Watermelon Fruit Basket

These are so fun to make. These fruit baskets can even double as a center piece on a small or crowded table since they are so cute to look at but also serve a practical purpose.

I've made these for birthdays, showers, and bbq's. This particular basket was made for our Easter brunch table this year. I kind of had to make it in a hurry because everyone was ready to eat! The boys always play wiffle ball in the backyard, and once they are called inside to eat, they are not willing to wait long or else they comment about how they could still be playing outside. hahaha :) 

First, wash your watermelon. Then, rotate it around until you find which side would make the best bottom:

Place the tip of a sharp serrated knif right under the watermelon- right there where it is touching the counter top- and gently spin the watermelon around to etch a circle under your watermelon. Then take your knife and carefully shave that circle to create a 'foot print' for your watermelon to stand on (or else it might rock back and forth later and dump your salad out)... BUT be *very cautious* NOT to break into the red part of the melon.

With your melon standing on its 'footing', take your knife tip and etch the handle and sides of the basket. Essentially, it will just be two big wedges that you are cutting out. Make sure the two sides are basically even and matching before you cut into it. 

Cut the two wedges out and save them for eating later... I gave mine to the boys that were playing wiffle ball outside. 

Then carefully slice along the underside of your basket handle and release the entire inner section of fruit. 

Then use a melon-baller to get all the fruit out of the inside of the melon basket. 

*TAKE IT EASY at the bottom of the basket. Remember that foot you cut out of the bottom? If you are too aggressive getting the melon out, you might go right through the bottom and end up with a leaky basket (I guess there are worse things in life)

Then carve any detail you like around the edge of the basket. Mine isn't the prettiest or most professional-looking (since the boys were on their way in), but you get the idea here:

Then mix your melon balls with any fruit assortment you like for a fruit salad. Here is the final product presented on our easter brunch table:

I usually like to decorate around my basket with pretty and edible foliage, like grape leaves on a curly vine or bright orange nasturtiums.

Since your are removing all the melon from inside the basket and then filling all that melon PLUS other fruits back into the shell, you will have enough mixed fruit salad to fill and refill the fruit 'basket'.

Egg 'McMuffin'

I call these Egg 'McMuffins', but they're really more like omelette muffins, or a crustless quiche, or maybe even more like mini frittatas. 


I made these one morning for Pete and a few of his buddies a while ago when they came down for a Saturday morning in Laguna. That morning, Pete and I took an early Saturday morning stroll and walked down to the market to get some groceries for breakfast. Peter got a call on his cell phone and the next thing I heard, he was saying, "Sure, Meg's about to make breakfast- come on down!" Suddenly, my menu changed and I had to get back and throw a feast together fast! I had never made these before, but it was the easiest way to throw together a bunch of breakfasts for a bunch of boys with about NO times notice. They were such a hit that I have loved making them ever since then. This week, these little egg muffins made their debut as our St Patricks Day pots of gold :) 


Besides the fact that they are fun and fast for breakfast, they are also great because you can use ANY ingredients that you would normally like in an omelette or quiche. PLUS, they are awesome to keep in the fridge and reheat for an instant breakfast on a work morning. That's what we have been doing all week; Pete has just been loving these quick healthy little 'omelettes'. 


Recipe (for a large (6 muffin) sized muffin pan): 

• 10 Eggs
• 1 cup Skim Milk, or fat free Half & Half
• 1/2 cup shredded Cheese (I use low moisture part skim Mozzarella, but Cheddar, Gruyere, or Swish would be good too)
• Toppings (I use 2 Bell Peppers- 1 red & 1 green, 1 diced Yellow Onion, for the boys I added 8 oz. lean Sausage, I just used the veggies for Peter and I and it was great too!)
• *Optional 1/2 teaspoon Salt

Directions: 

1. (*If using sausage or bacon, cook that in your pan first.)
2. Heat some Canola oil in a sautee pan and cook your diced onion and bell peppers for a few minutes. 
3. Whisk your eggs and milk together (you can add a little salt here too. If you are using a breakfast meat though, those are usually pretty salty already; also cheese adds a little salt to it as well)
4. Spray your muffin tins with nonstick spray.
5. Divide your sauteed veggies and/or meat evenly between the muffin tins. 
6. Ladle the eggs into each muffin tin over the fillings
7. Sprinkle a little cheese on top of the egg
8. Bake at 400 degrees F for about 20 minutes. 

Bake until they puff and golden on top:

Look at how beautiful and golden they get!

However, they do deflate within minutes of pulling them out of the oven. I've tried using a little baking powder whisked into the egg mixture to make them stay puffed... but that just leaves a funny taste to them. 

Nevertheless, these deflated little omelette muffins are still SO SO yummy and convenient just the way they are. 

I let these cool, then store them in the fridge in a giant ziplock bag. I've been SUPER busy with work and have had a lot of early mornings, so these are great for Pete. He just pulls one out heats it in the microwave and dabs a little tapatio on it. Instant homemade breakfast to go!

Other Ideas: 

• If you have guests staying the night, you can make these ahead of time and cover them in the fridge until the morning when you can bake them off fresh.
• You can toast a whole grain English Muffin and put one of these little egg muffins between it to make a breakfast sandwich.

Cranberry-White Chocolate Chip Cookies

These are such pretty cookies. The burgundy and the white just make them so fancy looking. Definitely a good change from the casual classic Chocolate chip cookie. They are great for special occassions in the office, Valentines day, and they are also great for the Holidays- baked goods and cranberries just scream 'Christmas time'! In fact, these are the cookies that Santa requested for Christmas eve at our house this year. Peter Santa LOVES these! 

Ingredient List:

1/2 cup Butter, softened

1/2 cup White Sugar

1/2 cup packed Brown Sugar

1 Egg

1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

1 1/2 cups Flour

1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda

1 cup dried Cranberries

1 cup White Chocolate Chips

In a large bowl cream together the butter and sugars:

Then beat in the eggs and vanilla. Lastly, add the flour and baking soda and mix until just barely combined. (do not over mix here because you have to stir again when you add the chips and berries, and overmixing the flour will yield tough little cookies):

Fold in the dried cranberries and white choc chips:

Spoon dough balls onto baking sheet about 2 inches apart:

Bake at 375°F for 8 - 10 minutes or until cookies are lightly goldened.

This sounds silly, but whack the entire cookie sheet onto your countertop to release air from your cookies before you transfer them to a wire rack to cool. This will help to start the flattening process if you don't like fluffy, cakey cookies (like me). I love chewy cookies-Mmmmm..  No cakey cookies here! :)