Strawberries with Lemon Sugar

This may be the one of the easiest and best desserts you will ever make.

I know, that is a lofty claim. I pulled this together in about 3 minutes, and it took about the same time for it to disappear. I'd say that backs it up, no?

I finished work Saturday and hit the grocery store, thinking that I'd get home, get the groceries put away, and head over to Tyler's cousin's place for a BBQ. It tuns out the party had been moved to our place. Okay... Now what?

Luckily the boys had dinner already planned out and ready to go so I didn't have to do any cooking. Cleaning up was another story, but that's what happens when there is a ratio of 2 women to 6 men I suppose, despite this being 2013 and not 1952.

The last thing I wanted to do was come home and make a dessert (especially since it was a toss up between popping a drink or jumping in the pool for the first thing I wanted to do). So I zested a couple of lemons, added some sugar, washed the berries and headed out to the pool. With a drink.

One Year Ago: Battenburg Cake

Two Years Ago: DIY Tex-Mex Shredded Cheese

Three Years Ago: Bran Flax Muffins

STRAWBERRIES WITH LEMON SUGAR

• 2 pounds strawberries
• 2 lemons
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup sour cream or Greek yogurt

Wash and dry strawberries. Zest lemons into a bowl using a Microplane* or other fine zester. Add sugar, rub sugar and zest together to with your fingertips to combine. To serve, dip strawberries in sour cream (or yogurt) and then in lemon sugar.

*If you don't have a Microplane, use the side of a cheese grater with the small holes and then pulse the zest together with the sugar in a food processor.

Breakfast Smoothie

I forget which movie it is from, but there is a dialogue in said movie where the dad says to his daughter, "What are you drinking?"
"A smoothie," she replies.
"What's a smoothie, like a milk shake?"
"I guess so, only smoother," his daughter says.

Smoother, indeed. Smoothie is a strange word, isn't it? Think about it. Smoooooooth-ie. Anyway, I have one almost every morning. I pack as much good stuff as I can into my smoothies to set me up for the day. If lunch ends up being a pemeal bacon sandwich from the cafeteria downstairs (read: no vegetable to be found), oh well, I had my nutrition-packed smoothie for breakfast.

I don't have a recipe for my smoothies, but I do have a basic formula. A least one fruit, something green, something high in fiber, some protein, and some dairy. Sometimes on ingredient fills a couple quotas: black beans provide protein and fiber. Or berries give fiber and fruit.

Here is a list of stuff I've used for each category of my formula. Items with a * are the ones that usually make the morning cut, if you're interested.

Fruit and Veg:

• Apple (skin on, cut into chunks)*
• Banana*
• Mixed frozen berries*
• Pumpkin puree*
• Carrots
• Nectarine
• Fresh or canned peaches
• Fresh, frozen, or canned pineapple
• Mango
• Kiwi
• Cranberries

Protein:

• Protein powder (duh)
• Tofu
• Beans or other legumes- kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils
• Nut butter
• Nuts
• Chia seeds
• Egg (I've never actually thrown in a raw egg, but I've thought about it. My Grannie used to make us "egg nog" with milk, raw egg, and vanilla for breakfast all the time before school and we were fine. But definitely follow guidelines for consuming raw eggs)
• Cooked quinoa*
• Whey leftover from making ricotta cheese (yep, I'm that "thrifty")

Fiber:

• Oats* (throw in raw, or cook in the microwave with some water for a smoother smoothie)
• Ground flax*
• Chia seeds
• Cooked quinoa
• Beans or other legumes- kidney beans, black beans, chickpeas, lentils

Dairy or Dairy Alternative:

• Yogurt* - plain, vanilla, Greek, etc. Whatever was on sale that week, basically
• Milk
• Rice milk
• Almond milk

Something Green:

• Spinach*- fresh baby spinach or thawed frozen spinach
• Kale
• Arugula (in a pinch, but it's a very strong flavour)

Other Miscellaneous Add-Ins:

• Turmeric (doesn't really add any flavour but it's a super food that is good for inflammation among other things)
• Honey or maple syrup when using plain yogurt to sweeten it up a bit
• Fresh ginger
• Cinnamon*
• Pumpkin pie spice

There you go. Mix and match to a healthy breakfast and a hall pass to eat a greasy lunch. Also really good for tricking your kids and/or husband into eating spinach.

