Strawberries and Cream Pie

This pie is super easy and delish.  A hit at the Father's Day gathering.

Strawberries and Cream Pie


1 pie crust, baked

1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened

1/3 c. sugar

1/4 tsp. almond extract

1 cup whipping cream, whipped

Strawberries

2 T. semi-sweet chocolate chips

1 tsp. shortening



In a large bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add sugar and almond extract; blend well. Fold in whipped cream. Spoon into cooled, baked pie shell. Arrange strawberries on top (they can be sliced or you can do whole ones with the points up). Refrigerate.

Melt the chocolate chips and shortening in the microwave on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir well. If needed, microwave for 20 second increments more at 50% power, until melted, making sure to stir well each time. Drizzle over strawberries and filling. Refrigerate until set. Store in refrigerator.

Slightly altered from The Pillsbury Complete Book of Baking.

Grilled Potato Salad

We made this for Father's Day and it was lovely. We used red potatoes and sweet potatoes and really it'd be fine with any potatoes you like.

Grilled Potato Salad

Potatoes

3/4 lb (about 3 medium) Yukon gold potatoes

3/4 lb ( about 3 medium red potatoes

1/3 lb (about 1 medium) sweet potato, peeled

Dressing

3 Tbsp red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp Dijon mustard

1/2 C olive oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp celery salt

1/4 tsp pepper

Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Meanwhile, cut potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Add potatoes to boiling water; return to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer 12-14 minutes or until almost tender. Drain. Place potatoes in large bowl.

Meanwhile, in a small non-metal bowl, combine vinegar and mustard. With wire whisk, slowly stir in oil until combined. Stir in salt, celery seed, and pepper; mix well.

Add 1/4 of the dressing to potatoes and toss gently. Heat grill. Spread potatoes in a grill basket or on a sheet of heavy duty foil with a few holes poked through it. Place basket on grill over medium-low heat and cover grill. Cook 7-9 minutes or until potatoes are browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from grill; cool 15 minutes or until lukewarm. Then pour remaining dressing over potatoes; toss gently to coat. Serve at room temperature.

8 (1/2-cup) servings

Tweaked slightly from original recipe found on Pillsbury.com

Tropical Muffins

I'm making an effort to use more whole grains in my cooking - I said making an effort, not switching completely... Looking through this cookbook there were only a few things that caught my eye (partially do to the stupid layout and greater concern for a modern look than a cookbook look) so naturally I chose muffins with a glaze. :)

The author of this book said she uses strong flavors to counterbalance the heavy flavor of wheat flour. I like that b/c I don't love wheat. I don't hate wheat, I just don't love it, even though I grew up eating it.

Some notes about this recipe - if you can only find small limes get more than 4 because you'll need 1/2 cup of juice. I used about 1 Tbsp lime zest from the limes and then froze the rest for a later use.

It calls for whole wheat pastry flour. I used regular whole wheat flour b/c I don't have pastry flour. I believe they'd be lighter with the pastry flour though.

I had some macadamia nuts in the cupboard so that worked for me but I think pecans would also be fine in these.

Tropical Muffins

2 1/4 C whole wheat pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 C shredded coconut

2 large overripe bananas

1 C brown sugar

4 limes (medium to large)

1 large egg

1/2 C vegetable oil

1/2 C macadamia nuts, chopped

1 C powdered sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin cups with paper liners or spray well.

In a large bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and coconut. Zest the limes and mix 1 Tbsp of zest in with the dry ingredients.

In a food processor or blender, puree the bananas. Add brown sugar and puree again. Juice the limes to get 1/2 cup of juice. Remove 2 Tbsp of juice and set aside. Add the remaining lime juice to the blender; add egg, and oil and mix well. Stir into dry ingredients then fold in macadamias. Pour into muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

In the meantime, combine the reserved lime juice**, powdered sugar, and vanilla and stir until smooth. When muffins are cool, drizzle with glaze.

**I didn't have enough lime juice so I used 1 Tbsp lime juice and 1 Tbsp water in the glaze which worked great. In fact, I think all that lime juice would have been pretty tart.

From: The New Whole Grains Cookbook by Robin Asbell

SL's Out-of-This-World Waffles

Becky asked me to post this because these waffles are fabulous and she always forgets to copy the recipe. :)

SL's Out-of-This-World Waffles

2 1/2 C all-purpose flour

1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

2 large eggs, beaten

2 1/2 C milk

3/4 C vegetable oil

Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl. Combine eggs, milk, and oil in a medium bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring with a wire whisk just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Batter will be slightly lumpy.) Cook in a preheated oiled waffle iron until golden.

Yield: 22 (4-inch) waffles

I freeze the left overs to use for quick breakfasts in the morning.

From: The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook

Viva Les Galettes

Here's the picture of this yummy dessert:

Viva Les Galettes

Avery and Carrie picked this out of Avery's Southern Living Kids Cookbook to make for the lunch after Ava's baby blessing.  Everyone liked it, other than Avery, that is!  We used blackberries instead of the oranges and we had more than enough fruit!  You could use any fruit you wanted, I'm sure.  And so we can all remember how to say it: gah-LEHT.

Viva Les Galettes
1 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
1 (12 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
1 (15 oz) pkg refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 T. sugar
2/3 c. peach fruit spread
8 strawberries, sliced
2 kiwi, peeled, sliced, and halved
1 c. blueberries
1 (11 oz) can mandarin oranges

1. Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 baking sheets with foil, and spray generously with cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. Beat cream cheese at medium speed with in electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add milk, beating until smooth.  Set aside.
3. Unroll pie crusts, and then roll into 13-inch circles on prepared baking sheets (I'm pretty sure Carrie skipped the extra rolling part - they're already round, right?).  Spread half of cream cheese mixture on top of each circle, leaving a 1 1/2 inch border.  Fold edges of dough toward center, pressing gently to seal (Dough will cover only the outside edge).
Brush edges of galettes with egg white and sprinkle with sugar.  Bake for 23 minutes or until filling is set and pastry is lightly browned.  Carefully slide galettes to a wire rack and cool completely.
4. Place fruit spread in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave on High for 30-40 seconds until melted.  Brush over cream cheese filling.  Top with fruit.  Chill in refrigerator at least 30 minutes.
Makes 12 servings