Happy Thanksgiving!!!

I have a lot to be thankful for this year. I have a wonderful husband who got a new job that he loves. I have a beautiful, perfect, healthy baby boy. I have the best family a girl could ask for. And I am thankful that I managed to bake not one, but two items for thanksgiving without screwing them up!!!

For Thanksgiving with my family I made pumpkin cookies. I've been wanting to make these since I started my food blog and just never got around to it. My nephew, who is 2, was very excited because he loves pumpkins and he loves cookies. (I don't think he realized the cookies were made with pumpkin.) I tried to make them in the shape of a pumpkin to get even more smiles out of him, but it didn't work. These are strictly drop cookies, people. The directions say to drop them, and this is what you should do. Don't be like me and waste your time trying to press sticky cookie batter into a pumpkin cookie cutter. It just doesn't work. Other than my lack of a pumpkin shape, these turned out perfect!! I don't think I've ever said that in regard to baking before. This is a major milestone! The recipe can be found here.

These cookies are soft and cake-like, not overly sweet, and have a wonderful cinnamon-spice taste. YUM!

For Thanksgiving with the in-laws I made a strawberry cake.

I took a little help from the store and used a box mix, but I made it my own by letting a strawberry puree soak into the cake and I made my own cream cheese icing. This was actually the first cake I have ever iced! I was pleased with myself. :) (I have to thank my sister for the tip about using a butter knife to make the design on the top.) This cake was pretty easy and tasted really good!!!

Summertime and Strawberries

Wow, it's been a while since I've posted. Things have been a little crazy while we await the arrival of our son. Which by the way, I thought would have already happened. My due date is actually today, but Logan shows no signs of gracing us with his presence.

Anyway, you would think I would cook more now that I'm no longer at work, but in fact, the opposite is true. Don't get me wrong, I cook, but not much has been blog worthy. Until today. The temperature gauge at my house registered 102 by noon and there was no way this 9 month pregnant girl was venturing outside other than to water my plants. I needed a way to cool off and my thoughts immediately turned to a recipe I'd been hanging on to for quite some time. Strawberry Pineapple Sorbet. Relatively healthy and icy cold! Perfect!

It turned out icy and refreshing, but I think next time I'll stick with just strawberries. I love pineapple, but I guess when it comes right down to it, I'm a strawberry purist. It definitely looks the part of the perfect summertime dessert. Summertime and strawberries, the perfect combination!

Strawberry Pineapple Sorbet

Source: Amber's Delectable Delights

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 cups sliced strawberries

1 small can pineapple (drained of juices)

1 pinch salt

Put strawberries in a bowl with sugar. Cover and allow to sit for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Using blender, combine strawberries with their juices, pineapple and the pinch of salt. Puree. Refrigerate mixture for at least 1 hour until puree is chilled. Place in ice-cream maker and follow manufacturers instructions.

**I typed the recipe exactly as Amber posted it. I did things a little differently though. I used frozen strawberries because the price of fresh ones has skyrocketed around here. I let them thaw most of the way then just added them to the blender with the sugar and other ingredients. It didn't need to chill since the berries were partially frozen so I added it straight to the ice-cream maker. 25 minutes later, sorbet!

Improv, It’s Not Just for Comics Anymore!

Who said you have to be a comedian to be good at improvisation? Ok, so maybe no one has ever said that, but just go with me here. In the realm of cooking you need to be able to go with the flow and change plans midstream sometimes. This seems to happen to me most in the world of baking; even when the baking is easy and simple…or should be. This probably stems from my lack of education in this department and not always knowing if it is ok to sub some things for others.

A while ago I printed off The Pioneer Woman’s recipe for Apricot Bars. They looked incredible. Well, everything she cooks looks incredible. Her pictures make me want to eat things I don’t even like! For instance, I don’t like apricots. I knew it wouldn’t be hard to substitute strawberries though. I don’t think this is where it went wrong.

It also calls for brown sugar. Now I’m sure brown sugar complements the apricots rather well, like it would apples. But in my experience, I’m not a big fan of it combined with strawberries. So, I decided to use white granulated sugar instead. I don’t know if this caused the problem or not.

The problem is that my bars never really got brown and the didn’t really harden. It came out more like a crisp; tasted great by the way, but that wasn’t the point. I wanted the cute little bars PW came out with. Oh well, maybe I’ll try it again with apple and brown sugar. If anyone has any ideas as to why mine didn’t really work out, let me know. FYI, I followed all the other directions to a “T.” I promise!!

