Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars

I pretended it was really spring and almost summer as I made this flavor combo. My Jim loves his strawberry rhubarb pies in the summer, so I hoped these bars would hit the spot.

I made a few small mistakes with the first try.

 

The first try I didn't press the crumb mixture firmly into the pan. I dumped it in and scooted it to the edges, pressing slightly. This made for crumbly bars. They tasted great and we ate most of them but they sure weren't neat. The bottom crust never really came together.

My other mistake was that I used foil to line the pan. The foil stuck horribly to the bars. I may have ingested tiny bits of the foil that just didn't come off. Oh well.

So this second try I hope the bars are much better. They are headed to my work for a friend's 40th birthday surprise!

So I did firmly press the oat mixture into the bottom of the pan. I also used parchment paper to line the pan, and I can tell already that they will cut much easier.

Yay! Great for breakfast or dessert!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp Bars.

 

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Triple Berry Jam and TB Cheesecake Bars

 

I am new to canning. I made freezer jam last summer with fresh berries but I didn't think I could complete the canning proccess on my glass top stove. I went to a canning demonstration with my friend Ann at Williams Sonoma and I asked about what I would need to change for my appliance. The canning "expert" was of the opinion that if I can keep a pot of water at a constant boil there is no reason why I can't can! So I accepted the challenge and hope that I won't kill anyone with my canning :)

I couldn't buy one of the cheap canning pots at Walmart (Granite Ware) because they are a thin porcelain that could melt on my glass top. Doh! So I looked online for suggestions.. I found one lady who cans using her ordinary stockpot and pasta insert!

I gave it a try. I followed all of the regular directions otherwise- boiling the jars and metal lids, cooking the fruit mixture, and boiling the filled jars for 10-12 minutes to complete the process. I used the recipe inside the pectin box.

 

I did make two minor mistakes. I forgot to stir the jam once the mixture was in the jar AND I forgot to wipe the rims of the jars after they were filled. I don't think either had any effect on my end product. I made low-sugar strawberry jam a few days later and didn't forget these two things. The jam still looked separated so I don't think it's really a big deal. You just stir when you first open the jam! Same recipe source.

 

The canning process? Easy enough. I heard the distinctive POPS! as the jars sealed. I didn't hear all eight pops, but I was a bit busy washing the ton of dishes afterwards so maybe I missed some of them.

And it tastes delicious! I had some jam that didn't fit in my prepared eight half pint jars so I waited for it to set a bit and then spread it on some toast. Delicious! I used a low sugar pectin, which required only 4 cups of sugar for this batch. Four cups sounds like a lot but not when compared with the regular jam recipes. My jam is still REALLY sweet.

I think I had three pieces of toast this day. Shhhhhh!

A few days later I had an urge to bake something. I googled recipes that use jam and found this recipe from a blog that I'm very familiar with. (I think that's key in finding great recipes. I don't just trust any one anymore- too many lost ingredients and energy spent with loser recipes!)

The best part? Low fat recipe! Low guilt :) This only made a small pan of cheesecake bars. Plenty for Jim and I to nibble on it for a few days!

 

The cheesecake bars again..

 

I loved that this recipe used Greek yogurt. I appreciate the graham cracker crust but I think it could use a bit more! I also think the cheesecake part could use a tiny bit more sugar (the blogger noted this too) but my husband said it was just fine. I guess as long as you get jam in each bite you don't really notice!

A very good recipe. A keeper!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake Bars. (It doesn't matter which kind of jam you use!)

So of course my son is refusing to try the jam. I kind of figured he wouldn't like the Triple Berry (seeds) so I made the plain strawberry, which looks like the stuff we buy from the grocery store. He wouldn't have any on HIS sandwich today. I don't feel too offended because he's just that way sometimes- sometimes he just likes the peanut butter, no jam. I'll be ready when he wants jam in his sandwich again!

My PB&J with strawberry jam!

 

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White Zin Sangria with pineapple, nectarine, strawberries, and lemon

I made sangria just because!

 

I have so much fruit in the fridge right now. I have strawberries, raspberries, nectarines, pineapple, bananas, lemons, apples, limes... I knew I needed to do something. I thought ice cream but I'm the only one who eats it, really. Sangria? Jim will partake :)

So I found a recipe that used up some of the fruit and I also had most of the other ingredients so I gave it a go!

White Zinfandel is not really my wine. I had a bottle leftover from some event and figured it would be better in a sangria than for regular drinking.

This sangria is light, fruity, and perfect for sipping on a hot day. I would make it again but I wouldn't usually have white zinfandel or peach schnapps in my house. They are both gone now!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Sangria.

