Spatulas, Corkscrews & Suitcases

PARMESAN CHICKEN ~ BAREFOOT BLOGGERS

                                                   
CHICKEN PARMESAN or PARMESAN CHICKEN?
Today is Thursday, really, it is! The days and weeks are just flying by. Time flies when you're having fun...or not! Every other Thursday, I participate in a group called BAREFOOT BLOGGERS. It's in honor of Ina Garten known worldwide for her marvelous and creative books in the Barefoot Contessa line. Ina IS the Barefoot Contessa!

                                                  
COOKBOOKS
Once upon a time, when I lived in a 2000 square foot house, I had shelves and shelves of cookbooks. The Barefoot Contessa books were part of my collection then. I had to give away or sell most of my cookbooks off because they wouldn't fit in the boat! That was a very sad time...selling off all my kids...I mean cookbooks. So when this group started, I thought "WOW! I missed Ina's cookbooks. Now that's something I could get into!" Don't get me wrong, I love baking with Tuesdays With Dorie, but we can only eat so much dessert! And we bake once a week which is a lot! John takes the rest of it to work or he hawks it up and down the dock to unsuspecting boaters. They don't mind though. They love the goodies. But, it does seem like kind of a waste to go through all that work and the expense (Dorie loves butter) just to give it all away. You know what I mean?

                                                
FOOD vs DESSERT
So far, the recipes chosen for Barefoot Bloggers have all been "FOOD" as opposed to "DESSERT".  Not that dessert isn't food, but food isn't always dessert. I figured we need to eat lunch and dinner anyway, and I really NEEDED to join yet another group because as you all know, I'm sitting around all day doing absolutely nothing enjoying the good life on a yacht! (Yeah, right!)

                                                     
CHICKEN!
Ina's recipe this week is PARMESAN CHICKEN not neccesarily Chicken Parmesan! Speaking of which, because of copyright laws, I won't post her recipe here. BUT, she has graciously left it for us on The Food Network site to use! AND, the recipe is printer-friendly, so you can have it forever and always amen! Soooo, It was an easy recipe if you don't mind slicing through chicken and pounding it with a mallet to make it paper thin - scallopini style. Some people have an aversion to handling raw chicken. I don't. I've pounded my share of 20 pound lots of chicken at a time, for years on end, so this was nothing new to me. PLUS, I have a new boat now with tons of counter space. So having an assembly line of pans and then the frying pan on the stove was a breeze compared to doing it on poor little NIRVANA. One thing I normally do i to brine my chicken first in a solution of salt, sugar and water, but this recipe didn't call for it. The chicken was tender, but I think I'll go with my own technique of brining the next time.

                                                       
PARMESAN CHICKEN?
Ina's recipe calls for breaded and fried chicken topped with salad greens and a Lemon Vinaigrette. I know! Sounds odd doesn't it? Did to me too. John was gonna come home and say "Where's the pasta and spaghetti sauce?" He such a guy! So, I prepared it Ina's way. I had the salad greens ready, the chicken was done and when I went to make the lemon vinaigrette, I found that the lemon I forgot to refrigerate had gone fuzzy! Dang! Now what am I gonna do? I did what any good little food blogger would do...I improvised! I set up my plates just like it said, took pictures for my blog, then went down in the galley and hunted around real quick for spaghetti sauce and pasta!
                                                                        

CHICKEN PARMESAN!
When John came home, he knew we were having something tasty for supper. He can always smell it down the dock! Funny how he can't smell things I ask him about, like, "Smell this, does this smell bad to you?" Nope! Then he asks, "Is this another meal where we have to take pictures first and then eat it cold?" I said, "Yeah, but it's already cold!"  After I was done with the improvisations, we got to sit down to a HOT meal of CHICKEN PARMESAN, and boy was it tasty!

                                                    
TOTAL DAMAGES?
I got the boneless skinless chicken breasts on sale for $1.99 pound, for a total of $3.74. There were three breast halves and when I sliced them horizontally though the center, and pounded the heck out of them, I ended up with six huge pieces of very thin and tender chicken fillets! The breading, flour, two eggs, etc, was negligable. I figured the entire meal cost me $7.00 with the spaghetti sauce, parmesan cheese and pasta. It would have easily served 6 people. We have leftovers for tonight's supper!    Not bad, huh?

