shell
5 egg yolks
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup lime juice
Zest of 1 lime (about a teaspoon)


Preheat oven to 375. Make the tart crust first and reduce heat to 350.
Put the yolks in a large bowl and beat them with a whisk, just breaking them and mixing
them well. Slowly stir in the condensed milk. Mixing well, stir in the lime juice. Pour the filling into the
tart shell (below). Bake for about 12-to-15 minutes. Remove and cool completely before cutting.
Serve with freshly whipped cream if desired.

1 1/2 cups shredded sweetened coconut
6 Tablespoons unsalted butter
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 teaspoon lime zest
pinch of salt

Combine butter and coconut in a large bowl. Beat with a hand mixer until well combined. Add zest and beat just until incorporated. Stir in flour and sugar with a wooden spoon. This is a sticky dough - flour hands or coat with more confectioner's sugar.

Press into and up sides of a well-greased, fluted 9-inch pie pan with a removable bottom. Bake at  375 degrees F. for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Set aside while making pie filling.

Funny Cake

Once in a while someone comes along and reminds me about a food I've eaten in the past that I completely forgot about. Such was the case not too long ago when I was reminded of funny cake and I decided to take that memory and augment a little.


When I was a young child in the 70s my mother went through a phase where she would purchase milk and eggs from a delivery truck. I couldn't  remember who the older man was that delivered those items in his step van, but I'll never forget his visits.

I would sit out on the front stoop of our home on Linden Street in Bethlehem with my stepdad and wait paitently for the truck to come. Mom would sometimes be with us, and she was always the purchaser, but my step-father and I were the watching committee. As soon as the truck would roll down the hill, if she wasn't there already, we would call for mom.

She always bought eggs and milk, but some weeks there would be extras. A tin of potato chips, a bag of pretzels, a wet-bottomed shoo-fly pie for my step-dad and, not often enough, a funny cake for my brothers and me. We'd devour it in one sitting and wish for more.

Mom never made shoo-fly or funny cake; I think it may have been something she considered an Amish secret, shrouded in mystery and not to be uncovered by mere "English" (what the Amish call the rest off us) people. Or she just may not have had a recipe.

Once I was older I discovered recipes for both. My first time with shoo-fly pie was disaster. Pie filling puffed up and dripped out of the pies and into the bottom of the oven. Blackened molasses is like no other odor in the world. Funny cake was made now and then, but not often enough - just the way mom bought them. In fact, I don't think my kids would recognize one if they were introduced to it.

I called mom to inquire about the deliveries and the man who made them and she told me that all she remembered was his last name: Fegely.  After a quick search on the internet for milk deliveries in the Lehigh Valley by a Fegely, I came across Howard Fegely, owner of Fegely's Dairy and founder of Limeport Stadium. I have no idea if the man who delivered our milk was related to the dairy Fegely's, but I did try my best to find out and turned up empty-handed.

No matter, I made funny cake for the kids and they did exactly as expected; they devoured it in no time because some memories are just more delicious than others.

Funny Cake
Makes one 9-inch "cake"
Printable Recipe

1 - 9" unbaked pie crust
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg - beaten
1/4 cup butter or shortening (shortening or lard would be more traditional here)
1 cup flour
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cream butter or shortening with sugar until fluffy and add egg. Blend well. Add remaining ingredients and pour into a 9-inch unbaked pie shell.

1/2 cup granulated sugar
6 Tablespoons hot water
4 Tablespoons cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Blend these together and pour over the first part in the shell. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. While baking the chocolate settles underneath the vanilla part and makes a gooey chocolate layer.

Choucroute Garnie

Living in Pennsylvania, one is nearly forced to have pork and sauerkraut on New Year's Day or face the threat of being shunned. It's kind of like football; don't claim to love another football team but the Eagles, or else (ahem, we all know I'm a Steelers fan - rule breaker that I am).

I get away with liking the Steelers because they're a Pennsylvania team, so I figure I can get away with pork and sauerkraut any way I like as long as those 2 ingredients are in it - right? Of course.

