What's for breakfast...

Strawberries are in season... this is perhaps my favorite recipe for them!

Strawberry Bread

Perfect for breakfast... or great with a cup of tea in the afternoon...

for recipe click HERE!

You will not be disappointed!

via The Entertaining Kitchen

Lowfat Strawberry Raisin Bread wth Orange Essence

I know you're thinking, Waitaminute! Strawberries aren't in season! No, they are not. But when you freeze them just after they've been freshly picked you can enjoy them in baked goods and smoothies all year 'round while not worrying about the damage you are causing our environment -- ie jet fuel used to power a 747 across the country to bring your fresh strawberries to your table.

I happen to have a couple of Ziplock bags filled with the freshly picked fruit in my freezer. I also love them in baked goods with raisins. Might sound odd, but it is a delicious combination!  Add a little touch of orange and, magnifique!

Ingredients:

3/4 cup of sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup of lowfat sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp orange extract
2 cups unbleached flour
1 cup raisins
1 cup finely chopped strawberries (if you are using frozen, chop them frozen and toss them in frozen -- They will thaw quickly this way)

Directions

Heat oven to 350 degrees

In a large mixing bowl add your eggs, sugar and sour cream and beat on high. Add orange essence and baking powder, mix well. Add flour, mix well and scraped down sides and bottom of bowl as necessary to incorporate all the flour. Add raisins, mix well and fold in berries. Your mixture will turn a lovely shade of pink!

Spray a loaf pan with a non-stick spray and add your batter. Bake for 1 hour, testing for doneness. Some ovens may require an additional 10 minutes.

Strawberry Freezer Jam

I think I'm making up for my months of absenteeism! The oven has been on non-stop and the mixer and mixing bowls and spatulas have had more use this weekend than they have the past few months!

I went strawberry picking with the kids on Friday and came home with what seems like 10 pounds of strawberries that are going to turn quickly if I don't do something with them... fast! I made strawberry scones this morning. (Recipe to follow shortly) and a Strawberry Tea Bread. This barely made a dent in my strawberry population.

Jam uses a lot of strawberries. I have never made jam before. I just recently learned of Freezer Jam. Essentially it's a no cook jam. Easy. Brilliant, I thought I would give it a try. I went to the store and bought some pectin, measured out 4 cups of strawberries, 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then mashed the strawberries and added the sugar and pectin and stirred the soupy stuff for 3 minutes as indicated on the package. When my time was up I poured it into jars that I let rest out on the counter for 30 minutes to set and solidify.

Still too many strawberries left over, so I repeated the steps above and made another batch. I'll have lots of jam stored up in my freezer. Unless I can find lots of friends who like home made strawberry jam!

I did notice that one package of pectin (Ball) was specifically for freezer jams. The other was not. I will let you know if there is a visible difference in appearance or taste or texture.

Ingredients:

4 cups of strawberries, cut and stems removed
1 package of pectin (preferably that for freezer jam -- by Ball)
1 1/2 cups of sugar

In a bowl combine pectin and sugar
In a separate bowl mash strawberries. When well mashed add the pectin-sugar mixture and stir for 3 minutes.
Pour into desired containers.
Let sit out for 30 minutes before placing in the refrigerator or serving.

Note, this is a very sweet jam. I added some salted butter to my toasted freshly made bread. My toast was divine! I do love the fresh strawberry flavor as opposed to the flavor of cooked berries from most jams.

(For more strawberry recipes please see my side-bar. Thank you!)

Grape Tomato Salad & Goat Cheese for Bruschetta

I think this will become my new stand-by. It was simple, fast, portable and delish!

The busy weekend ended with a bang. We met up with a couple friends for a late afternoon get together at the beach. We brought sandwiches for the kiddos, wine, drink and appetizers for the older set.

I wanted something yummy, relatively healthy and portable. So I made tomato bruschetta of sorts. I cut up (about 2 cups) of grape tomatoes -- sliced them as thinly as possible, and marinated them in about 2 tbs. of olive oil, sea salt, 2 tbs, of minced basil and thyme. I let it all marinate in a plastic container for a couple of hours. (Same plastic container I brought to the beach to cut down on dishes!)

From the bakery we picked up a fresh Baguette that they sliced for us.

In a ramekin I put some herbed goat cheese.

On our picnic table I set everything out and people could make their own Bruschetta!