Go to Ina Garten's recipe on The Food Network and make it for supper sometime this week. You won't be sorry!
                                                       

STARTCOOKING ~ ZUCCHINI HOW-TO

ZUCCHINI, ZUCCHINI & MORE ZUCCHINI!        
A new article of mine came out today on startcooking.com called HOW TO: ZUCCHINI! It's full of great tips on how to prepare zucchini, how to use zucchini and a whole lot of links to some great zucchini recipes.
                                                                             
(photo by Liliana Tommasini)

Two links that are special to me are courtesy of two of my blogging friends:
Liliana from My Cookbook Addiction submitted a recipe for Zucchini and Leek Oven-Baked Frittata. Very easy and delicious! Make it for dinner or have it for Sunday brunch!
Chuck from The Knead for Bread also known as Bread Blog) submitted a tasty Zucchini Bread recipe. It makes two, so freeze one or eat them both!

I'm not leaving the recipe links here because you "Knead" to go over to startcooking.com and check out the rest of their website. Kathy has put together an amazing site with podcasts, videos and blogs for the novice and experienced cook alike. Things you thought you always knew like; How To Cook Asparagus and How To Cook Corn on the Cob and much, much more!

So, go and check out startcooking.com and tell them I sent you for the zucchini!
                                           

(zucchini photo by rosevita,morguefile)

FRESH STRAWBERRY TART ~ Tuesdays With Dorie

                                                            
TUESDAYS WITH DORIE
Well, here I am, a few weeks late, but I do have excuses! We moved into a new (old) boat and the thermocoupler on the oven was broken! You can read all about LADYHAWK here. I went to Newport to pick up a new part. John gave the guy the model, serial and part number of the thermocoupler. I even had a picture with me. The guy gave me the wrong part and when I got home, obviously it didn't work. Now, I have to go all the way back (50 miles round trip and bridge tolls) to return it, because he doesn't take credit cards! So, if I want my money back, I have to go get it! I'm not sure I trust him to give me the right part this time, so I may have to get it somewhere else. Bottom Line? I still don't have a working oven, at least not in this boat!
                                                                       
All that to say, TA-DA!  I WAS able to bake TWD La Palette's Strawberry Tart the other day. NIRVANA is back in the water all shiny and brand new looking. She's only 2 slips down and THAT OVEN WORKS! I made my crust here in LADYHAWK with my new mini food processor and walked it two slips down and put it in the oven and set the timer. I'm sure our dock mates were wondering "What the heck is she doing?"  About 40 minutes later I went back and emerged with a beautiful browned and smelling utterly sweet and delicious sweet dough crust! You could smell shortbread cookies all the way down the dock! HA HA! Who's laughing now?
                                                                           
                                                                                                                                                            BAKING: FROM MY HOME TO YOURS
Thanks to Marie from A Year in Oak Cottage for picking out a winner of a dessert! This was not only one of the easiest recipes in Baking: From My Home To Yours, but also one of the cheapest and most refreshing dessert for a hot summers day!

Like I said, I'm a few weeks behind, so all my TWD peeps are making Mixed Berry Cobblers this week. Go check them out and see what they're up to! I'll be trying to catch up ASAP or as long as I have use of NIRVANA'S oven!

LA PALETTE'S STRAWBERRY TART
Because of copyright licenses - and man, have I had my troubles with keeping my recipes safe lately - we can no longer republish Dorie's recipes on our blogs. Everyone that's part of the Tuesdays With Dorie baking group has Baking: From My Home To Yours already, and if you don't have your own book, I strongly suggest that you get one because it's the absolute best all-purpose baking book evah!!! If you DO happen to have your own book, you can find the recipe on pages 374-375. YIKES!!!I just checked out Amazon.com's price, and you can get a brand new book for only $12.99! That's less than half what I paid for mine! If you were procrastinating about this book, get it now while the price is only $12.99!

