Tag Archives: strawberries

Strawberries Galore!

I’m not sure who was more thrilled to see the “STRAWBERRIES 99 cents per pound” sign hanging at the grocery store, my berry obsessed daughter, or me, her penny-pinching mother. My first thought after seeing the unbelievably low price for fresh strawberries in April was: Rotten fruit. I figured the market was trying to get rid of expired produce and would be happy to take 99 cents rather than dump the berries and take a hit. As it turns out, the cheap strawberries are perfectly wonderful and come courtesy of unusually cold weather in Florida. According to our market’s produce … Continue reading →

Nontraditional Easter Dishes

Traditionally, Easter is celebrated with ham or lamb and hot cross buns. Of course, these days, people tend to put their own spin on Easter buffets and now you can find everything from Chinese noodle dishes to Cuban pork on the holiday menu. My neighbor never prepares ham or lamb on Easter; rather the family sits down to a hearty beef stew after hunting for eggs. (She puts the stew on before the hunt, it cooks while they are hunting, and lunch is served shortly thereafter.) It helps that we live in the Upper Midwest where spring temps don’t usually … Continue reading →

Say So Long to Summer with Spicy Cashew Strawberry Salad and Orange Spinach Salad

Summer is fading away… say it ain’t so. Soon it will be back to school, back to wool sweaters and back to scraping ice off my windshield. But, rather than dwell on the inevitable I’ve been trying to spend as much time outside as possible, including dining alfresco. Next week our entire playgroup will be having an end of the summer luncheon in the park. And with the Labor Day holiday fast approaching most of you likely have outdoor plans as well. If you are looking for a quick and easy potluck dish to pass at your next outdoor gathering … Continue reading →

End of the Summer Fruit Parfaits

Can you believe it’s August already? Where has the summer gone? The first day of school is fast approaching, but I am not prepared to say goodbye to summer just yet. In a previous blog I mentioned that I was using my last pint of freshly picked strawberries for a cool Very Berry Cheesecake. They worked perfectly in that recipe, but I had a few extra berries to spare so I decided to make Berry Parfaits for my daughter and her friend. (Fortunately, I have a child who would much rather devour a Berry Parfait than the ones Dairy Queen … Continue reading →

Very Berry Cheesecake

The price of strawberries, blueberries and raspberries has gone up quite a bit at my local market. Last month the grocer had strawberries priced at $5 (for 2 pounds), but since my family went out to a local u-pick farm I saved a ton of cash by putting my preschooler to work in the fields (kidding). At the farm we paid just $1 a pound for fresh, plump, juicy berries and I still have a pint left in the freezer. This weekend I will be using the last of the berries in the following recipe. It is a standard cheesecake, … Continue reading →

Make a Watermelon Ice Cream Cake and other Cool Summer Treats

My preschooler loves strawberries. But, she’ll gladly gobble up watermelon when it’s around. During the summer months I try to keep as much of the refreshing fruit around as possible. When I was a kid my brothers and I would rock, paper, scissors for the last piece of watermelon, yet I know there are many people who don’t particularly care for the juicy summer fruit. Fortunately, your family doesn’t have to love watermelon to love this next recipe. They’ll have to tolerate the sight of it, but they don’t have to enjoy the taste. That’s because the recipe doesn’t call … Continue reading →

The Astronomical Price of Strawberries

Okay, by now I am getting used to the cost of food rising everywhere, but when thing rise more than 100 percent in a single week, it can be a bit intimidating. Such is the case of strawberries here in my local town. Exactly two weeks ago, I did some shopping for produce at our local farmer’s market. The prices there aren’t the best I can get, but I always know that the food is fresh and in good shape. Having to throw out produce from our grocery store lately, I figure extra price is worth not having any waste. … Continue reading →

Patriotic Desserts

You can’t have a Fourth of July picnic or an Independence Day backyard bash without dessert, right? If you are looking to decorate your weekend buffet with a red, white and blue sweet treat the following recipes will come in very handy. Each provides a patriotic punch to holiday meal, though you might want to reserve a piece early because neither will last long on a hot July day. RED, WHITE, AND BLUE FRUIT PIZZA Ingredients: 1 roll (16.5 oz) refrigerated sugar cookie dough 1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream 1/2 teaspoon vanilla 1/2 … Continue reading →

Sweet Treats for Kids of all Ages

My daughter was very disappointed when I told her that we would not be baking a dessert to bring to the upcoming graduation potluck we’ve been invited to. In fact, I rarely offer to bring dessert to parties that feature guests of varying age groups because I can never find a recipe that I know will appease the masses. Most of the dessert recipes I have are either geared specifically to adults and include ingredients such as coffee or alcohol or they are kid-friendly, teeth tingling, super sugary creations that most adults shy away from. These days I offer to … Continue reading →

Last-Minute EASY Thanksgiving Side Dishes

There are some Thanksgiving dishes you just don’t mess with. Grandma’s pumpkin pie, mom’s mashed potatoes, Aunt Sue’s stuffing, you get the idea. They’re the Thanksgiving staples deeply rooted in family tradition. But, over the years as our family has grown (and new people have joined our clan) we’ve come to incorporate other non-tradiional dishes to the buffet table. If your Thanksgiving menu looks a little slim consider adding these two dishes to your spread. They are super simple to make and you likely have the ingredients in your kitchen right now. What’s more, they make for wonderful leftovers–that is … Continue reading →