Strawberry lemonade

Reading all of your comments on my candles giveaway post has been SO MUCH FUN! Summer is wonderful, isn't it? We have had many high points ourselves so far this summer, and I love reading all about your high points, too. Thank you so much for sharing. Keep the comments coming!

My boys and I spent two nights at the dropzone this weekend. There are so many things we love about getting out of the city. Here is one of my personal favorite things..

Pure sunset peace!

Another item on my list of Favorite Summer Things is spending time outdoors with my boys. Being Minnesotans, we especially love the heat. We eat outside, we play outside and we drink delicious summery drinks outside.

Within 60 seconds of pulling this strawberry lemonade out of the refrigerator, my boys were begging for as much as I would offer them. Slurrrpppppp. 

Pour 4 cups of warm water into a large serving pitcher. Add 1 cup of granulated sugar and stir until it is dissolved.

Hull and slice 1 1/2 pints of strawberries. 

Put them through a juicer. If you don't own a juicer, throw them into a food processor or blender and strain. It will be a bit frothy.

Juice (and strain) 8 lemons.

Pour the strawberry and lemon juices into the pitcher and mix well.

Add a few lemon slices and refrigerate until chilled, at least 1 hour. Serve over ice!

Woooo SUMMER! Enjoy it! Pretty soon we will be shivering and slipping on the ice. :)

Printable recipe: Strawberry lemonade

Frozen strawberries and cream dessert

Here I am, back at home in Minnesota, where the beach is no longer in sight. Vacation was wonderful! The house we rented looked directly out onto the ocean. I got better sleep than I have in months and I was in the very best company. It was a lovely and very much-needed trip. But I am always happy to come home, thanks to the wonderful little family that I have been blessed with. I got home after 1am, yet jumped eagerly out of bed at 7am to hug my monkeys. And now I have to start switching modes. Tomorrow Elijah will be having his 8th heart cath at Children's Hospital. So long vacation, and hello hospital.

Can I share one of my favorite photos from my trip? These are the beautiful, fun ladies I spent the majority of my time with.

This frozen dessert seemed like the perfect one to share since it screams warm weather. Although, the weather wasn't exactly warm the entire time we were in California. That's ok. The ocean made up for it.

(Recipe adapted from: she wears many hats)

Preheat your oven to 325 degrees F. Coat an 8x8-inch square baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.

In a food processor, combine:

1/4 cup pecans, toasted

4 whole graham crackers, broken into pieces

Process until finely ground.

Add the crumbs to a large bowl, along with:

10 tablespoons butter, melted

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup brown sugar

Mix well. Spread the crumbs evenly on a rimmed baking sheet lined with parchment paper.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, stirring once half way.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, combine:

2 egg whites

1/2 cup sugar

Using a hand-held mixer, mix on medium speed for 3 minutes. 

Add:

1 cup heavy whipping cream

Mix on medium speed for an additional 6 minutes.

Add:

Juice from 1 lemon

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

Mix on low speed until creamy.

Coarsely chop 2 cups of hulled strawberries.

Gently fold the strawberries into the cream mixture. 

Press half of the crumb mixture into the bottom of the prepared baking dish.

Top with the strawberry-cream mixture.

Top with the remaining crumbs.

Cover with foil and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours before serving.

I made another pan of this, substituting the strawberries for blueberries. Both were fresh and totally yummy!

Printable recipe: Frozen strawberries and cream dessert

Fudgy strawberry brie grilled cheese sandwich

Here you go, guys! Fudge recipe #3! After receiving a delightful boxful of fudge from Swiss Maid Fudge in the mail, I knew that I wanted to feature a grilled cheese sandwich. I have a special love for the Grilled Cheese, and I think this comes from my mother. She makes the best grilled cheese sandwiches, and I can't even explain why. Just the mama's touch, I guess.

I love using French bread to make grilled cheese sandwiches. And I love brie cheese. And have I also mentioned that I love fudge? And strawberries? 

Coat a skillet with cooking spray and set it over medium-low heat. (A little tip my mom taught me: while making GC sandwiches, never turn the heat at or above medium heat!)

Spread 1 pat of softened butter onto 1 side of each of 4 slices of French bread.

Place 2 slices of bread, butter side down, onto the hot skillet.

Top each slice of bread with:

1 oz. brie cheese, thinly sliced

Four 1x1/2-inch pieces of milk chocolate fudge

1 strawberry, hulled and sliced

1 oz. brie cheese, thinly sliced

Remaining bread slices, butter side up

Carefully flip the sandwich over with a large spatula when the bottom layer of cheese begins to melt. Cook until the other layer of cheese begins to melt. 

Remove from the heat and serve warm.

This is a delicious sandwich! The fudge made it.

Printable recipe: Fudgy strawberry brie grilled cheese sandwich

Strawberry Fudge-tini

Why do I always feel like I am behind? Whether I am working full-time or not, life is always busy. Although, I do much prefer the not-working-full-time brand of busy. I'll take cleaning up spilled milk and changing dirty diapers any day over that corporate, um, stuff, from a few months ago. 

For the past few days, between milk spills and time-outs, I have been pondering (and eating) fudge! The kind folks at Swiss Maid Fudge contacted me and asked me if I would like to receive FREE samples of fudge. Yes, please! I created (with the help of my kind husband) five unique recipes involving fudge and I will be sharing those with you over the next five days.

The first recipe I am going to share is a Strawberry Fudge-tini. If you like martinis, I promise you will enjoy this one!

This recipe is for a single serving, so adjust measurements as needed.

If you want to add a fun flare to your final product, drizzle Hershey's syrup over a martini glass. Place the glass in the freezer for 5 minutes.

Mash 1 large strawberry and place it into a cocktail shaker.

Add 2 1/2 ounces of chilled vodka to the shaker and shake vigorously.

Strain into the prepared glass.

Place two 1/2-inch cubes of milk chocolate-flavored fudge into the bottom of the glass. 

Garnish with a strawberry slice. Serve!

By the way, here is a photo of a small portion of the fudge I received in the mail. YUM!

Printable recipe: Strawberry fudge-tini

Mixed-berry jam

This is Week #49 of my 2011 cooking challenge! Click on the above graphic to view all P&TC recipes. All recipes created for this challenge come from the Food and Wine Annual Cookbook 2010: An Entire Year of Recipes.

Well well well. I am weeks behind in this challenge. The one that was supposed to end back in 2011. Please forgive me. I have been a bit preoccupied with sweets! But I'm back on track. In fact, I hope to post the last of the recipes for this challenge this week!

This is the first time I have attempted jam, so I didn't know what to expect. Well guess what. I am head-over-heels in love, and I'm not the only person in this house who fell hard. My four-year-old ate every single bite of his pb&j for the first time ever! 

In a large saucepan, toss 1 pound of hulled and quartered strawberries with 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar. Let stand, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is mostly dissolved. This takes about 1 hour.

Squeeze 1/2 of a lemon (seeded) over the strawberries and add it to the saucepan. Bring to a boil until the sugar is completely dissolved. Cook over moderately high heat, stirring, until the strawberries are just softened, about 5 minutes.

Add 1 pound of mixed blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. 

Cook over moderate heat until the liquid runs off the side of a spoon in thick, heavy drops, 20 to 25 minutes. Skim any scum that rises to the surface.

Discard the lemon.

Spoon the jam into three 1/2-pint jars, leaving about 1/4 inch of space at the top. Close the jars and let cool to room temperature. Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.

This stuff is seriously delicious, you guys. I hope you enjoy!

Click here for a printable recipe!