SERIOUS EATS
AND...Good news! Dorie has published both the Strawberry Tart & the Sweet Tart Crust online for you to use at Serious Eats! Go there, get the recipe and while you're there, poke around and see what's going on. Serious Eats is a great website/blog for all you serious and obsessed foodies! Lots of awesome recipes, articles, give-aways and food gossip!
                                                                                

SWEET TART CRUST
I used the Sweet Tart Dough on pages 444-445. It's made with just a few ingredients - flour, confectioners' sugar, salt, butter and an egg yolk. Very easy to do in your food processor. I had make mine in 2-half batches, because mine is just a baby! I still haven't bought a fluted tart pan, so I used my 9" springform pan and that worked out fine. If I had known all the recipes in this book that used a tart pan, I would have purchased on at the beginning. Funny thing is, I gave 3 of them away 4 years ago when we moved onto the boat! I really didn't think I'd be using 3 tart pans on the high seas!
                                                                          

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER
Once I had the tart crust made, the rest of it was a snap to assemble. Strawberry jam on the bottom, sliced strawberries laid out oh so perty in the jam, a handful of blueberries in the middle and it was done! I made some homemade whipped cream and topped off individual slices and it was soooo good!
                                                                            

You really have to eat it within an hour or the jam and strawberry juice will soak through the crust. I wasn't paying attention to the time and let it go for about 3 hours. The bottom was soggy, but the edges were nice and crispy, just like shortbread cookies. We had a friend over and he said it was like eating Strawberry Shortcake with shortbread cookies in every bite. He was right! It was a hit and I'd gladly make it again and again. You should too. You know you want to!
                                                                     

GRILLED YELLOWFIN TUNA WITH CUCUMBER DILL SAUCE

                                                         
Yellowfin Tuna
I love tuna cooked this way. Outside on the grill, over an open flame. Somehow, it just tastes better outside! Sometimes, I just walk through the supermarket looking and waiting for an inspiration to hit me. That can be a good thing or a very bad thing. Some of the best meals I've made have come from not having a clue as to what I went to the store for. That can also be dangerous as I have no list and spend waaaay too much money and bring home things I didn't really need! Then there are my more rational, organized shopping trips. That's when I'm a woman with a mission.
                                                                     

Cucumber Dill Sauce
This shopping trip, I KNEW I wanted to make Cucumber Dill Sauce. For what you ask? I really had no idea what I wanted it for. I just wanted to make it and post it to my blog! I made this sauce at least once a week for almost  four years while we were cooking at the Strong House Inn. It was for my famous Grilled Salmon dinner and everyone loved it...except for me! Back then, I didn't care for salmon. Not sure why either. Maybe I just didn't give it a proper chance. Four years later and I've learned to love salmon and fresh tuna, but it has to be cooked right or otherwise John gets the whole thing. BTW, he loves it when I don't finish my meals. Are all guys the same?
                                                                               

Hangin' Out at the Grill!
Now that summer is in full swing, the grill at the top of the dock is a more inviting place to hang around. We grilled in the winter too, but the trip back down a slippery ramp with a pan of food was a little precarious! Our dock mates walk by all the time and check out what's on the menu and on the grill. Some of them are quite surprised by what we eat on a boat. Most boaters have little to no interest in making anything more than hamburgers and hot dogs when they're here for the weekend. Either that, or they go out for supper every night. Because we live here and we're not independently wealthy or retired, we eat in more than we eat out. But, I refuse to eat like we're camping!
                                                                               

We make grill time an event. We carry everything up with us, and I do mean everything! Last night it was drizzling and John put up this monster beach umbrella and chairs and we sat underneath with a friend sipping our bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon! What a sight we were! But hey, we're living the good life with waterfront property!
                                                                           

Preparation
SO, I was telling you about my Grilled Yellowfin Tuna  with Cucumber Dill Sauce! I purchased a piece of bright red tuna. I picked it out because it was pretty. Shallow, huh? It was almost one pound in weight which I thought would be just the right size for the two of us. About an hour before we were planning to eat, I slathered it with light mayonnaise and a touch of salt and fresh ground pepper and put it back in the fridge. I do this because tuna can be a very dry fish if cooked too long or the wrong way. I like it nice and moist and full of flavor, not dry and fishy. I find that mayonnaise seals in the juices and gives it a nice flavor.

