When I was a much younger woman, I had a next door neighbor that I loved dearly named Mabel. Our houses were attached in a row of military PMQ's or military married quarters.
We had children around the same age, and we shared a lot in common, both being women of great faith, loving working with our hands and a great love of food and fine cooking!
We used to sit on the front steps every night after supper drinking a cup of coffee together and catching up on our day just spent. They were busy days with young families. Good times!
I have many, many lovely memories of times spent together playing cribbage (with husbands as our partners), once a month dinner parties, ball room dance lessons, women's guild activities, etc.
We remain good friends to this day and I always make a special effort to see her when I am home to Canada visiting, even if it is only getting together for a beverage and a good natter.
Mabel was an excellent cook (still is!) and shared many recipes with me during the years. This is her recipe for a delicious Strawberry Pie.
It's delicious to the taste and very simple. I have always loved it, so did my family and now Todd does too.
It just wouldn't be summer without making this at least once during strawberry season.
The filling is made in the microwave. Its very easy. You just mix together sugar and cornflour (cornstarch) and some water, along with a portion of fresh berries and cook in the microwave until thick. I like to whisk it every couple of minutes.
The filling is made in the microwave. Its very easy. You just mix together sugar and cornflour (cornstarch) and some water, along with a portion of fresh berries and cook in the microwave until thick. I like to whisk it every couple of minutes.
You let the resulting thick strawberry pudding type of mixture cool for a while until just lukewarm, and then fold in another portion of fresh berries.
So you have a kind of jelled mixture filled with fresh berries. This gets spooned into a crisp baked pie shell and the chilled overnight, or at least for several hours.
Ready to be cut into wedges and served with a hefty dollop of whipped cream, or in my case here today, clotted cream. Totally scrumptious.
*Mabel's Strawberry Pie*
Makes one 9-inch pie
You will also need:
1 9-inch baked pie shell
whipped cream for serving
Microwave
on high for 5 to 6 minutes, stirring every two minutes, until thick and
cooked. Remove and allow to cool completely. Fold in the remaining
berries and spoon ito a baked pie shell. Smooth over and place in the
refrigerator to chill for at least several hours. Spoon whipped cream
over top to serve.
I think that recipes which have stories and great memories attached are the best kinds of recipes of all, don't you? I never sit down and enjoy a piece of this pie without thinking of my dear friend and remembering special times spent in each other's company!
I think that recipes which have stories and great memories attached are the best kinds of recipes of all, don't you? I never sit down and enjoy a piece of this pie without thinking of my dear friend and remembering special times spent in each other's company!
It is truly a deliciously fabulous recipe, but I will let the plate speak for itself. Make this as soon as you can. You will not regret and I predict it will soon become a favourite of your family as well. Thanks Mabel! Bon Appetit!
We are having one set of the Missionary Elders for supper tonight (Friday as I write this). As you know I always love to spoil the missionaries. I know how hard they work.
They are far, far from home, and family, and always bring such a special spirit into our home. I always say to my friends, if you want your home to be filled with light for an hour or so, feed a Missionary. They are always really appreciative. Its a win/win situation really!
Its been a bit hot for cooking and so I decided to make them an easy meal of BBQ ham sandwiches, macaroni salad, coleslaw, potato chips and then this fabulous refrigerated White Chocolate Cheesecake for dessert!
I can't show you a piece of it cut out because the dinner hasn't actually happened yet and I don't want to take away from the joy of the Missionaries when I bring it to the table, but from here you can clearly see how light and fluffy it is.
The filling is super simple and super easy to make. You simply beat cream cheese and sugar together with a bit of vanilla.
Melted white chocolate gets beaten into this. I used milky bar chocolate buttons because they melt really easy, but you can use any good white chocolate, broken into bits.
I melt it in a heatproof bowl over simmering water. So long as you keep the water from touching the bottom of the bowl, this works very well.
You let the melted chocolate cool a bit. Not too much because you don't want it to be hard at all. You want it to be at the right consistency to stir it into the cream cheese, but at the same time not hot enough to melt the cream cheese.
Once the chocolate is stirred into the cream cheese mixture, you whip some cream, just until soft folds form. Any more than that and you won't be able to mix it properly into the rest of the filling. Once it is softly whipped, fold it in.
The crus is simply digestive biscuits made into fine crumbs, mixed with melted butter. That gets pressed down into a baking tin with removable sides.
A spring form pan works great. You actually do this before you make the filling and place it into the refrigerator to chill while you make the filling. Bad me, I got ahead of myself, lol.
Once you have the filling all done, take the crust out of the fridge and spoon the filling on top of the crust. I use a back of a spoon to press it down compactly, taking special precautions to press it well against the sides and then filling in the middle.
You don't want there to be any gaps or air spaces in the filling. Patience is your friend here and will reward you well when it comes time to serve.
After you have it all in the pan, you can decorate the top of the cheesecake as you wish. I used more chocolate buttons and placed them decoratively around the top of the cake. Then I sprinkled some milk chocolate flakes in between these to give the cake some definition, and provide some contrast.
You could also scatter some fresh raspberries on top, which look really nice, in which case I wouldn't do that until I was ready to serve it.
I just know they are really going to enjoy this. It is the perfect summer dessert. Easy to make. Doesn't heat up the kitchen. Delicious as well. I hope you will give it a go!
*White Chocolate Cheesecake*
Serves 8 to 10Whip the cream until it forms soft
folds. Don't over beat it. Gently fold it into the cream cheese
mixture. Spread this over the chilled crust, smooth it out. Place
back into the refrigerator to chill for at least 2 hours. Top with your
chocolate and berries (if using) and serve, cut into wedges.
I think this is a dessert you and your family and any guests would love. I hope you will try it out for yourself! Candy sprinkles would also look really nice on top! Bon Appetit!
