Pepperidge Farm and Better Homes & Gardens magazine partnered in a contest to find new, original recipes for their puff pastry products back in December.

I submitted this recipe and won the grand prize of an all expenses paid trip to New York City and a possible mention in Better Homes & Garden magazine. The idea for the recipe came from a late night discussion with my husband about the wonders of puff pastry - the recipe is really his idea, manifested with my tastes in mind. There's a tiny little blurb in the May 2010 issue of the magazine on a Pepperidge Farm advertisement and the recipe is up on the Pepperidge Farm website along with three other recipes that won their categories in appetizer, main course, and dessert. There is a Farmer's Breakfast Tart, Jalapeno Poppers in a Blanket, and Creamed Bananas in Puff Pastry Shells. All look delicious, especially the jalapeno poppers - I might have to try those out.

I feel very honored to have won the contest and would like to thank all of those that voted for my recipe. My sister, brother-in-law and I will be taking the trip to NYC next week and I'll be sure to post all about that soon. My sister and I will be taking a master cooking class at the French Culinary Institute with Andre Soltner - something I'm very much looking forward to!

If the idea of eating an entire pizza made of puff pastry sounds daunting, try turning these into little hors d'oeuvre-size tarts.

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I think one of the most difficult aspects of moving about the country every couple of years is the quick disappearance of regional flavors. I grew up on the West Coast, mostly in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State and then spent the last near-two years on the Central Coast of California. And, just as in other regions of our fair nation, we had our indigenous delicacies and delights that are near impossible to find anywhere else.

One of those particular favorites was the Meyer Lemon. Until I departed the Left Coast I had no idea that Meyer lemons were a largely regional fruit, grown mostly in California. Although, to be fair, there's no such thing as a true Meyer lemon anymore, considering that I was born well after the 1950s I'm not going to gripe too much.

Meyer lemons are milder and sweeter than your typical grocery store Eureka lemon and, sliced thin enough, even the peels are edible.

Here on the East Coast I discovered that Meyer lemons are nigh impossible to find unless one knows a grower personally.

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I'm so officially sold on this Kalamansi Tree I got last week at the farmer's market.

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