In the meantime, I made the Cucumber Dill Sauce with my new Cuisinart Mini Food Processor! Man, I love that little thing! (Thanks to the good son that loves his mother very much, thank you!) It was just John and I, so I made half a batch. It lasts for a few days if kept cold and I could have made it earlier and refrigerated it, but I didn't need to. I make it with lemon yogurt and light mayo, not just to cut down on fat and calories, but the lemon yogurt gives it such a nice flavor.
                                                                             

CUCUMBER DILL SAUCE (full batch)

• 1) 8 ounce container fat-free lemon yogurt
• 1 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup peeled and diced cucumber
• 1/4 cup fresh dill
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic (to taste)
• 1/2 tsp fresh grated lemon zest (to taste)
• Pinch salt

Directions:

• Empty the yogurt into the food processor.
• Fill the empty container with mayo and add to the yogurt. WOW! Time saver! This way you're not dirtying another measuring cup!
• Put remaining ingredients in the food processor and blend until smooth and there are no cucumber chunks left.
• Refrigerate until ready to use.

                                                                         

GRILLED YELLOWFIN TUNA

• 3/4 - 1 pound fresh tuna steak (I buy it boneless and skinless)
• 1/2 cup light mayonnaise
• Fresh ground salt and pepper (to taste)
• Fresh lemon

Directions:

• Preheat gas or charcoal grill on high and close for 10 minutes.
• With long tongs, slap that piece of tuna right on the grill. Do NOT disturb it for at least 2-3 minutes. You want the flesh to sear, sealing in the juices and making the flesh firm enough to flip over and not break apart.
• Turn the tuna 180 degrees and leave it there for another 2 minutes. This is to give your tuna steak that pretty diamond pattern you see in the fancy, schmancy restaurants!
• Carefully, flip the tuna steak over and grill for another 3-5 minutes or until the desired degree of doneness (is that a word?) is achieved. There is no way I can tell you how long to cook it for. Everyone is different. Peek inside with a sharp knife and see. Some people like it almost raw in the middle, much like sushi with the outside seared for flavor. Others poo-poo that idea thinking that fish needs to cooked through. Still others choose to cremate the poor thing, which in my personal opinion, is a waste of good expensive tuna! Only you will know how far to let it go. BUT, keep in mind that no matter what you cook, it continues to cook for a few minutes after you take it off the grill, pan or pot. (I found a good site by Helen Rennie that has tons of information about fish and seafood. Click here and see what she says about the burning question on everyone's mind, "Is it done?" Look at the photos.see what it looks like right off the grill and after 5 minutes.)
• Remove to a warm plate and serve with lemon or let cool and refrigerate the leftovers for REAL tuna fish salad!
  

                                                                             

GRILLED SWEET POTATOES

• 2-3 large sweet potatoes
• 1 Tbsp rosemary oil or whatever you like
• 1 Tbsp fresh minced herbs or 1 tsp dried

Directions:

• Wash sweet potatoes and cut off the ends.
• Pierce a few times on all sides with a fork.
• Bake potatoes in the microwave for 5 minutes and turn over. Continue cooking for another 3-5 minutes. Don't overcook to mush.
• Remove and let cool until you can handle them. You can do this a few hours ahead of time and leave at room temperature until ready to use.
• Slice lengthwise into spears and coat with oil and herbs. Let sit for 15 minutes.
• When you're ready to grill the tuna, place the spears over medium coals and grill for just a few minutes or until heated through and leaves those nice grill marks on them!

 

Bon Appétit or Bon Voyage...Whatever floats your boat!
                                                                                   

LIVING ABOARD ~ Moving Into a Bigger Sailboat

                                                         
Where the Heck Have I Been?
Well, it's official. We bought a new boat. We moved into a new boat. We're cleaning the new boat, and cleaning, and cleaning... It seems to be a never ending job and right now it's a bit overwhelming. How does this make it "our" boat? I peed in the toilet and now it's mine! Isn't that what cats do when they mark their territory? They pee on something! So, I did.

