Strawberry oatmeal bars

It's very rare that I see a recipe on the food network that I just have to make that day but Saturday was one of those days. I love the Pioneer Woman, she lives my dream life, a ranchers wife. Now I have my cowboy but we just need our ranch, one of these days!

Anyhow Bree is a woman after my own heart. She's not afraid of real ingredients. Saturday morning she had a recipe for Strawberry oatmeal bars. I didn't even get to see the whole segment but I was sold.

So I gave them a go that afternoon. Man can you say G. O. O. D. Good!!! They are like a yummy oatmeal cookie with delicious strawberry jam! Hey oatmeal is good for you!

I have to say I was a little disappointed in the recipe instructions on the food network website. Bree's recipes are normally so well written. I was glad I pulled the video up in my phone because there were a lot of details missing on the recipe. If you want to see the original recipe here is the link. In the video she said she put 2 sticks of butter, I went with the 1 3/4 sticks. I really don't know if it needs more or not. it was very crumbly so maybe the extra 1/4 stick would help with that. I used regular oats, but she used quick cook. I love oats so using the regular was fine with me.

So I decided to fill in the gaps. Oh and if like me you can't wait for them to cool they are delicious right out of the oven! They keep well in an airtight container.

Strawberry Oatmeal Bars

Ingredients:

1 3/4 sticks butter, cut into pieces

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups oats, quick cook or regular

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

12 oz jar strawberry preserves

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9 by 13 inch rectangular pan. I used a glass pyrex one.

2. Add the flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt to a bowl and mix to combine.

3. Add butter to the bowl and rub into the flour mixture. You can use a pastry cutter too.

4. Press half the oat mixture into the prepared pan.

5. Spread with the strawberry preserves.

6. Sprinkle the other half of the oat mixture over the top and gently pat down.

7. Bake until light brown, 30 - 40 minutes.

8. Once it has cooled, but into squares and store in an airtight container.

WARNING: If you eat it directly out of the oven, preserve might be hot, try not to burn yourself!!!! It's worth the risk.

Happy Home Cooking!

Mini Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Everywhere you look right now, everything seems to be served in mini form and dessert seems to be the favorite thing to shrink. From cake pops to mini parfaits. I guess we are all so conscious about over indulgence and portion control but still want to be able to have that little something to round out a wonderful meal.

Personally I love the idea of mini dessert because I love dessert and I'm really bad at one or two bites and stopping, especially with cheesecake! I think they actually say that the pleasure sensors in your brain stop having as high a reaction after the second bite. I'm not sure my brain is wired that way, I enjoy every bite!!!

Anyhow for the shower the practicality of making a strawberry cheesecake wasn't there. However mini parfaits worked out perfect.

The first time I made them my friend Nancy came over for lunch and I asked if she minded if I used her as a guinea pig. (Have a mentioned that I have a wonderful bunch of friends that let me experiment on them?). I used some small glasses I had so they were larger than the mini cubes.

I was going to make them with regular graham crackers but those things don't last long around here as they are a favorite with my husband and boys. They had finished off the large FAMILY SIZE box of them the day before. All I had was chocolate graham cracker teddies! It was teddy carnage when I took the rolling pin to the ziploc filled with them but they had to be sacrificed for the greater good of dessert exploration. Well that was the end of plain graham crackers. You can use plain if you prefer but the addition of the chocolate just makes this delicious! I used actual chocolate graham crackers for the one pictured; no more chocolate Teddies were harmed!

You can make these up to a day a head but they are better served right after you make them. I just covered them with cling wrap and put them in the fridge.

I now have a bug for wanting to make more mini desserts and I think I will have to get one of those glass mini dessertware sets. I think they are a great indulgence without the guilt of eating a huge dessert. And perfect for any dessert buffet table!

Strawberry Cheesecake Parfaits

Makes 40 mini 3inch cube parfaits

Ingredients:

1 lb of strawberries

3 T sugar, divided

2 packs of chocolate graham crackers crushed

16 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3/4 cup of sour cream

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tsp vanilla

1 cup whipping cream

Directions:

1. Slice the strawberries and place in a bowl.

2. Add 1 Tbsp of sugar. Stir to evenly coat and set aside.

3. In an electric mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth.

4. Add the sour cream, powdered sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat until combined.

5. In a separate bowl mix the whipping cream and 1 Tbsp of sugar (the sugar will help make it whip quicker) until stiff peaks form. Do not be tempted to us Redi Whip, it won't take long to make it fresh and you may even burn a few extra calories.

6. Gently fold the whipping cream into the cream cheese mixture.

To assemble:

7. Place a Tbsp of the graham crackers in the bottom of each dish.

8. Add a Tbsp of the cream cheese mixture.

9. Add a tsp of the strawberries.

10. Add one last layer of the cream cheese mixture.

11. Place a strawberry on top for garnish.

12. Cover a refrigerate until ready to serve.

Happy Home Cooking!

Strawberry Bruschetta

When we were deciding the menu for the shower, Gabby mentioned bruschetta. When we set it for dessert only we figured we had to be able to do a dessert version with strawberries. There are a lot of versions online ranging from adding Brie to cream cheese.

Well no one recipe screamed out to us, so we decided to get some French bread and a few ingredients and experiment. It was a hard job for us, he he he!!! I think we may have to make a regular date of this!