 

Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream

Who is Angie?! I know, but this recipe has been passed around from blogger to blogger from someone who originally knew Angie. Angie must have created this recipe. We thank Angie! It's a moist, fruity sweet cupcake with the most delicious creamy whipped frosting. The frosting even has strawberry puree/chunks, which was simmered with a tiny bit of Cointreau (I didn't buy the strawberry liqueur, others declared it unnecessary).

I was home with my sick son so I didn't notice that I didn't have many mini cupcake liners to choose from in my cabinet. I made do with the creepy spiders! These mini cupcakes are for Bosses Day at my school. My boss is NOT creepy!

I made mini cupcakes because there will be a spread of food for the Bosses. Minis are easy to grab, for a quick taste. I'm expecting my work friends to provide an assortment of bars, cookies, dips, and other goodies for our Bosses.

My diet can't handle the madness!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Angie's Famous Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Buttercream.

 

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

I made this cake for Easter. I've had this recipe bookmarked for a long, long time and I finally decided to try it.

There's a lot of frosting on this cake. Cream cheese frosting. Very sweet! I think this was okay because the cake wasn't overly sweet. It was almost pound cake-like.

Here's James' sighting of the CAKE. I missed the moment that he stuck his finger in the frosting and declared it "GOOD!"

The cake was made in a very deep cake pan. I couldn't find one locally so I used my springform (cheesecake) pan and it worked well. The batter was pretty thick so I crossed my fingers that it wouldn't leak through the bottom. To my great relief it was fine :) The cake was then sliced in half lengthwise for these layers.

A traditional strawberry/sugar mixture also was layered into this beauty.

And lots of frosting!

 

Good stuff! It was a heavier dessert than I had hoped for but delicious! I guess if I wanted lighter I should have gone with an angel food cake. Oh, that reminds me of the chocolate angel food cake I used to make. I need to find that recipe!

 

 

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Cake.

 

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I picked SEVEN pounds of strawberries yesterday. It actually didn't take too long. James was at daycare so I went by myself and picked fast.

I used a reduced sugar pectin and followed the directions in the box for Freezer Jam. I had first bought boxes of regular pectin but was horrified to read that for every four cups of smashed strawberries I'd need THREE cups of sugar. Too much. My Facebook friend Sylvia told me that she used the reduced sugar pectin successfully to make her freezer jam. I went back to the store and found it. Four cups of smashed strawberries and just one cup of sugar. It is definitely sweet enough! The strawberries were awesome to begin with so they barely needed sugar, really.

The recipe is very easy. From about 5 1/2 pounds of strawberries I ended up with twelve 1-cup containers of jam that will stay good in the freezer for up to a year. I think I might need more because I'll probably give some away :) We're definitely picking more strawberries next week since I didn't have enough this time for this ice cream.

The recipe was in the pectin box but I did find it online here.

4th of July Strawberries

I saw these on a food blog but the idea is simple- white chocolate dipped strawberries with blue sparking sugar.

They are very sweet but also very pretty!

Strawberry Sorbet & Cantaloupe Sorbet

Fruit sorbets are so easy. I just need to keep my ice cream bowl in the freezer at all times, so I'm ready to whip it out for the ice cream maker. I was expecting guests, one who is lactose intolerant, so I was pretty excited to make something I knew she could eat. Well, my son got sick and I canceled the Oprah party. I have all of this sorbet around the house and no one is eating it. (My husband likes his sweets but I think he'd rather have chocolate something-something. Oh well, more for me!)

I cut back on the sugar a bit in the recipes, knowing that the fruit was already pretty sweet. The strawberries were some of the most perfect, ripe strawberries ever- well, next to the pick-your-own at berry farms, and the cantaloupe was also very perfect and delicious. Such great fruit for sorbets!

The strawberry sorbet was smooth and creamy. Perfect! The cantaloupe sorbet was a bit icy, good though. I think it was because the cantaloupe sorbet called for a bit of white wine. I used a bit of vanilla vodka in the strawberry sorbet, which keeps it from icing up. I think next time I would use vodka in both. Who knows if that's what made the difference?

Anyway, refreshing and wonderful!

Of course these ice cream recipes came from The Perfect Scoop but I've found them online as well.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Sorbet.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cantaloupe Sorbet.

Strawberry Extravaganza!

I went a little nuts today with the strawberries. My son and I went strawberry picking and we came home with 5 pounds! I didn't really have a plan but I found some easy things to make that didn't require a lot of planning or extra supplies.

