Friday, June 28, 2013

June 28, 2013

We went strawberry picking this week, and it was fabulous!  All the kids had a great time, we ladies had a great time, and we picked so many delicious ripe strawberries!!  The kids loved the baskets that we got to keep, and we topped the day off with fresh strawberry lemonade slushies.  Strawberry juice stained shirts and fingers, and our tongues were red for hours!

We've been eating the strawberries all week with every meal, and used them in desserts, smoothies, slushies, on cereal!  We can't get enough, but alas, they are now all gone.  We will definitely be heading back to the farm next year, and if we can fit it in, we may even go again in the next couple of weeks!  The keeper recipes of the week are strawberry shortcake cups (you make the biscuits in muffin tins- adorable), and strawberry limeade slush.  I just had to try to recreate the slush we had at the farm, but I only had fresh limes on hand, so we twisted it from lemonade to limeade. It was really refreshing, and you can easily swap the limes for lemons, just use what you've got on hand.  We enjoyed our slushies while watching the Blackhawks win the Stanley Cup!  Go Hawks!!!

We are looking forward to another slow-paced summer week with trips to the pool and the zoo, hanging out with friends, and trying out some new recipes.  The kids have agreed to help organize all my loose recipes and get them into binders as long as they can pick a few to try.  I think this is a great idea!  We will get the recipes into binders and clear out the piles in my kitchen bookshelf.  The kids will not only help me cook but also help select this week's menu!  Should be interesting....  Check back next week to see what they've picked out...hopefully we'll have a few new keepers on our hands!

Happy Cooking!

New Recipes
Strawberry Shortcake Cups
Strawberry Limeade Slush




Strawberry Shortcake Cups



Ingredients
* Fresh strawberries
* 2 tbsp sugar
* 1 1/2 cups AP flour
* 1 tbsp baking powder
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 cup cold butter, cubed
* 1 egg
* 1/2 cup milk (I used skim)
* fresh whipped cream (recipe follows)

Directions
1. Slice the strawberries, set aside.
2. Combine the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt and whisk to combine.
3. Cut in the butter with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly and resembles sand.
4. Beat the egg and milk together.  Pour this mixture into the flour, and combine the batter.  Stir until just moistened and do not over-mix.
5. Fill 8-10 prepared muffin cups approximately 2/3 full.  Bake at 425 for 12 minutes or until golden.  Remove the muffin shortcakes to cool on a wire rack.
6. To serve, split each muffin shortcake in half, then spoon on whipped cream and strawberries.  Enjoy!

Whipped Cream
Chill mixing bowl and beater (I used my stand mixer) in the freezer for 15 minutes. When ready, add 1 cup heavy cream to the bowl. Beat on medium high for a few minutes, until soft peaks form.  Add 2 tbsp powdered sugar and 1-2 tsp vanilla.  Beat on medium high until stiff peaks form, and then serve!  

Notes
I forgot to take a completed photo of the dessert, but needless to say, these were wonderful! So quick to throw together, and I thought making the shortcakes in a muffin tin was a GREAT idea!!!  I will definitely be making these again.

Strawberry Limeade Slush


Ingredients
* 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
* 1/3 cup simple syrup
* 1/3 cup water
* 2 cups strawberries
* 2 cups ice

Directions
Blend, and serve!

Notes
If you like it sweeter, add more syrup.  This definitely works with lemon juice as well, but I had lime juice on hand!  So refreshing!

What the family didn't finish I froze in little cups and we enjoyed it similar to Italian ice the next evening!