**Update! I revisited my bars the next day and they actually stayed together like bars!! I think I tried to cut and eat them before they had really cooled completely. (I'm not a very patient person...another problem with me and baking) Also, I did them in a 8" square pan like suggested, but next time I think I'll do them in something larger so the bars will be thinner. I think they will stay together better that way.**

Strawberry Bars turned Strawberry Crisp
Original Source: Apricot Bars from The Pioneer Woman

1 ½ cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 ½ cups oats
1 cup packed brown sugar (this would be where I used white granulated sugar)
1 ¾ sticks cold butter, cut into pieces
1 10-12 oz. jar apricot preserves (I used strawberry)

Mix all ingredients except the preserves. Press one half of the mixture into a buttered 8” square baking dish. Spread with the preserves. Sprinkle other half of mixture on top and pat lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes or until light brown. Let cool completely, then cut into squares.

When in Rome...

Ok, so we aren't really in Rome but since we had an Italian type meal last night with the fantastico shrimp pasta, I decided to make strawberry gelato for dessert. Taylor and I first had gelato on our honeymoon in Disney World. Our first dinner there was at a restaurant named Spoodles at the Boardwalk Resort. I have to say that it was the best meal we had the entire time! Our dessert that night was a first for us both, hazelnut gelato. It was SO good and creamy; more creamy and less icy than American ice cream. We both fell in love with gelato that night, and while we were in Italy at Epcot we had gelato again! You can find it in the grocery store, but only in about 3 flavors and it is ridiculously expensive.

I decided to make strawberry gelato mostly because there was a pound of strawberries in my fridge that were about to go bad. I really needed to use them up and I happened to find a recipe that called for exactly one pound of strawberries. I think it was fate! ;)

Let me just tell you, this gelato was extremely easy to make. I mixed the ingredients when I got home, stuck them in the fridge while I cooked dinner, and when dinner was done I poured it into my wonderful Cuisinart ice cream maker (this was my first time to use it and it is now one of my favorite kitchen gadgets. It was a wedding gift!). About 30 minutes later, we had gelato!



Strawberry Gelato
Click here for the original recipe

1 lb. fresh strawberries
12 oz. granulated sugar, about 1.5 cups
1.5 cup cold whipping cream
1.5 cup cold water
Dash of lemon juice (only if fruit isn’t “bright” enough)

Clean and cut washed berries into quarters, or just smaller pieces. Put berries, sugar and water into a blender or food processor and blend until liquid and smooth. (This is also where you’ll add lemon juice if necessary.) Whip the cream until slightly thickened - like the consistency of buttermilk. Combine the cream with the strawberry mixture and mix thoroughly until blended.

Freeze as indicated by the manufacturer of your ice cream maker.

Another baking disaster...

I broke my cardinal rule for baking. Do not do it on a weeknight, especially when you are also cooking dinner. But did I listen to that little voice in my head that said I was over doing it? Nope, I barreled through the caution barrier and tumbled down the cliff on the other side. Some rules are NOT meant to be broken.


It actually started out ok. I got dinner cooked and under aluminum foil tents waiting on Taylor to get home from work. I pre-heated the oven and got to work on the batter for these scrumptious looking strawberry cupcakes from Annie's Eats. My trusty kitchen aid stand mixer didn't let me down and the batter came together beautifully. Then disaster #1 struck. I did not pay close enough attention to the directions and I "might" have overfilled the cups. Nevertheless, I stick those babies in the oven just in time for Taylor to walk in the door and we sit down to dinner.


The timer goes off and I take my first peek at what now appears to be the tops of all my cupcakes fused together since I "might" have overfilled the cups. They have of course bubbled over the top of the liners like mini volcanos. To make matters worse, the tops are already brown and crunchy (because they've run out of the liners) but the centers aren't done. Yes, I am sighing loudly now. I leave them in a few more minutes and set out my cream cheese and butter for the icing so that it can get to room temperature.


Disaster #2 begins when I start to make the icing. Did you know you really shouldn't freeze cream cheese? Yeah, well I didn't. The texture is no longer nice and creamy. It is now lumpy and no amount of mixing makes it smooth and creamy again. But I press on toward my goal of yummy strawberry cream cheese icing because now I am going to have to trim off the edges of my volcano cupcakes and pretty icing could me my saving grace. Nope. Not tonight. I find I have JUST enough powdered sugar and the icing is coming together, but then I again do not pay close enough attention to the recipe. (Side note: This is why I hate baking! You have to pay too much attention!!!) I dump all the pureed strawberries into the icing, but the recipe says just to add it until you get the desired consistency. So now my icing is runny and I don't have any more powdered sugar to add to it. GREAT!