We tried nutella but it seemed to over power it but man was that good. While we were making the chocolate covered strawberries, we thought the melted Lindt milk chocolate might be a good alternative. But we will have to try that another day! What you find below is the end result of our initial experiment. It works well as a wonderful treat and a great brunch or afternoon tea dish.

Strawberry Bruschetta

Ingredients:

1 French baguette

1 pkg cream cheese

1 pint strawberries

1/4 cup sugar

Powdered sugar for dusting

Directions:

1. Chop strawberries into small bite pieces. Put in a small bowl and add sugar. Stir to evenly combine. Set aside.

2. Slice the baguette into thin 1/4 inch slices. Place on a baking sheet and place under a broiler just long enough to brown. Be really careful and stand watch, do not be tempted to walk away they will burn in a second!

3. Remove the toasted bread to a cooling rack and cool completely.

4. Spread each slice of toast with cream cheese.

5. Top each slice with the strawberry mixture and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

6. Serve immediately.

Makes about 2 dozen

Happy Home Cooking!

Strawberry Lemonade

We don't really drink soft drinks in our house and when I have got them for a party in the past I've ended up throwing them away. So when I was deciding on drinks for the shower I decided to make ice tea and lemonade. It's hot already down here and who doesn't like lemonade?

Just simple lemonade didn't seem enough considering the strawberry theme so the next level was obvious - add strawberries.

I did some research online and saw a few places where sparkling water was added, almost giving it a punch feel. I tried it on the first batch and loved it. This is not your normal strawberry lemonade and yes it is a little involved but you will not be disappointed with the result and if you don't add the sparkling water it will still be good after a few days in the fridge.

Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

2 cups water

1 cup sugar

1 Tbsp lemon zest

2 cups fresh lemon juice

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and cut into pieces

2 cups cold sparkling water

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the water and sugar to a boil. Stir until sugar dissolves.

2. Add the lemon zest and juice, stir and remove from heat.

3. When the mixture has completely cooled, strain into a pitcher.

4. Purée the strawberries and add to the lemonade in the pitcher. Stir to combine well and refrigerate until ready to serve.

5. To serve, add ice and sparkling water to pitcher. The colder the sparkling water the better.

6. Garnish with some strawberries and lemon slices.

Happy Home Cooking!

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

With the shower theme being strawberries automatically Strawberry Shortcake comes to mind. However it didn't seem like it would work with the other desserts so I was going to skip it, until I saw this idea all over Pinterest. Strawberry Shortcake Cookies! I keep saying this but another genius idea!!!

I found this recipe on Bakergirl's blog.

It is so delicious right out of the oven but after a few hours isn't as good. They are simple enough that they would be wonderful for an afternoon tea treat or after school snack.

I have halved the original recipe due to the fact it doesn't keep well.

Strawberry Shortcake Cookies

Ingredients

6 oz strawberries, hulled & cut into 1/4 inch pieces (2 cups)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp sugar

1/8 tsp lemon zest

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 cup heavy cream

Coarse sugar, for sprinkling over the cookies

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degree F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

2. In a small bowl, stir together the strawberries, lemon juice, and 1 tablespoon of the sugar; set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together the lemon zest and remaining sugar. Run the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until moist and fragrant.

4. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt to the zest/sugar mixture and whisk to combine.

5. Using a pastry cutter or your finger tips, cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture until you have coarse crumbs.

6. Add the cream to the bowl and stir untilthe dough starts to come together, then gently fold in the strawberry mixture.

7. Using a small cookie scoop (about 1 1/2 Tbsp) drop the dough onto the prepared baking sheet, evenly spaced apart.

8. Sprinkle with coarse sugar.

9. Bake for about 10 - 15 minutes, or until cookies are golden brown.

10. Transfer the pans to wire racks to cool.

Makes about a dozen.

Happy Home Cooking!

Source: Baker's Girl Blog

Christmas Afternoon Tea

One of the events I look forward to at Christmas time is the Afternoon Tea my friend Laura, her mother and sister host. It feels like a real treat in the middle of a busy time.

Drinking tea is like a national past time in Ireland and Afternoon Tea as an event has its roots in British culture. It really is a lost custom. It's much more than tea, sandwiches and pastries it's an opportunity to take a relaxing break and enjoy some wonderful company. I can certainly say that today's Tea was all that. The teas and foods were exceptional.

Some brief highlights were:

A selection of tea sandwiches: chicken salad, pimento, cucumber and strawberry cream cheese (more about that one later)

Lemon poppy-seed, pecan and lemon pistachio scones

Lime and lemon curd

Gingersnap cookies, shortbread, brownie/peppermint thumb nail cookies

Rum cake

Tea selection included:

Glad Tidings, Blackberry Sage, Harrods Strawberry tea, Apple cider tea, and a few others.

Now as I mentioned Laura makes the most amazing Strawberry Cream cheese tea sandwiches! They are so simple, mix some cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla, spread it on bread, top with sliced strawberries and add another slice of bread. Remove the crusts and cut into tea sandwich size and oh my goodness pure delight! Who knew that three of my favorite things could be combined in such an delicious way!

It was a wonderful afternoon with the fellowship of some very amazing woman. I think we all need to make a little more time for Afternoon Tea. I am adding it to my New Year's resolution list!