Have you ever bought ready made garlic cheese bread at the shops? I have and it is gross. Sorry if I have offended anyone. I seriously doubt they even use real butter in it. It smells garlicky, yes, but also hugely artificial! I much prefer my own homemade Herbed Garlic Cheese Bread.
There is nothing artificial here. It is nothing but pure ingredients. Butter. Freshly grated Parmesan Cheese . . . not the already grated. Grating your own is far superior.
Fresh garlic cloves . . . peeled and minced. I add three for a large loaf, but if you want more you could certainly add more. I think three is the perfect mount however.
When I make it at this time of year I take advantage of the fresh herbs growing in the garden. But of course if you cannot get the fresh herbs you can use dried, just cut the amounts in half.
You can use any kind of loaf with this really, but I like a nice crusty French loaf. Not a baguette, but a full sized loaf. You can also use a sour dough loaf. This is an organic French loaf.
Its such a simple thing really. Mix together the butter, herbs, seasoning and half the cheese and spread it on the cut edges of a loaf you have cut in half horizontally. Then sprinkle on the remaining cheese, cut almost all the way into 2 inch thick slices, wrap in foil and bake. So yummy!
Perfect for all of your summer BBQ dinners, or with your pasta dinners, or even as an appetiser while you and your family or guests wait for the main course to be done. Oh, its even great with salads! And, simple really. Such a simple thing to do.
With just enough butter, just enough garlic, just enough herbs and just enough cheese. You can't go wrong.
This is so good I don't know why you are still sitting there reading
this. You need to get to the store now and pick up that fresh loaf of
bread so you can make this for supper tonight! Bon Appetit!
Herbed Garlic Cheese Bread
Yield: 8
prep time: 5 Mcook time: 15 Mtotal time: 20 M
This is the perfect bread to go with pasta or your BBQ dishes. It also makes a great appetizer while everyone is waiting for dinner. This also makes great use of all the fresh herbs in the garden at the moment.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup (120g) of butter at room temperature
- 3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup (90g) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 TBS finely chopped fresh basil
- 1/2 tsp finely chopped fresh thyme
- 1/4 tsp fresh oregano leaves
- fine sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 1 large french loaf or sourdough loaf
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6. Have ready an oven tray and two very large sheets of aluminium foil.
- Cream together the butter, garlic, 1/2 of the cheese and all the herbs, salt and pepper. Cut your loaf of bread with a serrated knife in half horizontally through the middle. Spread half of the butter mixture onto each half loaf. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese. Using the same knife make cuts two inches apart down through each half loaf about 3/4of the way down, leaving it attached at the bottom.
- Cover with the aluminium foil, leaving a gap at the top so that the cheese mixture doesn't touch the foil. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, open up the foil and return to the oven for a further 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
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Make no mistake about it, the potato is my favourite vegetable. It has been ever so. Not sure why. I just know I could live without chocolate if I had to, but I cannot go very long without a potato! No carb only works for me for a short time. I always end up caving in to the humble potato.
I saw this recipe for Bloomin' Baked Potatoes on a food blog called The Gunny Sack the other day and they looked pretty good. Not low fat, of course, but meh . . . sometimes you just have to live, right?
I was pretty keen to try it out, but looking at it, I thought I could improve on it somewhat. The method of cutting the potato is somewhat similar, but that is all . . .
Because of the somewhat high calorie content, I thought that 1/2 a baking potato was a large enough serving for anyone, and so I chose to cut each baked potato in half crosswise. This also gives a lot more surface to gild and crisp up in the oven.
It also gets cross cut, or petal-cut (see the recipe or the original recipe on the other blog) and those kind of fan out when baking, hence bloomin' potato.
Thinking about all those cuts I was reminded of another recipe that make for potato wedges. In that one you brush the potatoes with a spicy and flavourful butter glaze while they are baking. I felt that this would give the potatoes a lot more flavour than just olive oil . . . which is probably good, but I was looking for more.
And so I brushed them with some of that butter glaze from my original recipe which runs down into the cuts while they are baking and helps to crisp up and create some lovely golden flavourful edges.
Once they are all golden and crisp edged, I removed them from the oven and sprinkled on some old cheddar and crisp bacon which I had crumbled. I returned them to the oven for a minute or so just to melt the cheese.
Finally I served them with a dollop of sour cream on top and a sprinkling of minced spring onions. Oh boy . . . these were really, REALLY good!
*All Dressed Bloomin' Baked Potatoes*
Serves 4 For the Potatoes:
4 TBS butter, melted
60g tomato ketchup (1/4 cup)
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshy ground black pepper
2 large baking potatoes,unpeeled
Preheat the oven to 220*C/425*F/ gas mark 7. Line a baking tray with some aluminium foil. Whisk together the butter, ketchup, mustard, paprika, salt and black pepper. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise. Using a amall and very sharp flexible paring knife, cut rings into the cut side of the potatoes, all the way around and leaving 1/3 inch in between each ring. You will probably only get 3, maybe four depending on the size of your potatoes. Flip the potatoes over and make cuts all the way around the edges of the potatoes, again about 1/3 inch apart and leaving the centres intact.
Place cut side up into a baking dish. Spread with half of the butter mixture. Cover with foil and bake in the heated oven for 15 minutes. Uncover and spread with the remaining half of the butter mixture and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, basting them with the drippings every five minutes until fork tender and crisp edged. Sprinkle with the cheese and bacon bits and return to the oven just long enough to melt the cheese. Serve hot with a dollop of sour cream and some chopped spring onion.
I really hope you will give these a go. Fabulous served with BBQ meats, chicken and fish, and with a salad on the side. Scrumptious doesn't begin to describe them! Bon Appetit!
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