dream cheese-stuffed strawberries

my good friend mj is a whiz in the kitchen.  she really comes up with the most delicious recipes, and they are always a wonderous sight to behold, too!  this is one of the creations i've borrowed from her throughout our friendship, and i know that, like me, you won't be able to stop yourself from wolfing down about a million of them.  but we can justify all that cheese and sugar with the fact that we'll get all of our fruit servings in one sitting :)

i've already made these a few times this year, and they've been a HUGE hit with family & friends!

Dream Cheese-Stuffed Strawberries

From Michaela Johnson

Ingredients

24 large strawberries, washed & hulled

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 c. powdered sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla

Directions

1. mix the cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla together in a medium mixing bowl.  scrape it into a large ziplock bag & snip one of the corners off with scissors.

2. pipe the cream cheese mixture into the hulled strawberries.

3. refrigerate until ready to serve.

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake for Dick's 27th...Mmmmmmm...

My hunka hunka burnin' love just turned another year older, and wiser, too!  When I asked what birthday treat he wanted he couldn't decide.  In fact, he couldn't even give me any options to choose from - may have been because he was glued to the Game Cube with his brother for hours on end - but I jumped at the chance to make something marvelous I'd seen online just days before: banana split ice cream cake.  Your blood sugar spikes just reading that, doesn't it?  I know.  With an Oreo crust, sliced bananas, 2 kinds of ice cream, a layer of gooey fudgey goodness, and perfectly sweet strawberries and toasted coconut to top it off, how could it not?  There may not be a birthday in your family or circle of friends coming up, but I'd strongly suggest you find some reason - any reason - to celebrate so you can make this cake.  They won't be screaming for ice cream, my friends.  They'll be screaming for you!

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

Adapted from recipe found at Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

1 package Oreos (I used double stuff w/ good results!)

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted

4 bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 pint strawberry ice cream

1 jar fudge sauce (loved special dark!)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

4 c. sliced fresh strawberries, sweetened with sugar

1 regular can whipped topping

1 c. coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Crush oreos in a food processor, or place them in a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin.  Mix in melted butter & press into the bottom of a 8-10 inch spring form pan.

2. Layer sliced bananas evenly over the cookie crust until it is completely covered.

3. Spread softened strawberry ice cream over the bananas.  This works best if you space individual scoops over the banana layer, then flatten and smooth them into each other with a rubber spatula.  Freeze for 2 hours.

4. Remove lid from jar of fudge & warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Spread it evenly over the layer of strawberry ice cream & freeze for another hour.

5. Spread softened vanilla ice cream over the fudge layer the same way you did the strawberry ice cream layer.  Freeze until just before you're ready to serve. 

6. Remove the spring form.

7. Pile the strawberries onto the cake, leaving about 1 1/2 inch border around the edge.  If you put the strawberries on earlier and let them freeze, the cake will fall apart when you cut into it.  Trust me...that's why there are no pictures of individual pieces of cake.

8. Cover the edge of the cake with loads of whipped topping, and sprinkle with toasted coconut. 

Simple Strawberry Sorbet

Ok, so I'd like to think that my cooking abilities have improved leaps & bounds from where I was when I first got married. Actually, that is indeed a fact. But when my blender starts to malfunction and smell like an overheating car, that's when I begin to wonder how far I've really come. This sorbet was seriously one of the easiest things I've ever made in my lifetime - I definitely could've done this even in my zero-cooking early college life. The problem is that I really just need a food processor because my Wal-Mart blender is getting tired of pretending to be one. The poor old girl just can't hack it anymore. I won't hold it against her - she's been a real trooper.

Aside from my appliance woes, this little treat was a big success. The best thing about this recipe, other than the simplicity of it, is that you can substitute any frozen fruit for the strawberries. I'm thinking mango next time, for sure! We're still holding out for some consistently warm weather in Utah, but this would be the perfect little dessert for a warm night on the porch.

Simple Strawberry Sorbet

From Prevention Magazine, April 2010

Ingredients

1 lb. frozen strawberries

1/2 c. plain yogurt (I used vanilla, and it was divine!)

1 c. sugar

Directions

Blend all ingredients in a food processor. If the strawberries have trouble blending, add a tsp. of cold water at a time until they blend well. Serve immediately, or reserve in freezer.

