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!

Victoria Sponge Cake and God Save The Queen!

I was feeling very home sick and British this weekend. Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth celebrates her Diamond Jubilee this weekend. And Britain has been encouraged to become a huge street party as in the old days.

I have a huge nostalgic pull to the early to middle 20th century. It seemed a simpler more elegant time. From the sixties on I lose interest and find that things became more out of control. I do feel that I was fortunate that I grew up in rural Northern Ireland in the 80s. Somehow it hadn't been completely tarnished by modern life and technology. There was still a really sense of community and not the modern Facebook community. One where you actually knew your neighbour.

Living in the city, I now live closer to my neighbours than ever and I'm sad to say I don't really know much about them. I remember as a child our neighbours making the afternoon walk up the hill and coming over for tea and to catch up on the 'news'.

I went to a little country Primary School with mainly farmers kids. Most of us are scattered all over now doing all sorts of things but it was a wonderful community to belong to. That was back when school dinners were real food and they still served dessert!!! Oh and full fat milk was ok then too!

I love life in America and have found a deep pride for my new home country. I value the principles it was founded on! I also feel a strong attachment to where I come from and the history that it represents. To me the Royal family are living history. I must give the Queen credit for her long 60 year reign and the grace she has faced all the challenges that the last six decades have thrown at her and her country. When you think about it Churchill was Prime Minister when she became Queen.

Like I said I wish I could have been home to join in the festivities. If she makes it to her Platinum Jubilee I'm going!!!!

So to honour Her Majesty and ease my home sickness I made a Victoria Sponge Cake. Nothing screams summer to me than a Victoria Sponge Cake with fresh whipped cream and strawberries! The cake got it's name from Queen Victoria who is said to have favoured it. Most add a layer of jam or curd as well but I like mine a simple cream version. Although just for a change the next one I make I will do so with jam!

I first made this cake when I was in school and it's the standard beginner cake to learn in Home Economics class as it teaches some great techniques like creaming butter and sugar and folding in flour. A quick note, sometimes the batter can start to curdle when you add the eggs to the butter and sugar. Do this stage slowly and if it looks likes it's starting add a little flour. That was drummed into me and probably one of the few things I remember the most from those days!

I have put the ingredients list in cups and measurements. Baking is so precise and a 'cup' isn't the most accurate measurement. I highly recommend if you bake a lot to get a set of kitchen scales and weigh out your ingredients. An interesting note on this particular cake, the traditional method on weighing the ingredients was to place the eggs on one side of a balance scale and then measure the other ingredients against them. Although this can lead to a drier cake so I recommend just individually measuring the ingredients.

You can even freeze this cake for up to 6 months, minus the cream and filling! Just let it cool completely and wrap in cling wrap, then put it in a freezer bag. You'll have it on hand for a quick dessert or afternoon treat!

I hope you enjoy making this yummy cake, I know I enjoyed my slice. So to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, congratulations of your anniversary and may God bless you! To everyone back home, hope you are having a wonderful time!

Victoria Sponge Cake

Ingredients:

8oz (2 sticks) butter, softened at room temperature

8oz (1 cup) sugar

4 medium eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

8oz (1 1/4 cups) self raising flour

Dash of milk

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4

2. Grease and line two 8 inch cake pan with parchment paper.

3. Cream the butter and the sugar together in a bowl until pale and fluffy.

4. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, scraping the sides after each addition. Stir in the vanilla extract.

5. Fold in the flour using a large metal spoon, adding a little extra milk if needed, the batter should be a soft dropping consistency.

6. Divide the batter between the cake pans and gently spread out with a spatula.

7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden-brown on top and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

8. Remove from the oven and set aside in pan for 5 minutes. Remove cakes from pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack.

9. This stage is completely up to you and your preferences. Place one layer on a serving plate and spread with jam, lemon curd or whipping cream. You can also add some chopped up berries. Place the other layer on top. You can either top with more whippig cream and berries (my favourite) or dust with some powdered sugar.

Happy Home Cooking and God Save The Queen!

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

Yunnan Chitsu Pingcha

No I have not completely lost my mind and started blogging nonsense. My husband spent last week in China on a business trip. When he was leaving their contact and interpreter gave them a gift of this black tea - Yunnan Chitsu Pingcha. It is so beautifully packaged and is an extremely expensive tea that tastes better the longer you mature it. Isn't the box beautiful!!!

Now I grew up to Tetley tea bags, interest (or maybe not so) fact about tea bags, they used to wrap the tea leaves in muslin cloth as packaging. When people got home they just put the cloth wrapped tea in a pot and brewed it and thus the tea bag was invented. 