You probably thought I sailed off the edge of the earth. Not quite, so let me tell you a little bit about what I've been doing with all my spare time!I should be ecstatic and doing the happy dance, but I got to tell ya, it's got me shaking in my flip-flops!
                                                                           

LADYHAWK
Although not brand new,  LADYHAWK  - a 38 foot Irwin center cockpit sailboat - is new to us and at 40 feet overall with the bowsprit, is like a Pirate Ship in comparison to our little NIRVANA! Remember "Captain Ron" with Kurt Russell and Martin Short? Rent it sometime and think of us! Gorgeous wood trim and solid louvered doors. Lots of wood. Did I say lots?

                                                                                                                                            
Hot Water!
There's so much to do and fix and make it homey. John is fine with the way it is, but I like a little comfort, a touch of home. I don't want to feel like I'm camping like we did for 4 years in NIRVANA. He hung up a couple strands of rope lights around the master stateroom and now it looks awesome! Yes! We have 2 staterooms and we can have company again! Hey! I turned the faucet on and HOT water came out of it! Buckets and buckets of the HOT stuff! You really have no idea how happy this makes me! OH, and a SQUARE bed too! My LLBean sheets finally fit after all those years of a V-shape! I have walls to hang family photos on, not just a calendar.
                                                                        
Two Heads, No Waiting!
I have 2 toilets (heads)! No waiting! There's a table that can stay down all day and night now. We don't have to fold it up when John goes to bed anymore. Counter space galore! The stove has 3 burners and not just 2. HOWEVER, it's not a brand new shiny Easy-Bake-Oven like I had with electric pilot lights. I have to turn the gas on each time and light the burners with a match or a torch. Plus, we found out the oven doesn't work. YIKES! I NEED the oven to do my job! So, after I post this, I'll be heading to Newport to buy a new thermocoupler and John will install it tonight. Then I can get back to baking and cooking!
                                                                          
Three Burners so I Can Cook More!

                                                                  
A Bigger Oven so I  Can Bake More!

Poor NIRVANA
After years of saying we needed a bigger boat, I'm sad. I cried the other night as I moved the rest of my belongings out of NIRVANA. Literally cried like a baby and then fell asleep in the V-Berth with a wet tear-stain around my face. No one was there, the boat was empty and I dozed off. I'm not sure what the problem is, whether it's that I'm so emotionally attached to that teeny boat that we lovingly took care of for 4 years or that we are so totally exhausted from trying to clean 2 boats and move from one to the other.
                                                                             

All I know, is that I feel like we've let down our best friend. Like a faithful dog or a child. We betrayed her and now we're passing her off to who-knows-who. Hopefully someone that will love her as much as we did. Someone that will enjoy the custom cabinetry my son-in-law built, the curtains my daughter and I made together and my Easy-Bake-Oven. John is gonna have a hard time too, but he won't admit it. He just spent the past week cleaning and painting NIRVANA'S bottom, waxing and buffing her hull and dressing her up like the new gal at the dance. He's after me to list the ad in the paper, online, anywhere. But I can't bring myself to do it. One thing's for sure...we can't have TWO boats!
                                                                           

Forgive Me For Not Writing!
So, that's what I've been up to for the past 2 weeks. I don't have a working oven at the time and I've been too busy to post about much of anything. I've missed two Tuesdays With Dorie projects and countless other things. Forgive me for being so lax in my writing. There is hope and light at the end of the tunnel. John will fix my oven and I can back to some normalcy with my cooking, baking, pictures and writing about it all. Thank you all so very much for sticking with me through this. I promise you more photos as things get put away and it looks like a real yacht instead of a storage unit!
                                                                      

TO THE MEN IN MY LIFE ~ HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

FATHER'S DAY!
Today is Father's Day. It happens every year around the same time. Most of the time, I send only my father a card, sometimes John gets one too as the father of my spawn! This year, I want to acknowledge all the men in my life. There is no order of preference. They all think they're the most important! The order is the legnth of time spent as part of my life.
                                                                          
DAD
My Dad, Bruce, is the absolute BEST Dad in the whole wide world! Of course my children would beg to differ, thinking their Dad (John) is the coolest Dad. It's a heated contest between the two of them! Anyway...Dad has been there through thick and thin. He loves me unconditionally. He loves me for who I am - even though that's not tough to do! He's 79 now, but still a young guy at heart. As you can see, he's very handsome and in "his day" was known to be quite the dancer and ladies man. My Mom won his heart though and they were married 51 years until she passed away last January. He's lost without her and although I'm the second most important girl in his life, I live 5 hours away. I try and call him at least 2-3 times a week and even though he's not a "phone person", he can talk to me for hours. Clearly, I AM his favorite daughter! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!
                                                                                                                                                  