MJ's Peach Strawberry Crisp

Two summers ago I worked at a spa as a receptionist. It was just kind of something to pass the time and earn some money while I was waiting for my last Fall semester to roll around, but it was pretty sweet because I got great discounts on services and received massages, body treatments, and pedicures as part of my training for the job...awesome, I know! But the best part of the whole experience was meeting two girls that have come to be some of my very best friends: RJ and MJ. Those are just their initials, and that's what I'm going to call them even though it makes them sound like truck drivers haha! I like to think that we're somewhat like the 3 Musketeers in our own right. You know that whole "all for one, and one for all" thing they had going - I feel like we've got that going for us, too. Anyway, I quit the spa after not very long at all, and now neither of them work there either. Now, instead of seeing each other at work, we wake up at the mother-loving buttcrack of dawn twice a week to work out together, get together for game nights, Girls Nights Out, and the occasional chick-flick & junk food binge Girls Night In. I love these girls guts, and I know I didn't really need to give you the whole story of how we came to be, but believe me, that was definitely not the whole story - you got the seriously condensed version.

Anyway, MJ gave me this delicious recipe, and I guess I just got a little sidetracked in telling you about it...she originally made this as a rhubarb crisp, but ran out of rhubarb and tried peaches, which she liked even better. I had some blueberries that I added, too, and they were a great addition! It is officially Autumn, so I hope you enjoy this delicious Fall dessert!

Peach Strawberry Crisp

From Michaela Johnson

Ingredients

Filling

about 4 cups of sliced peaches

1/2 - 1 Tbsp Tapioca minute pudding crystals

chopped strawberries

Juice (apple, cranberry, grape, whatever you've got!)

Topping

1 c. rolled oats

1 c. brown sugar

3/4 c. flour

1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cut in 1 cube softened butter

Directions

Put cut up peaches on bottom of 8x8 pan. Pour a little juice over the peaches. Sprinkle tapioca mix over peches so it is evenly covered. Then add strawberries. You can just put as many strawberries as you want on it. I just put enough to give it color and cover up most of the peaches. Then add the topping. Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes to 1 hour. You can tell it's done when the topping is crispy! serve with ice cream, if desired.

sensational fruit smoothies

I don't know what the weather is like everywhere else, but for us the summer heat is still KILLER! One of our favorite summer treats to make (who am I kidding, we make these all year!) are fruit smoothies. I basically took the orange-julius recipe I memorized in Mrs. Wayman's 5th grade class & added to it, and the result is to die for! I'm 100% serious about the 5th grade thing - we went on a mini-field trip to some lady's house who taught us how to make cinnamon rolls & orange julius, and my life has been all the better for it. And now, yours will be, too!

Fruit Smoothies

Ingredients

5-6 oz frozen orange juice concentrate

1 c. milk

1 c. water

1/2 c. sugar

1/2. tsp vanilla

1 c. strawberries

1/2. c. blueberries

1 ripe banana

15-20 ice cubes

Directions

Put all ingredients in a blender and blend until completely mixed & smooth. If consistency is too runny, put in freezer for 10 minutes, or add more ice cubes.

*Add any other fruits you want!

summer spinach-berry salad

Ok, so you've probably seen this salad done a million different ways at a million different restaurants, bbq's, and pot-luck dinners, but that's the thing that is so AWESOME about this salad! You can use pretty much whatever fruit you've got in your kitchen & its bound to taste and look fantastic! Its funny to think that until a couple of years ago I don't think I'd ever had fruit on a green salad, but now that is how I make them most often. Dick and I fell in love with poppy seed dressing the instant we tasted it, and our salad-loving lives haven't been the same since.

Summer Spinach-Berry Salad

Ingredients

10 oz. spinach, washed & stems trimmed

3/4 c. strawberries, hulled & sliced

1/2 c. blueberries

11 oz. can mandarin oranges, drained

1/3 c. almonds, toasted

3 Tbsp. poppy seed dressing

Directions

Put spinach in a large bowl. Add strawberries, blueberries, oranges & dressing & toss to coat. Sprinkle almonds over the top & serve immediately.

*Put dressing on right before serving. If it sits too long, the salad will become soggy.

Tony's fave fruit salad dessert

Welp, it's just about the end of summer, and I've finally made one of my fam's staple summer dishes for the very first time this year! Pitiful, I know. My mom picked this one up from our neighbor, the one and only Nanette Wayment, at a church pot-luck kind of dinner a few years ago, and we all loved it so much that its pretty much makes regular appearances at bbq's, birthday parties, and any other function where we can find an excuse to have it. It is officially my grandpa Tony's favorite fruit salad/dessert, so he's usually the one to request it, but none of us are complaining! As you can see from the pictures, I started out in a bowl that was much too small, so make sure you start out in a big bowl. I always underestimate how much room the fruit will take up. Anyway, its super easy, super tasty, and a major crowd-pleaser... so give the people what they want!

fruit & cookie salad dessert

adapted from Nanette Wayment

Ingredients

1 large tub whipped topping

1 packet vanilla pudding mix

1 c. green grapes, halved

1 banana, sliced

1/2 can (20 oz) pineapple chunks, drained

1 1/2 c. strawberries, hulled & quartered

1 11 oz. can Mandarin oranges, drained

~12 fudge striped shortbread cookies

Directions

1. Put whipped topping into large bowl & sprinkle pudding mix over it.

2. Add grapes, banana, pineapple, strawberries, & Mandarin oranges.

3. Crumble 8 of the cookies & add them to the bowl.

4. Fold the fruit and cookies into the whipped topping. Stir just enough to mix everything well, but not too much so that the whipped topping becomes runny.

