HEB poteet strawberry ice cream

If you live anywhere in Texas near a HEB, I highly suggest you run down to your nearest store and pick up this ice cream, made from the famous strawberries grown in Poteet, TX.  BK and I have been fighting over this all week.

Strawberry cage

After last year's strawberry heist led by the neighborhood squirrels, BK decided to take matters into his own hands and built this awesome cage to put over our strawberry patch.  So far it's done a pretty good job and we'll hopefully have more strawberries to pick soon!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Strawberry cake

This delicious dessert recipe came to me via a fashionism friend--it's from Martha Stewart so you know it's got to be good!  The cake batter is easy to make and it's a great way to use up all the fruit that you have in the house.  BK is usually one to savor and eat his food slowly and he ate his piece of strawberry cake in record time--it gets a thumbs up from him!

Strawberry Cake

Ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, plus more for pie plate
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved

 Directions:

•  Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 10-inch pie plate. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together into a medium bowl.
•  Put butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Reduce speed to medium-low; mix in egg, milk, and vanilla.
• Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to buttered pie plate. Arrange strawberries on top of batter, cut sides down and as close together as possible. Sprinkle remaining 2 tablespoons sugar over berries. (I used Demetra sugar for that extra crunch)
• Bake cake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees. Bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 1 hour. Let cool in pie plate on a wire rack. Cut into wedges. Cake can be stored at room temperature, loosely covered, up to 2 days.

Favorite Friday Recipe: Salted caramel covered strawberries

These are so tasty and perfect for a summer treat!

Recipe from Southern Living Farmers Market via Steamy Kitchen

Ingredients:

• 10 large fresh strawberries
• 20 caramels
• 1 1/2 tablespoons whipping cream
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 cup coarsely chopped mixed nuts like peanuts or slivered almonds (I used cashews and almonds)
• Wax paper

Directions:

1. Soak strawberries in an ice bath for 5 minutes to restore their perky leaves (I skipped this step and actually just cut the stems off)
2.  Pat strawberries completely dry with paper towels
3. Microwave caramels, whipping cream, and salt in a microwave-safe bowl at MEDIUM 2 minutes or until smooth, stirring at 1-minute intervals.
4. Dip each strawberry halfway into caramel mixture. Roll in nuts, and place on lightly greased wax paper. Let stand 15 minutes. Serve immediately, or cover and chill up to 8 hours.

Evidently the "chill up to 8 hours" note is really important.  I'd make and serve these the day of next time.  I left mine overnight and the next day the caramel had melted off the strawberries.  Nothing that can't be remedied by a spoon but presentation wise it's not as pretty as before!

Favorite Friday Recipe: Fruit tarts

(view of the strawberries my niece is growing in her little Florida garden)

One of the best parts about summer is the abundance of berries: strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, you name it!  Today's recipe is simple and makes for a yummy and light dessert to top off your summer BBQ.

First, defrost a package of pastry puff (I used Pepperidge Farm here), cut them into squares (or rectangles or whatever your heart fancies) and bake according to package directions.  Then let cool.

In the meantime, whip up some instant vanilla pudding and place in the refrigerator to chill for a little while.  After the pastry puffs are cool to the touch, slice them in half...

And begin scooping some pudding into them...

Arrange fruit (California strawberries and Texas blueberries chosen here) on top of the pudding and you're all set!

Place them all in a lovely serving dish and remember to pace yourself when eating these!  Enjoy!

(I just had a thought that chocolate pudding would be really great in this too--with whipped cream and chocolate shavings.  Good thing I have another package of puff pastry in the freezer!)