BRUCE
Bruce is my baby brother. Not really a baby, he just turned, well, I'm not telling you how old he is, because then I'd have to tell you how old I am! Bruce loves a good poker game and dabbles in the stock market. He's quite good at it too. My fondest??? memory of our childhood is helping him with the paper route. Gosh, those Sunday papers were heavy! Uphill both ways!
                                                                             
JOHN
BIG John, aka my hubby, is my best friend and the love of my life. We started dating when I was only 14! I know, What were my parents thinking??? Letting me date a stud like that at such a tender and naive age? He was only 16 at the time, so we were two kids infatuated by each other. It was a love-hate relationship at first. He didn't know how to "get a girl". His method of flirtation was to kick me (lightly) in the back as I was sitting on the stone wall during break at school (recess). I was soooo embarrassed! One thing led to another and we started dating. Problem was, he didn't have his license. His Mom had to drive us around on our dates! "Turn around Ma, I'm checking out her tonsils!" He's the father of our four spawn...er...I mean children! There isn't a day that goes by that I still feel the teenage love. Oh, all right! Who am I kidding? We all have our days when I feel like throwing him over board or he hasn't thought of pushing me off in the dinghy! But, all in all, it's been a great 34 years...37 if you count our dating/necking years. I think I'll keep him!

JOHN
My son, John, will be 30 in August. He's the handsome dude that gave me the Cuisinart Food Processor. He loves his mother! John took over the wholesale bakery when we sailed off and left it all behind. He's doing better than we ever did because he just concentrates on just cookies...thousands and thousands of cookies! He could make a lot more, but alas, he isn't married yet! I told him "Get a wife or a girlfriend and you can make TWICE the cookies!" He loves to travel with us, has a heart for animals especially his dawg Heidi and loves the outdoors. He was the only child I can claim is really mine since we had a home birth. And weighing in at a hefty 9 1/2 pounds, we weren't about to give him back!

                                     
BRAD
My second son, Brad, is 24. He's also single. He's just as handsome as his older brother, John. He loves his Mom too, but I don't hear from him as often. He works hard and lots of hours and he's ALWAYS running out of minutes on his cell phone! He's a great cook and has worked in some unusual restaurants. He used to go out with my husband John, hawking our baked goods through town. He was such a cute little kid carrying that big basket of goodies around. Everyone loved him on the route. He could make change like it was nobody's business! He was our "love child". The only one we planned for! Not that we didn't want each and every one of them, but back in those days, either we or the contraceptive companies weren't paying attention to detail! Anyway...he was our last since I had major complications after he was born. Brad! Call your mother!

DAVID
David is our oldest and first son-in-law. At 33, he THINKS he's also the most handsome. He's Erika's husband - the love of her life - and the father of two of our grandchildren, Zach and Girly. He's a great Daddy to those kids and we're blessed to have him as part of our bizarre family. Erika often says he's just a big kid at heart. He loves the outdoors and will often spend from sunup to sundown hiking one of the highest mountains in Vermont or NY or kayaking Lake Champlain.

JONATHAN
Jonathan is the second and youngest son-in-law. He's also David's brother, which means that our girls married brothers! He'll be 32 in a few weeks and KNOWS he's the most handsome. Jonathan is an amazing cabinetmaker. He took our old boat apart and made it into a thing of beauty. He loves to play poker and can be as competitive as I am in any card game! He loves to go biking and will often bike 25 miles or more at a time. He's also the best Daddy to Hannah and Ethan - two more adorable grandchildren.

Do you see a trend here? They all THINK they're the handsomest. Then they say they KNOW they're the best looking! I can't play favorites, so I tell them they're ALL handsome!

ZACH
Zach is our oldest grandson and at 9 years old, he's all boy! He's amazing with animals and has an obsession with bugs of all kinds. Moths are his specialty! We think he'll grow up to be an entomologist someday working for The National Geographic Society! He's a wiz with numbers and we jokingly say we'll take him to Vegas when he gets a little older!