5. Crumble or place the remaining cookies on top of the salad for decoration.

6. Refrigerate until served.

!!! Strawberry Sour Cream Bread !!!

I had to put the exclamation marks on both sides of the name of this bread because I need you to know how much you will love it! When I found this on one of my newest fave cooking blogs, The Closet Cook, my brain started to FREAK OUT! I had never heard of such bread, but just the sound of it made my mouth immediately start to water ... as I'm sure yours is right now. As luck would have it I have a huge bag of strawberries in my freezer, so I hopped right to it and made this heavenly treat. It was a BIG hit with Rich, our pals the Purser's, and of course ME! The whole loaf had disappeared by the next day! Strawberries are on sale everywhere right now, so go get some and bake yourself the perfect summer bread. You'll be so glad you did!

Ingredients

1/2 c. unsalted butter

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 c. all purpose flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 c. sour cream

1/2 c. toasted pecans, coarsely chopped

2 c. strawberries (fresh or frozen), diced

Directions

Cream butter and sugar in a bowl. Beat in eggs one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Mix flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in another bowl. Mix 1/3 of dry ingredients into wet. Mix 1/2 sour cream into wet. Mix another 1/3 dry ingredients into wet. Mix remaining sour cream into wet. Mix remaining dry into wet. Mix in strawberries. Pour batter into 9 x 5 greased loaf pan. Bake about 60 min. at 350 degrees, or until golden brown & toothpick poked into center comes out clean.

- rustic strawberry tart -

Ok, so I'm not gonna lie...when Grandma Hell signed me up for a subscription to Woman's Day magazine I thought, "How lame - that's a 'mom' magazine!" Not that there's anything wrong with being a mom (I love mine!), I was just being an ungrateful snot. And remember, this was also right after I got married and wasn't interested in cooking yet. But I have come to ADORE this magazine! Mostly because there is at least one scrumtralescent recipe in each edition! So, I would like to bear you my testimony that Woman's Day is a magazine for the every-woman...moms, daughters, newlyweds, and "all the single ladies - all the single ladies!" This fabulous strawberry tart was on the cover of the June issue, and although it says that it serves 8, it only served 2 the night that I made it hahaha Hope you enjoy!

p.s. I totally used a store-bought pie crust, and we did NOT let it cool completely before eating it, and it tasted magnificent!

Ingredients

Pastry Dough:

1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, cut into peices

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 Tbsp confectioners' sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3-4 Tbsp ice water

Glaze:

2 Tbsp red currant jelly plus 1 tsp water, whisked smooth

Filling:

1 1/2 lb strawberries, hulled

1/4 cup plus 2 Tbsp granulated sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp grated lemon zest

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

2 tsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions

1. Pastry: Place butter pieces in freezer 20 minutes or until semi-frozen. In food processor, pulse flour, confectioners' sugar and salt until blended. Add frozed butter; pulse about 15 times or until mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle 3 Tbsp water over mixture and pulse until dough just comes together. Remove from food processor; with floured hands, gather into a ball, flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate 30 minutes.

2. Flour a sheet of parchment paper; roll out dough into a 12-inch round. Slide dough on parchment onto a baking sheet; refrigerate while preparing filling. Heat oven to 375 degrees.

3. Filling: Halve 1/2 lb of the berries (choose ones similar in size) and reserve. Quarter the remaining 1 lb strawberries lengthwise. In a medium bowl, toss 1/4 cup sugar, cornstarch, lemon zest, and nutmeg until blended; add quartered berries and butter, and toss to coat. Remove dough from refrigerator. Pile berry misture in an even mound in the center of dough within 2 inches of dough edge. Gently lift the unfilled dough edge up and onto the filling. Brush dough with egg; sprinkle with remaining 2 Tbsp of sugar.

4. Bake 40 minutes, or until crust is golden and filling is juicy. Remove from oven; slide parchment onto a cooling rack. Let cool 15 minutes. Arrange remaining halved strawberries cut side down on top of cooked filling. Lightly brush berried with red currant glaze. Cool Completely.