I look around my kitchen at the huge mess I have made with nothing show for it other than sad looking cupcakes and runny icing. At this point I am done. I decide to stick the icing in the fridge praying it will firm up enough to ice the cupcakes before my girl's night Thursday night.


Well, as luck would have it girl's night got cancelled and I had a little more time to think about what to do. I decided to try and ice a few cupcakes to see what would happen. Yeah, the icing was still too runny to sit for any length of time. Here is my attempt to "fix" the cupcakes:


They tasted really good, but basically fell apart when you tried to eat them. So, on to plan B. What do you do with leftover cake? Make a trifle of course! I got out my smaller trifle bowl and tore the cupcakes into small pieces and then layered with the icing. Since I added all of the strawberry puree to the icing, it wasn't overly sweet and had a nice tartness to go with the cake. This was far from the perfect result I had in mind when I envisioned making strawberry cupcakes, but it turned out ok and tasting pretty darn good if I do say so myself.


If you'd like to try these cupcakes for yourself, and by all means PLEASE follow all the directions, I've listed the recipe below. Good luck!!

Strawberry Cupcakes

Source: Annie’s Eats

Yield: about 18 cupcakes

For the cupcakes:

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 tsp. baking soda
¼ tsp. salt
½ cup unsalted butter
1 ½ cups sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
¼ cup oil
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chopped strawberries

For the frosting:

½ c. strawberries
8 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 ¾ cups powdered sugar, sifted
½ tsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350°. Line cupcake pans with paper liners.

Sift flour, salt and baking soda into a medium bowl. Set aside. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time until combined. Add buttermilk, oil and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in chopped strawberries. Fill cupcake wells ¾ full with batter. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For the frosting, puree strawberries in food processor. Strain through a mesh sieve to remove seeds, and set aside. Beat the cream cheese and butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add lemon juice, vanilla and strawberry puree. Adjust the amount of puree to achieve your desired consistency. Frost cupcakes when completely cool.

I Love Strawberries!

I am so glad it is spring and strawberries are back in the store! Yep, strawberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite foods in general. I will eat just about anything strawberry. Over the years I have asked my grandmother to make strawberry cobbler instead of apple or peach, but she and my mom always try to talk me out of it. They says I won't like it, that the strawberries just won't be as good warm and it will go to waste. Well, I decided to give it a try myself. I decided to use the same cobbler recipe as my Southern Apple Cobbler, but with strawberries of course, and I sprinkled white granulated sugar on top instead of brown sugar.
It was good. This picture doesn't really do it justice. I will say that I like apple cobbler better though. I ate one serving warm, right out of the oven. It would have been really good with some whipped cream but I didn't have any. I also had a serving later after it had been in the fridge for a while. It was pretty good cold too. A nice Sunday evening dessert. :)

Happy Easter!

We had a beautiful, yet cold and windy, Easter here in Alabama! We spent it with family and enjoyed the day with people we only see once or twice a year. I took dessert to the luncheon at my grandmother's. I usually take an oreo dessert that comes out of a box that everyone loves. But this year I wanted to make something blog worthy. Strawberries are my favorite fruit and one of my favorite foods in general, so I wanted to use them in something. The idea of a trifle came to mind, so I looked through recipe books and searched the internet for a Strawberry Trifle recipe. None were exactly what I wanted, so I took a little from several and came up with something of my own.

Strawberry Trifle
Many sources, combined by me

1 1/2 cups sugar
16 ounces cream cheese
1/2 - 3/4 cup milk
1 store-bought angel food cake, cut into cubes
2 lbs. halfed strawberries

In a large bowl combine the strawberries and 3/4 cup sugar. Mix well and allow the berries to marinate.

In a medium bowl, combine 3/4 cup sugar with the cream cheese. Using an electric mixer, whip on medium speed until combined. Add milk a little at a time, mixing until you get an icing like consistency.

To build the trifle, line the bottom of a trifle bowl with a layer of cake. Spoon a layer of the cheese mixture over the pound cake (I had to use a knife to spread it out), and then a layer of berries. Repeat. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

I made this the night before and it was really good the next day. The bread will soak up the juice from the strawberries so if you don't want your bread to get soggy, I would suggest serving this after only an hour or two of chilling. My family actually liked the juice soaked bread and this dessert was a hit.