My very favorite way to have pork and sauerkraut is in a dish I found many years ago that hails from the Alsace region of France, which is located on the Eastern border of France adjacent to Germany and Switzerland. The dish is choucroute garnie, which in French means "garnished sauerkraut". At its most basic it's simply sauerkraut and pork with potatoes, but the region itself adapted those simple ingredients by adding to them making a truly spectacular preparation.

At first glance things like junpier berries and cloves might scare one away from trying this, but you must trust me that without them, it's just not the same. There's a depth and complexity of flavors here that meld together and make the sauerkraut mellow and rich.

I typically make this with the potatoes right in the pot with everything else, but I find everyone likes this better over mashed potatoes, so I now make them separate. It also gives the pickiest of the kids something else to eat in the event they aren't wanting the rest that day.

First, though, what are juniper berries? Well, one whiff of their pungent aroma will give a clue. Juniper berries come from trees, specifically junipers, a species of conifer. They give gin its characteristic flavor and are used in many food preparations. If you are not able to find juniper berries (Penzeys.com is always good) then a shot of gin will do for this.

Though I've made this in a heavy pot on the stove, I've taken to putting it all in a slow cooker and I actually think the flavor is better that way. If you don't have a slow cooker, the usual stove top method is fine as well.

Choucroute Garnie
Serves 8 - 10
Printable Recipe

1 medium onion-sliced
5 slices bacon-diced
3 cloves garlic-sliced
1 lb kielbasa cut in 2" lengths
1 lb boneless pork ribs cut in 2" cubes
1 lb sweet sausage - like country style - cut in 2" lengths
2-16 oz bags sauerkraut-rinsed and drained
2 cooking apples peeled-cored and cut in thick slices (I like Granny Smith for this)
2T brown sugar
6 whole cloves
6 juniper berries-or 1 shot of gin
1 bay leaf
1t freshly ground pepper
1c white wine
Hot cooked mashed potatoes for serving

Saute bacon and onion with garlic until onion is tender but not browned.
Add meats and saute until no longer pink.
Add remaining ingredients and simmer until meats are tender-about 45 min.
Remove bay leaf, cloves and juniper berries before serving over potatoes.

If using a slow cooker, layer sauerkraut, onion, garlic and apple in the bottom of the pot. Pour over wine and add cloves, juniper berries, bay leaf and brown sugar. Grind pepper over all and add meats to the top. Lid securely and cook on high for 3 hours. Stir once to combine ingredients and cook until meats are completely done, about 1/2 an hour longer. Remove bay leaf, juniper berries and cloves before serving over potatoes.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Once again, I'm still here. Just in case you were worried. Life has gone and taken a complete 180% turnaround, though, and that's good. That's very good.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

I've moved again recently and am still getting settled. I'm pretty sure that will take the next year or so, but the kitchen (the most important room in the house) is almost finished and getting quite the workout already.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

I made these savory breakfast rolls today and the kids devoured them almost before I could grab a couple good ones for photos. Luckily for you, I was quick enough. The recipe is sort of whatever you'd like as a filling, but I'll tell you what I did and you can change it up to your heart's desire. I made one batch with sausage and bacon and the other with sausage, bacon and peppers.

Savory Breakfast Rolls

Savory Breakfast Rolls
Makes 8
Printable Recipe

One batch of biscuit dough for 8 rolls (or a can of 8 LARGE biscuits)
2 Tablespoons butter - melted
8 ounces breakfast sausage cooked and diced
4 ounces bacon cooked crisp and crumbled
1 cup prepared Alfredo sauce
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

 Heat oven to 375 degrees F Roll biscuit dough to a 12 x 8 rectangle.
Spread with butter followed by 3/4 cup Alfredo sauce.
Sprinkle evenly with sausage, bacon and cheese.
Roll up from short end and cut evenly into 8 slices.
Place into a round baking pan that has been lined with parchment or otherwise greased.
Flatten each roll slightly.
Bake for 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool for 5 minutes and top each roll with remaining Alfredo sauce.

*If using peppers or peppers and onions, dice small and cook first until soft. Use approximately 1/2 cup.Add with meats and cheese.