It's that time of year again!

Spring is here without a doubt, and maybe even shades of summer. As we head to the coast for a kite festival (granted, it's going to be 15 degrees warmer here in the valley than over there), I'm packing some home made cheese spread for our sandwiches.

Tell me if you know what this is, or if you have fond memories of it.

Low carb faux mashed potatoes: no way. Way!!

I've read no/low-carb freaks rave about using pureed cauliflower as an alternative for mashed potatoes.

The thought made me a little ill.

But, I endeavored to try it, in an attempt to find a lower carb side dish. I followed this recipe, and the results...

Damn surprising. Similar texture, similar taste. We were both rather surprised, pleasantly!

The only notes I would add to the recipe are these:

• I cut the head of cauliflower into 8 pieces. "Small" was rather vague in the recipe.
  
• The water was boiling, and I added the vegetable and reduced the head to med-hi, and boiled for an extra minute due to the time it took to get back up to boiling.
  
• I added a bit over 1/8 tsp of Better Than Bullion Chicken.
  
• The butter is added to the top; I put no butter in the recipe itself, but did add more salt/pepper.
  

Baked Stuffed Shrimp Imperial

If you love crab, and you love shrimp/prawns, then I high recommend this recipe. I used prawns (about 15 ct per lb) and hand picked local Dungeness crab meat I got from Fitts, doubled almost everything that went into the Imperial Mayo (except the mayo) to give it a bit more kick, then added a tablespoon or two more bread crumbs to the stuffing to accommodate.

And I was so thrilled with how it turned out I did not take a picture. Dammit! Too busy eating it as we dined with Scot's bro and sis for a little early birthday celebration for him.