ETHAN
Ethan is our youngest grandson. He's 6 now and he's a rough-and-tumble kinda kid. Look at that cute little face! You're thinking what an angel, right? He's so good natured but can be a little imp all at the same time! He's an amazing reader and has been reading bedtime stories to his sister for over a year now! Video games are his specialty and can give a video master some real competition!

So, that's it for the men in my life. There have been others that have come and gone...Oh, come on, they're just good friends! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to all the fathers and hugs and kisses to the all the others! I LOVE YOU!

STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE & Bake It, Make It & Take It

It's been a while since Erika from Stampin' Mama and I have done a Bake It, Make It & Take It dessert/paper craft project together. Things have been hectic in both our lives at the moment. She's had lots of things going on with the kids and we're moving into a larger boat...more about that in a later post!

Where we live, strawberry season is in full swing. Lush and juicy, strawberries are a favorite of just about everyone! And if you really don't like strawberries, there either must be something wrong with you or you're allergic to them! I know of a few people that have allergies and I feel so very bad for them as this is one of the highlights of my summer. Substitute raspberries or blueberries!


Strawberries, Strawberries & More Strawberries!
Years ago, during our short 2 1/2 year stint in Pennsylvania Dutch country, we moved into a house that had a garden. The first week we were torn whether to empty our packing boxes and move in or pick the thousands of quickly ripening strawberries. The strawberries won out - the unpacking could wait - the strawberries wouldn't! I sent the kids out with buckets and we all sat there in the rows eating to our hearts content! It was definitely a bumper crop that year and I felt bad for the family that moved out just as all their hard work was coming to harvest. Truth be told, I didn't feel THAT bad!                   
                                                      

We were in our glory! We ate and ate and ate! Our knees, hands and clothes were all stained red, but it was worth it. I made strawberry bread, Strawberry Mousse Pie, Strawberry Muffins, strawberry tart, Strawberry Cheesecake, pints and pints of strawberry jam and of course...Strawberry Shortcake! I froze the rest for future desserts. I think we were still eating them when the next harvest came around!

Buttermilk Biscuits, Sweetened Whipped Cream and Shortcake!
Anyway...Erika used my Strawberry Shortcake recipe from Suite101. When you click on over there, you'll find a recipe for Buttermilk Biscuits that were our weekly specialty for sale. Everyone loved them, not only for Strawberry Shortcake, but also for Chicken & Dumplings, plopping them on top of Beef Stew, an accompanianments to the best Vegetarian Chili or just slicing in half and slathering them with butter and strawberry jam! There's also a recipe for Sweetened Whipped Cream...yes, from scratch! Of course, the recipe also tells exactly how to assemble the perfect Strawberry Shortcake.

Another Cute Project from Stampin' Mama!
Erika then had to come up with a cute project and packaging for Strawberry Shortcake. You ask, "How in the world do you package Strawberry Shortcake?" Well, she improvised a little, because of course, you CAN'T package the finished product. It would leak all over the place and be a total soggy mess when the LUCKY recipient opened the gift!

Her project can be found just a click away at Stampin' Mama's blog. She stacked some homemade Buttermilk Biscuits in a clear cellophane bag. Colored crinkle grass made by using her crimping tool was piled inside the bag with the biscuits. Then she made 2 handmade cards, one for the front with a greeting "For Fantastic Neighbors" and the back with a recipe for the Strawberry Shortcake. The cute little package got all tied up with some pretty striped/polka-dotted ribbon in the colors of strawberries and green gingham. Totally cool! You'll have to go over to her blog and she'll explain exactly what she did and what tools and colors she used. And while you're at it, take a look at the rest of her site. She's got loads of tutorials and CD's that she's put together. VERY talented and creative girl if I do say so myself! AND, if you act quick, she's got a CONTEST going on right now until 6/16!

So, do yourself a favor one of these hot summer days and buy yourself some ripe and juicy strawberries, make a batch (or two) of Buttermilk Biscuits, some fresh Sweetened Whipped Cream and have yourself a party! But, don't forget your neighbors across the way. Save some biscuits for them and package them up nice and pretty. They'll love you forever!

(photo of strawberries by errika79,sxc)