Had we not been at the beach, I would have toasted up the bread to make crostini... and had I used a plain goat cheese I would have added 1 or 2 cloves of minced garlic to the tomatoes.

I also brought along some of the fresh strawberries we picked the other day and the Ricotta Creme to dip the strawberries into. Yum-Yum!

Strawberries with Ricotta Creme and Chocolate Pound Cake

On The South Beach Diet one of the desserts I love is their Ricotta Creme. It tastes like the inside of a canoli. It's divine. So I adapted the dessert to suit my children (substituted Splenda for powdered sugar) and served it with our healthy freshly picked berries and a chocolate pound cake. But you could serve it on a regular pound cake... or banana bread. This was actually a bigger hit than I expected!

To make the ricotta creme:

2 Cups of part skim ricotta cheese
6 Tbs. powdered sugar (Rebecca wanted it a tad sweeter)
2 Tsp. vanilla extract

Pour ingredients in to a food processor (I used my mini prep) and pulse until smooth and creamy like whipped cream as pictured below.

(Note: Strawberries used did have imperfections as I was trying to use the ripest berries first.)

To make the dessert as pictured above cut a slice of pound cake and cut it in half. Warm it a bit (in the microwave about 12 seconds and place a layer of the creme over the bottom layer of the cake and top with sliced strawberries. Place the other layer over the berries, top with creme and place a whole berry on the top of that. Voila, an easy and perfect dessert!

The kids were so delighted with their little dessert that I decided to make myself a bite-sized piece. Isn't it cute? It would be perfect to serve at a party or bring to a pot luck! It definitely tasted every bit as good as it looked!

And since I had some left over banana bread I had to make a little sample of that... delish, but the chocolate was stronger and the flavor held its own whereas the banana flavor was lost. I suspect these would be fabulous on a traditional pound cake as well.

For a fabulous pound cake recipe check out Martha Stewart's... and if you subscribe to her magazine you will know that she has many featured this month! And of course Martha has a recipe for chocolate pound cake as well!

Strawberry Pancake Shortcake?!

Still have over 4.5 pounds of strawberries to use up... had leftover pancakes from yesterday's breakfast that I had placed in the freezer. How to make the same breakfast seem different? Layer the strawberries in between the pancakes, add a small dollop of whipped cream, topped off with a strawberry and it's an instant kid favorite!

Pancakes and Strawberries

The kids wanted pancakes. I had lots (and lots and lots) of strawberries. Bakerella's Blog made my mouth water. But I loved my packaged pancake mix. Really love it. So much so that I would rather make my pancakes from an Anut Jemima box than from scratch. Not a Bisquick box though. Don't like those pancakes.

I follow the directions on the box and I add 1 tbs of vanilla. (I add vanilla to everything.) I also add 1/4 Cup of milk in addition to what they recommend. And 1 Tbs of sugar to the batch (for 25 pancakes). The result is light and airy pancake perfection. Topped off by fresh strawberries that had been maranating in Maple Syrup for a little while. Strawberry Maple goodness. That all disappeared!




I alway make extras that I freeze to have on hand for a later date. I find, for the kids, a perfect pancake size is created by using a small ice cream scoop filled with batter.

Strawberries and maple syrup... would be good with...

Red Leaf Lettuce with Strawberry Sherry Vinaigrette

The kids and I went strawberry picking today. We had the most delightful time and came home with 5 pounds of strawberries that must get used fairly quickly. I had some very soft, very ripe strawberries and decided to play around and make a dressing. I do not typically like anything sweet in my salad. Asian dressings are my exception. I was not sure how this was going to turn out, but I was absolutely delighted with the end result! I promise this is not at all a sweet dressing. If anything the sweetness of the berries cuts into the acidity of the vinegar.

The recipe couldn't be easier!

1/3 Cup olive oil

3 Strawberries

3 Tbs. Sherry Vinegar
Sea salt and pepper to taste

In a medium sized bowl mash the strawberries with a fork until it looks like a puree. (You will need to use a very ripe berry. Hand-picked berries are less firm that the store bought varieties and work better)

Pour olive oil and vinegar in to the bowl and mix well. Using a strainer, pour the dressing into a jar.

Pour desired amount of dressing onto salad.

Add some crumbled feta cheese and if you do like a little sweetness in your salad add a few sliced strawberries.