Over the last year or so I've found a new love for tea, I'm talking hot tea not ice tea, I still can't get into it even though I live in Ice Tea central. I have also started using loose tea leaves as well as bagged teas. So I was so excited to try this beautiful black tea.

So last night we brewed a pot and it was an awesome tea. It has a wonderful earthy taste and has a red color. I think I have a new favorite tea. Next time Ken goes to China I'll have to get him to bring back more. He said they prepared it on these carved stone trays that were beautiful and he almost bought one but decided not to, although I think he regrets it now. So I can see him getting one in the future. They really take their tea seriously in China.

Now as a food person and someone that adores Chinese food I was a little jealous that he was going to get to eat authentic food. However before he left one of his associates who is from Vancouver said the food was horrible. We thought perhaps he was exaggerating and that coming from Louisiana where they eat everything it would be fine. WRONG!!! My husband can eat pretty much anything but he couldn't handle the food. He said the smell was horrific and that they seemed to like cooking everything in fish oil. He had plenty of eel, octopus and other delightful sea creatures. Needless to say PF Changs has now reached a whole new level of appreciation. 

Gingerbread Trifle

I hope you all had a very joyful and tasty Christmas.

Today I'm going to do a recipe review. I got a notion, this happens frequently and even though the question "are you pregnant?" follows, the answer is always no. I just get these notions!. Anyhow back to the notion. I wanted to make Trifle as one of my Christmas desserts. Call it a little nostalgia for something British but I really didn't want the traditional British Trifle of Lady Fingers, Custard, Jelly, Fruit and Cream. So to the internet I went. 

Gingerbread Trifle

I found a recipe for Gingerbread Trifle on Familyfun.go.com, which looked amazing. The link is here:

Family Fun Gingerbread Trifle

All the layers sounded delicious and were home made: gingerbread, custard, raspberries and whipped cream.

I was so impressed with the custard recipe and especially proud of myself after I made custard from scratch for the first time and it was so yummy! I feel an Apple and Blackberry Crumble will have to be made this weekend to go with the custard.

The gingerbread was wonderful and could very well stand alone as a bread, it was the perfect density for a trifle and didn't get soggy. 

My only complaint was the raspberry layer, I think pureeing the raspberries and straining to remove any seeds and adding the right amount of sugar to remove the tart taste would be an improvement. It seemed to bring the whole dessert down.

With the improvements to the raspberry layer this is a delicious, impressive dessert. And you really do need to use a trifle bowl to make it, which mine was purchased last minute from Walmart for $6.47 plus tax and it really doesn't look that cheap either. You can also get some mini trifle dishes and make individual servings, perfect for afternoon teas or to help when you serve the trifle, a little less messy option!

Not a bad ending to my first Trifle, I'm thinking something with strawberries for my next attempt!

Sugar Cookies

 I had some little elves in the kitchen last night. A sugar rush before bed is not the best idea! The youngest proved to be a master in cookie thief!

Sugar cookies are so much fun, you can really have some fun with them.

You can use the following recipe or any sugar cookie recipe and use some themed cutters. It is really important to follow all the steps! The dough needs to rest in the fridge and you can make it a few days before you need the cookies. The step to freeze the cookies is really vital to helping the cookies retain their shape. The best baking tip I've heard in a long time is lining your cookie sheet with parchment paper, it makes clean up so much easier! 

Sugar Cookies

Makes about 18 -24 4-inch cookies

Ingredients:

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (2 sticks) / 8 oz unsalted butter, room temperature

2 cups granulated sugar

2 large eggs

2 tsp pure vanilla extract.

Directions:

1. Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl.

2. Using an electric mixer, put butter and sugar in a bowl with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy.

3. Mix in eggs and vanilla.

4. Reduce speed to low. Gradually mix in flour mixture.

5. Divide dough in half; flatten each half into a disk and wrap individually in plastic wrap.

6. Refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour but ideally overnight.

7. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

8. Remove one disk from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes.

9. Roll out the dough until 1/4 inch thick.

10. Cut out the cookies, re-rolling the scraps and repeat with the remaining disk.

11. Transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place cookies in the freezer for about 15 minutes, until very firm.

12. Remove the baking sheet from freezer and transfer shapes to oven. I have 2 cookie sheets and I switch the cookies on the parchment paper that way I'm not putting a hot cookie sheet in the freezer or a cold one in the oven. Again the parchment paper is genius. 

13. Bake, switching positions of sheets and rotating halfway through, until edges turn golden, 15 - 18 minutes.

14. Let cool on wire racks.

15. Decorate with royal icing, sprinkles or buttercream.

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!