First up, strawberry preserves. I don't have a finished picture, like on toast, but so far so good. I opened a jar and it seems to have set well and it's nice and chunky with fresh strawberries. It's also a little tart from the lemon zest and juice. Yum.





Second, the Strawberry Rhubart Tarts. I went searching on one of my favorite food blogs for anything with strawberries and rhubarb and this was perfect. It was something new when I really wanted to go with something familiar, like last summer's Strawberry Handpies, so I'm glad I headed into the unknown. I really am very glad that I made these, they are wonderful! I loved that I got to use my little tartlet pans and they are a perfect portion size. (We tend to overeat our sweets in this house :)

I was a little confused when I followed the recipe at the end, mixing the strawberries and rhubarb with cinnamon, brown sugar, and an egg. I figured it would work out well. Uh, yeah!

In between making the top two delicious items I was making Strawberry Frozen Yogurt, from none other than David Lebovitz. So easy! I think I might have found my favorite way to use my ice cream maker. It feels healthier using organic plain yogurt instead of the heavy cream and whole milk, and eggs, and lots of sugar.

It felt like all day I was cutting strawberries, mixing with it sugar, and letting it get happy for a while before using it in my cooking/baking. Lots of dishes going on! It was all so worth it! I'm trying to decide if I should go strawberry picking again next week- maybe make a whole pie! Oh my Jimmy would love me so much if I made a true strawberry rhubarb pie! (Did you notice that every sentence in this paragraph ended in an exclamation mark?!)

Yes, exciting stuff! Great day! :)

I am sharing some of the jam (it made two half pint jars), probably with my mother-in-law, and then I froze the remaining tarts after Jim and I each had one for dessert. I'm sure Jim will dig in tomorrow again though :)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Preserves.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Frozen Yogurt. (Perfect Scoop)

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Tarts.

Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

I can't wait to make this ice cream this week! We are going strawberry picking, hopefully tomorrow, and I have great plans!



They include making at least one of these-



Mmmmm strawberry floats! This is another of my childhood favorites.

This ice cream is creamy, tangy, and just so freaking good!

This recipe is from the Perfect Scoop, home of the most perfect ice creams, but the recipe is online too.

Click here for the stolen recipe for Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream.

Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries

This recipe isn't so much a recipe but a concept. I actually "cheated" just like the blogger I stole this from and I used a prepared cheesecake filling. So it was REALLY easy. The strawberries are hollowed out, a little cheesecake filling is spooned inside, dredge the filled strawberry in some graham cracker crumbs, and then drizzle the chocolate on the strawberry. Done!

We're strawberry picking next week... I think I might need to make some of these!

Click here for the stolen recipe for Cheesecake Stuffed Strawberries.

Pesto Fraise Basilic (Strawberry Basil Pesto)

I didn't even know this kind of pesto existed until I was looking for a pesto recipe on the same website that wrote about the herb freezing technique. I typed in "pesto" in the search and many different kinds came up. I figured I'd try a traditional recipe, but maybe half it because I only had a handful of basil from my basil plants. And then I saw strawberry basil pesto. I wouldn't have imagined that combo.

So I made it because I had a lot of strawberries that were almost over ripe, and I knew my son wouldn't eat them. I had all of the ingredients so I decided to be wild and crazy.

I wish this had been crazy good but it was just good. It tastes like a sweet pesto. It looked pink at first but now its a dull gray green.

Click here for the recipe for Strawberry Basil Pesto.



I tried a bit of it in some pasta with chicken and cherry tomatoes. It was a light sauce, not overpowering.

I think I like regular pesto. I am intrigued by sun dried tomato pesto though... I saw that recipe on that blog. Maybe soon.

Juicy Strawberry Scones

This is technically my first post though I think I'll go back and post some other pictures/recipes from the past.

I'm going to start this separate blog just for food. I'm starting to become known as a foodie and I like the compliments but I feel like a fake. I love to follow a good recipe but I can't take the credit for it! I am a recipe thief, or a recipe ladrona! Most of what I make turns out really well and it's because of the great bloggers that I steal from- Good Things Catered, the Pioneer Woman, Annie's Eats, the Brown Eyed Baker, Cara's Cravings, Smitten Kitchen, the Way the Cookie Crumbles, and oooooh Bakerella! The other greats are listed in the side column of this blog.


Well, on to the scones! I tried these out today to see if they were worthy of an Easter brunch. I think they are :) I ate three of them! They were kinda small, so get off my back, okay? I had to make sure they were tasty.

Click here for the stolen recipe.