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“Salad” for Dessert
We are into our 4th or 5th gallon of strawberries from our local farmers. I am actually having to swoop in to grab enough for any recipe before they are gone. It’s kinda nuts up in here. But every year, around this time, I see people popping up on social media requesting recipes for Strawberry Pretzel Salad. I was intrigued and decided to investigate. Said salad is not a salad at all. It is a delicious creamy dessert. The question arises, why in the world is this called a salad? I think it goes back to the days of church potlucks, where jellied “salads” brought together gelatin and fruits, sometimes…
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Upside Down Cake for Upside Down Times
We are getting used to school at home, though it does feel a little like we have fallen through the looking glass. Everyone is up early in the morning, rushing to get to school – at their desks 2 feet from their beds. A few hours later, they come tumbling down the stairs to scavenge in the kitchen for lunch. Then they run back up to finish out the day, leaving a wave of kitchen destruction in their wake. I know this is the same story for most homes right now – upside down times, indeed. So, while feeling very upside down, I thought I would try my hand at…
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When in Doubt, Bake
Our family is especially fond of rhubarb, that strange vegetable/fruit that looks like prehistoric celery. Technically, this is rhubarb season, though it doesn’t grow well here in North Carolina. About this time of year, my mom makes rhubarb freezer jam for our families. It is a family favorite and the only jam my father can safely eat, as he is allergic to most fruits. When we lived in the Midwest, rhubarb was plentiful and fairly cheap. Now we have to special order it through a fruit wholesaler. But it is well worth it. If you would like to know how we make the jam, you can find my blog post…
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Simple Cookies with a Complicated Name
My new KitchenAid mixer arrived this week, just in time to start whipping up some Christmas goodies. It arrived in the middle of a busy weekend, so it just sat there, looking pretty, waiting to be used. Finally, Tuesday rolled around and I decided it was time to put this beauty to good use. But what to make first?? I decided on cream cheese jam cookies called Kolaczki, or what some call Kolacky Cookies. The dough is a simple mix of butter, lots of butter, and cream cheese and flour. That’s it. The beauty of these cookies is the dough is rich but not overly sweet, so they are the…
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Perfectly Paired Pears
Ok, here’s the deal. It’s October – OCTOBER, and we just hit a record high of 100º F here in the Raleigh area. It is really getting ridiculous. They say the heat will finally break this weekend, but in the meantime, my desires to make soothing bowls of soup and chili in my crock pot are on hold. After scrapping my original idea of sharing a chicken chili recipe with you this week, I racked my brain for another Fall food to share. This brought me to pears. Pears are currently in season and at their Autumnal peak. I love apple crisp, but I thought pear crisp might be delicious,…
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Cla-Who??
A couple of years ago, I stumbled onto a recipe on Pinterest for clafoutis. Say what?! Pronounced KLAH-foo-ti, this French dessert looks quite impressive and complicated. In fact, it is quite simple and extremely delicious. It is a cross between a custard and a flan in texture, and is a great way to incorporate summer fruits. Traditionally, the French make clafoutis with unpitted black cherries. The theory behind this is that the pits contain benzaldehyde, which lends an almond flavoring to the dessert. The idea of spitting pits out while eating dessert is less than appealing to me, but maybe someday I will experiment with this – after everyone has had…