One Year Ago: Overnight Oatmeal,

Two Years Ago: Cranberry Coffee Cake

Three Years Ago: n/a

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I have had a bag of frozen cranberries in the freezer since the first appeared in season in the grocery store. In October. These cranberries even held up a line at the store and called the manager over (the bar code wasn't in the system and they didn't know the price, so eventually they made up a price. $1. Score!). Why did I let these hard won cranberries languish for so long in the icy depths of the freezer? I was daunted by the amount of butter in the recipe I had intended to use them in, since I would be the only one eating it as Tyler doesn't like cranberries.

Then I saw this recipe on The Hungry Housewife for Cranberry Crumb Cake from Tate's Bakery Cookbook and immediately got to work as I had all the ingredients on hand. This cake is delicious and I am now putting cranberries in everything. Remember these bran muffins? They've even better with cranberries.

The cake is amazing as is, but next time I make it I will half the crumb topping. I found there was too much of it and it overpowered the cake.

LINK TO RECIPE:

Tate's Bakery Cranberry Crumb Cake

Here are some other cranberry recipes that I have saved in my favorites to try:

Cranberry Curd Bars with Walnut Shortbread Crust
Spiced Cranberry Spice Cake
Cranberry Crumb Bars (the recipe I was originally going to make with the cranberries)
Nantucket Cranberry Pie

Chaussons Aux Pommes

Golden buttery crust and warm soft apple filling. What's not to like about an apple turnover? Oh right... usually the filling is gloopy and pastry tastes like margarine rather than butter. But these are French apple turnovers. Everyone knows that everything tastes better in French (otherwise who would eat foie gras- fatty liver?). These Chaussons Aux Pommes from Bon Appetit November 2008 issue are like the best apple turnovers you've never had. They're from Molly Wiezenburg's (of Orangette fame) column which is one of my favorite reads each month- even if the recipe isn't something that interests me, the story behind the recipe is always delightful.

This is an easy recipe- the only "difficult" part is sealing the filling in the puff pastry. "Difficult" only because it's a little time consuming, but totally worth it. I made a double batch to bring to Christmas at my parents for dessert last year- I made them a few days in advance and froze them and they turned out perfectly.

CHAUSSONS AUX POMMES

Filling

• 3/4 pound Granny Smith apples
• 3/4 pound Golden Delicious apples
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon fresh lemon juice
  

Pastry

• 2 sheets all-butter frozen puff pastry (President’s Choice sells a package of two), thawed
• 1 egg, beaten to blend (for glaze)
• Superfine sugar (optional)

FILLING: 1. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups). Place apples in medium saucepan; add 1/4 cup water, 3 tablespoons sugar, and lemon juice. Bring to boil, stirring occasionally until sugar dissolves. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until apples are very tender, stirring frequently, about 12 minutes. Remove from heat. Gently mash apples with fork or potato masher until mixture is very soft but still chunky. Cool completely. DO AHEAD Filling can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.

2. Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 400°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

PASTRY: 3. Cut each pastry into nine squares. Place 1 scant tablespoon filling in center of each square. Lightly brush edges of 1 pastry with beaten egg. Fold half of pastry square over filling, forming triangle. Press and pinch pastry edges with fingertips to seal tightly. Lightly brush pastry with beaten egg. Sprinkle lightly with superfine sugar, if desired. Repeat with remaining squares. Using thin, sharp knife, make 3 small slits on top of each triangle to allow steam to escape. Place triangles on prepared baking sheets. Refrigerate until firm, about 15 minutes.

4. Bake turnovers until beginning to color, about 15 minutes. Reverse baking sheets from top to bottom. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F; continue baking until turnovers are firm and golden, 10 to 15 minutes longer. Cool at least 15 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature.

***To freeze, place uncooked pastries in single layer on baking tray and freeze until firm. Place in freezer bag up to 1 month. Thaw on baking sheet and bake as above.