before i left for my canadian vacation, my friend lish and i got together to brainstorm about our summer events and to celebrate spring.

we set up a beautiful outdoor lunch complete with blooming eucalyptus table runners and lavender + grapefruit cocktails. all the food we cooked up was inspired by jenni kayne’s new book, pacific natural. and my favorite dish was a version of her mushroom and ricotta crostini.

i LOVE using lavender (if my logo wasn’t a dead giveaway) as a replacement for most dishes with rosemary. that light, floral herb is the perfect compliment to zesty red wine vinegar mushrooms and my creamy homemade ricotta cheese.

ricotta + lavender mushroom crostini

serves: 8 crostini

prep time: 10 minutes

active time: 10 minutes

total time: 20 minutes

ingredients: 8 slices of your favorite baguette. .5 cup homemade ricotta. 1 cup slice cremini mushrooms. 2 tbs butter. 1 tbs chopped lavender (you can sub rosemary if you don’t have any lavender). 2 garlic cloves minced + one extra clove to rub your bread. .25 cup red wine vinegar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp freshly ground pepper. edible flowers for garnish, optional. baking sheet.

start by toasting your bread. place your baguette slices on your baking sheet and either toast them in toaster oven or baking them in the oven at 375 degrees F for 7-10 minutes. you want your toast to be a light golden brown.

while your bread slices are toasting, heat your butter over medium high heat until the butter is bubbly. add in your mushrooms and season with half the salt and pepper. toss everything well till the mushrooms are lightly butter coated. cook until the mushrooms get a nice brown, about 5-7 minutes, stirring about halfway through.

add in the garlic, lavender and the red wine vinegar. season with the rest of the salt and pepper and stir everything well.

cook until the liquid has completely cooked down. about 3 minutes.

once your baguette pieces of toasted, brush each piece of baguette with your garlic clove.

spread each piece with a nice layer of ricotta.

top the ricotta with your cooked mushrooms.

garnish with your edible flowers and serve.

xo, a

ricotta + lavender mushroom crostini

serves: 8 crostini

prep time: 10 minutes

active time: 10 minutes

total time: 20 minutes

ingredients: 8 slices of your favorite baguette. .5 cup homemade ricotta. 1 cup slice cremini mushrooms. 2 tbs butter. 1 tbs chopped lavender (you can sub rosemary if you don’t have any lavender). 2 garlic cloves minced + one extra clove to rub your bread. .25 cup red wine vinegar. .5 tsp kosher salt. .25 tsp freshly ground pepper. edible flowers for garnish, optional. baking sheet.

start by toasting your bread. place your baguette slices on your baking sheet and either toast them in toaster oven or baking them in the oven at 375 degrees F for 7-10 minutes. you want your toast to be a light golden brown. while your bread slices are toasting, heat your butter over medium high heat until the butter is bubbly. add in your mushrooms and season with half the salt and pepper. toss everything well till the mushrooms are lightly butter coated. cook until the mushrooms get a nice brown, about 5-7 minutes, stirring about halfway through. add in the garlic, lavender and the red wine vinegar. season with the rest of the salt and pepper and stir everything well. cook until the liquid has completely cooked down. about 3 minutes. once your baguette pieces of toasted, brush each piece of baguette with your garlic clove. spread each piece with a nice layer of ricotta. top the ricotta with your cooked mushrooms. garnish with your edible flowers and serve.

valentine’s day is upon us and the day is going to be pretty low key over here at la casita costa mesa.

wes has to work that night (restaurant life) so we will be celebrating with our traditional lobster tails & my caesar salad another night. we have even toyed with the idea of venturing out to celebrate twice and try a new restaurant that has been on our list. restaurant tbd of course because the list is long and we haven’t picked a winner yet.

but my love of valentine’s day is strong and so you know i will be celebrating with a special treat.

i’ve been dreaming of these blood orange and lavender muffins for a while now. the lavender in my garden is starting to grow strong again and the blood oranges are gorgeous right now so i lucked out and they came together right at my favorite time of year.

now, while the final shot looks great, what you don’t see is that i made these once and burnt them to smithereens because i was doing too many things at once. just keeping it real. keeping it realer, i still ate three of the burnt ones because the inside was still soft and insanely delicious.

blood orange + lavender muffins

serves: 12 muffins

prep time: 10 minutes

active time: 10 minutes

bake time: 30 minutes

total time: 50 minutes

ingredients: 2 cups flour. 2 tsp baking powder. 1 tsp kosher salt. .5 cup (1 stick) butter. 1 cup sugar. 2 eggs. .5 cup milk. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 2 blood oranges, zested and peel removed (one orange you will segment and chop and one you will juice half the orange and slice the other half thin for the muffin tops). 1 tsp fresh lavender leaves or 1 tsp finely chopped dried lavender flowers. muffin tin and muffin liners. stand mixer or hand blender.

start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f. in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand blender, combine the sugar, butter, lavender and blood orange zest. cream together the butter and the sugar.

add in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract.

pour in half the flour mixture, followed by the milk and blood orange juice and then the remaining flour mixture.

finally, add in the blood orange segments and stir till just combined.

fill each muffin tin two thirds of the way to the top.

top each with a blood orange wedge.

bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

serve warm or at room temperature.

xo, a

blood orange + lavender muffins

serves: 12 muffins

prep time: 10 minutes

active time: 10 minutes

bake time: 30 minutes

total time: 50 minutes

ingredients: 2 cups flour. 2 tsp baking powder. 1 tsp kosher salt. .5 cup (1 stick) butter. 1 cup sugar. 2 eggs. .5 cup milk. 1 tsp vanilla extract. 2 blood oranges, zested and peel removed (one orange you will segment and chop and one you will juice half the orange and slice the other half thin for the muffin tops). 1 tsp fresh lavender leaves or 1 tsp finely chopped dried lavender flowers. muffin tin and muffin liners. stand mixer or hand blender.

start by preheating your oven to 375 degrees f. in the bowl of a stand mixer with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand blender, combine the sugar, butter, lavender and blood orange zest. cream together the butter and the sugar. add in the eggs one at a time followed by the vanilla extract. pour in half the flour mixture, followed by the milk and blood orange juice and then the remaining flour mixture. finally, add in the blood orange segments and stir till just combined. fill each muffin tin two thirds of the way to the top. top each with a blood orange wedge. bake for 25-30 minutes until lightly golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean. serve warm or at room temperature.