Happy Birthday America!

Happy (late) Fourth of July!

I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday! I had a nice 4-day weekend which I spent playing outside and relaxing with family and friends. On the Forth, we went to a cookout with some friends who were in town for the weekend. I decided to make a yummy, light, patriotic treat. I saw this idea online somewhere and thought it would be perfect....Red, White, and Blue Strawberries



First you need to clean and dry your strawberries (if they're wet, the chocolate won't stick correctly).



Then you need to melt your white chocolate. I used little baking chips and melted them in a bowl in the microwave. Make sure you stop every 20-30 seconds to stir the chocolate. Also, make sure you don't over cook it!



Next, dip the strawberries into the chocolate so that it covers 2/3 of the berry. Then let some of the excess chocolate drip off (or if you're impatient like me, you can scrape some of it off with a spoon...too much chocolate makes the sprinkles look weird). After you've dipped the strawberries in chocolate, dip the bottom 1/3 in blue sanding sugar.










Finally, let the strawberries dry on foil and then ENJOY! I would recommend making these the same day that you plan to serve them. Since the strawberries sweat, the blue sugar starts to run and can cause a mess...although their still good!



And as a side note, here's a picture of my Aunt Mary and my dad picking transparent apples at a friends house. My Aunt Mary was complaining because there were no pictures of her on here...now there is! She made some delicious applesauce with these apples!

Hawaiian Strawberry Pie

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there! We had a wonderful cookout with my dad last night to celebrate. I was responsible for bringing the dessert so I thought I'd use all the wonderful berries I've picked lately to make a new recipe I found.

I saw the recipe for Hawaiian Strawberry pie on http://joelens.blogspot.com/ last week. I immediately thought it would be a great recipe for the cookout...I was right, it was a big hit! Yummy, and nice and light for a HOT afternoon. Here's the recipe:

Hawaiian Strawberry Pie
recipe inspired by Baker's Square/Village Inn Restaurant

1 (15oz) can crushed pineapple, drained
1 (8oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sugar + 2 tablespoons
2 cups whipped cream (homemade or store bought)--(I used cool whip)
1 9-inch baked pie crust (homemade or store bought)--(I used store bought graham cracker crust)
1 pint fresh strawberries, washed, hulled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup coconut flakes, toasted
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted--(I didn't use the pecans)

Place pineapple in a sieve and smash it to a pulp to release the juice. Reserve juice if desired but you won't need it for the rest of the recipe. Transfer the pineapple pulp to a large bowl.

Combine the pineapple, cream cheese and 1/2 cup sugar in a large bowl. Fold in 1 cup of whipped cream.

Transfer the pineapple cream cheese filling to the baked and cooled pie crust. Spread evenly to fill the crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours.

While pie is chilling, combine the strawberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar; set aside to macerate to release the juices. Drain the juices and set aside just before serving.

Just before serving the pie, top the pineapple cream cheese filling with the macerated and drained strawberries. Sprinkle toasted coconut flakes and chopped pecans over the top for garnish. Pipe the remaining 1 cup of whipped cream on the edge as a border and serve

Straaaawberries!!!!!!!!

I love strawberry season and hate that it lasts such a short time! Strawberries are a late spring fruit and depending on the weather the season can be very short! It's about the end of strawberry season for those of us in Indianapolis. Plus, we had a LOT of rain lately and it seems like the few strawberries that are left are rotting on the vine :(

We don't grow our own strawberries. If I remember correctly, we tried a few times when I was much younger and had little success. I rely on the local farmer's market to provide me with these delicious treats.

I know not everyone has the time, energy, land, or growing ability to have their own garden. Just because you don't garden doesn't mean you can't enjoy fresh, local, in season produce. No matter where you live, I'm sure you can find a farmer's market close by. There are tons of them in the Indianapolis area on a variety of days, times, and all around town. I personally like the Broad Ripple farmer's market the best. It's held on Saturdays from 8-12. I think there is best selection at this one. Even though it's about 30 minutes from my house, it's totally work the drive!

This week my mission was to find strawberries, buy them in bulk and freeze them for the winter months. Unfortunately, I had to go to a different farmer's market this week (stupid rain storm on Saturday morning!) and my strawberry selection was minimal. However, I was able to buy and freeze some. Here's what I do:

Buy yummy strawberries, bring them home to rinse and cut the stems off.


Then I place them on a pan and freeze them for about 30 minutes. This allows each strawberry to freeze separately so they don't all stick together in the bag.


After they've frozen, I place them in a freezer bag and save them for the winter when I'm craving fresh fruit.


Usually around February I'm dying for good fresh fruit. This is when I pull out the frozen strawberries and use them in a healthy, organic smoothie. I combine the frozen strawberries, organic yogurt (any flavor, although I like strawberry, peach, or vanilla), and organic milk. Blend and enjoy! It's so simple and delicious! Sometimes I'll add a little honey to make it sweet or even some cinnamon for added flavor.

If you thaw the strawberries they will be mushy, not so tasty! So I also use them in baking. Strawberry bread and muffins are great treats!