Berry Obsessed

It is summer! Like all those working in the educational system, I'm glad for the break. But most of all, I'm glad for the berries! Nearly every direction I look around my house has a farm or berry stand. Last weekend my stepmom and I went to a local pick your own strawberry farm. It's run by a local guy and his family. Strawberries are the only thing they grow. Most of the year he does concrete.

After years of trying this pick-your-own or that, my stepmom and I have come to the agreement that this is the only place we go from now on. He and his family are great, their prices are fair, and their strawberries are to die for! Small and sweet and plentiful. We spent an hour picking and ended up with 6lbs of strawberries!

Needless to say, with that many berries I was looking for things to do with them this week. Normally I'd make strawberry shortcake (REAL shortcakes, not that nasty sponge stuff) but after my wedding a few weeks ago my kitchen is running short on space so I didn't want to break out the food processor. So I went looking for some new ideas.

Now most people—at least most food bloggers—like to look at a bunch of recipes and tweak them around, combining what you like and trimming what you don't. Then you try it out, and tweak more to get the result you want. That's how most people make a recipe. That is what I intended to do this week as well as I searched for a good Strawberry Cobbler recipe. Then I found this recipe by Monique on her blog Divas Can Cook.

It is so simple you just can't mess it up. It works with any kind of berry (I know because when my local farm markets both ran out of strawberries I had to supplement my cobbler today with blackberries). Most of all, unlike a lot of recipes, this one isn't too sweet.

I can't make it any better because it is perfect. Some recipes just are. So I'll just leave these pictures, a link to the recipe and her video.

Recipe http://divascancook.com/fresh-strawberry-cobbler-recipe-easy-dessert/

Have fun trying it all and be sure to head over to Moniques site and check out all her other recipes (I tried her banana bread recently too and it was banging!)

To Miss Monique, keep up the great work!




**UPDATE** I've made this recipe many times by now and in many different ways. Not only is it great with many types of berries, it also works really well with Gluten Free Flour! (I made it for my Oma who has celiac disease and it turned out perfect). So for all my friends who are looking for recipes which can easily be adapted for gluten free flour—because let's be honest, some recipes just don't come out the same—this is a great one.

As American As... An Apple Pie Story

     I have a confession. As a child, I did not like pie. The only pie I liked was my moms Chicken Pot Pie. Cream pies, nut pies, fruit pies, those were strange and icky foods full of mystery ingredients. It wasn't until college that I saw the light.

Picture from Bettycrocker.com

     Apple pie.

     Buttery, flaky crust sandwiching layers of tender-crisp, sweet apples and cinnamon-y sweet sauciness. Just thinking about it makes my mouth water.

     The only problem? Making a pie in my dorm. You can't eat the whole thing in one sitting (or at least you SHOULDN'T) and there's no easy way to keep the leftovers in your mini-fridge.

     The solution?

     Apple Dumplings.

     All the same elements as the pie, only in convenient single serving packages, which can easily be stored in a tupperware. And honestly, they are so much easier! All my friends and family adore them, so now I share the secrets to apple-y bliss with you.

Apple Dumplings

Serves: 6

Time: 1 hour (approx)

Ingredients for Dumplings:

- 3 apples (buy a type that's good for pies. I like Fuji apples)

- 1 package pie crusts (yes, I cheat. If you want to make your dough more power to you!)

- 1 stick butter (minus 1 Tblsp)

- 1/2 cup white sugar

- 1 Tsp Cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp FRESH nutmeg (if you don't know why ask Alton Brown)

For Syrup:

- 2 cups water

- 2 cups sugar

- 1 Tblsp butter

- dash of cinnamon and grate of nutmeg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400.

1) Peel, core, and cut apples in half.

2) Roll out pie crust and arrange apple halves evenly, cut side up. Cut dough into thirds.

3) Place a pat of butter into the hollow of each apple.

4) Mix sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

5) Spoon cinnamon-sugar mixture over butter pat.

6) Fold edges of pie dough around the apple, creating a sealed package.

7) Place in a deep baking dish, approximately 1-2 inches apart.

8) Add another pat of butter atop each package, and sprinkle tops with remaining cinnamon-sugar.

9) Heat water, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg to boiling in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add butter and reduce 3-5 minutes. 

10) Pour syrup AROUND (not on top of!) apple packages.

11) Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until crust turns golden brown.

12) Serve warm with vanilla ice cream, spoon sauce over both. Enjoy!

Neglected

I'm sorry I have left you adoring fans (all 2 of you) waiting so long for a new post.  I promise to be better with my new move.  We are moving to Royersford tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more energy to make more creative dishes.  In the meantime, I will provide you with a delicious dinner recommendation.

If you live in an area where you can find a Melting Pot, I highly suggest visiting them.  I had the great fortune that my Mom took me and my family out to eat there for my birthday 2 weeks ago.  Now their food is all wonderful, and what you really go for is the experience.  For those of you wondering what experience I'm speaking of, the Melting Pot is a fondue restaurant.  If the word conjures images of cheesy 1970's movies and boxes of un-opened sets from every wedding since the 60's, you're on the right track.  Yes, we are talking that kind of fondue.  Trust me though, it is worth a try!  The melting pot offers meals for 1 or 2, as they mostly cater to couples or groups of 4.  For a set price you get 4 courses, the appetizer (aka Cheese course), salad, entree, and dessert.

The appetizer course you and your group choose a cheese fondue concoction from the listed menu choices and the server makes it for you at your table.  You are provided with skewers with which you pierce chunks of crusty bread, vegetables, and apples to dip in the ooey-gooey goodness.  Next each person receives an individual salad.  Then comes the entree, an assortment of meats and vegetables (from pork loin to filet mignon, from shrimp to lobster) cut into bite sized pieces for you to cook in your choice of cooking methods (coq au vin, traditional oil, vegetable broth, etc.).

Lastly is the dessert course, which is (of course) my favorite.  You are provided with fresh strawberries, bananas, cheesecake, Rice Krispies Treats®, marshmallows, pound cake and brownies to dip into your choice of delectable chocolate fondue.  Because we had 7 people in our party, we enjoyed having 2 chocolatey concoctions to choose from.  Our first was the weekly special, a "Dark and Dulche" fondue.  Dark chocolate, caramel cream and sea salt swirled together in perfect harmony.  The second choice was my favorite listed on the menu, partially just for it's name: "The Flaming Turtle".  Yes you read that right, the Flaming Turtle.  Remember those amazing pecan and caramel candies from your youth?  They've made a comeback.  Milk chocolate, caramel, and pecans, on flambé.   Decadent enough for you?

I can tell you, I will be coming back for my anniversary or valentines day, even if it is only for dessert!

Stay sweet,
     -Z.Q.  <3

Delectable Diner Desserts

A Thursday night tradition for my friends and I, we love our diner nights. No Diner night is complete without an assortment of desserts to share across the table after our dinners. If there is one thing that our local 24/7 hangout does right, it is dessert.



I ordered a Cookies and Cream cake. The filling is the best part. I suspect it is comprised mainly of cream cheese, powdered sugar and cookie crumbs.


Shawn ordered a new comer to our diner's dessert list, the Eclair cake. As you can see it has an actual eclair inside the cake! I didn't get to try it, but it looked so yummy.



Eventually I had to recruit some help from my bud Joel to finish my cake.



In the end we were triumphant and quite full.