Berry season

A sweet friend came into town for a few days, and her one request during the visit was that we find somewhere to pick fruit (an appropriate activitiy, given that foraging was one of the ways we got to know each other and continued to spend time together).

The strawberry season is coming to a close up here in New England, but that didn't keep us from finding a fabulous farm about 20 minutes away and picking for over an hour (we probably would've stayed longer had the kiddos not been flaking on us).

With an unfortunately cranky non-napper and the Little Helper on our team, we managed to pick close to 10 pounds of strawberries!  It was Little Helper's first real picking experience, and she was so proud of her basket!

So, what to do with 10 pounds of strawberries?

I put a bunch in the freezer, ready for smoothies and winter baking (when winter sadness creeps in, there's nothing like foraged fruit to remind me that summer will come back).

My friend showed me a wonderful website called Elana's Pantry that is a great resource for gluten-free baking.  We made a Chocolate Strawberry Shortcake from there and added 1/2 cup of bittersweet chocolate chips to the batter.

Given the gigantic heat wave that powered through, we had to cool off with some Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles.   I have this recipe for a Strawberry Cream Cheese Tart on deck, suggested by a friend who has a bunch of strawberries in her garden.  And, with a recent fresh lemonade kick, I decided to tweak this Strawberry Basil Lemonade recipe by substituting mint for the basil (because we have mint out the wazoo in our backyard).

We took one final strawberry fling and made up some of this vinaigrette dressing with mint, and soaked sliced strawberries in it.  It made for a delicious salad when we poured the whole thing on some mixed greens!

Beyond strawberries, we managed to squeeze in a trip to the beach, Big Sis took a tumble down the concrete steps (giving her a nice red smear up her face), we drove by a circus under a big striped canopy, and we found ourselves eating way too much ice cream at the UConn Dairy Bar in Storrs.

Mint Sweet Tea and Fresh Lemonade

No southern party is complete without sweet tea and lemonade!  Here are the recipes I used for our North Carolina party theme over the weekend.  I doubled each recipe to end up with a gallon of each.

To make Minty Sweet Tea: (1/2 gallon) put 4-6 regular sized tea bags (or 2-3 family size bags) in 2 cups of water.  Add 3-4 stalks of fresh mint (maybe 1/2 cup) and bring to a boil.  Boil for 3 minutes, turn off heat, and let sit for a while (10 minutes?  1 hour?  Depends on what else you've got going on.)

Squeeze out tea bags and mint; discard.  Stir in 1/2 cup sugar, return to the stove top and heat until sugar is dissolved.  Pour over ice, and stir together with enough water to equal 1/2 gallon (2 quarts).

To make Fresh Lemonade: (1/2 gallon) Combine 2 1/2 cups water and 1 1/2 cups sugar in a saucepan; bring to a boil and stir until sugar is melted.  Remove from heat.  Cover and cool at room temperature.  Pour into a 2 quart pitcher and stir in 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice and enough water and ice to make 2 quarts.  Serve immediately.

You know how I mentioned a while back that I had a game for the state-themed party?  Well, in a moment of panic, I realized that a game meant prizes.  At the time I realized this, I was stirring some tea in a pitcher.  So, I decided to make "Make Your Own Sweet Tea" party prizes, with tea bags, sugar, and directions in a brown paper bag.  I thought it was pretty cute.

But we never got around to playing the game, so these little favors are still sitting in my kitchen.  

More tea for us!

Sausage Balls and Lil' Smokies (adapted for yankee states)

Sausage Balls:
Mix 1 pound spicy sausage, 1 pound shredded cheddar cheese, and 2 cups Bisquick in a large bowl until combined.  Roll into walnut sized balls and bake on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes at 350 or until golden.

Lil' Smokies (sorta)
Stir together 1 jar chili sauce, 1 small jar grape jelly, and 1 package of lil' smokies sausages in the crockpot.  Cook on high 2 hours or low 4, until sauce has thickened and sausages are hot.
*adapted version - if you live in a yankee state and can't find lil' smokies sausages, frozen meatballs will do in a pinch (which is the route I had to take).

Both of these are great party foods and are easily doubled!  Once you start bringing these to parties, though, you'll be that person who always brings them (my friend Brooke is a good sport about being that girl, but we won't let her show up without them now.)

These were two of the dishes we served at the recent North Carolina themed party we threw for some friends who are moving to the great state.  Next time I make it down south, I may have to stock up on some lil' smokies so I can really show 'em how it's done up here.  Or, maybe I should keep scouring the grocery stores until I find them.  I hear sometimes managers take special requests.

Funeral Rolls

Makes 12 rolls

1 package King's Hawaiian Rolls (12 rolls)
1/2 lb good ham deli meat, thinly sliced
1/2 lb swiss cheese, thinly sliced
1/2 c. butter, melted
3 Tbsp. worcestershire sauce
2 Tbsp. mustard
2 Tbsp. brown sugar
dash onion powder

Split rolls and place in an oven-proof baking dish.
Layer ham and cheese on the bottom half of the rolls and replace the top half.
Mix together remaining ingredient and pour over the buns.  Cover tightly and marinate 4-24 hours.
Preheat oven to 350.  Remove cover from rolls and bake for 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and bun tops are lightly browned.

Do you know why these are called funeral rolls?  I certainly do not.  It doesn't matter.  Call them whatever you want: they're delicious.

This was one of the dishes we served at our recent North Carolina themed party (hence the label).  We even ate the leftover ones for breakfast this morning!

The Old North State Themed Party

I had so much fun helping to throw a going away party for some friends who will be starting graduate school in Greensboro, North Carolina.  We are sad to see them leave this Yankee state, but happy also ... because we'll be in good ol' NC a couple times before the year is up so we'll get to stay connected with them!

The party theme we settled on was "From Connecticut to North Carolina with Love."  

I'll be the first to admit that I was excited about the state themed party, but couldn't figure out how to make it work beyond fixing a North Carolinian menu - really, just my favorite southern foods (stay tuned for more on that ...)

And then I started looking around my house, and realized that about 75% of what's on our walls and bookshelves is tied in some way to our roots in NC.  So, I drew some arrows pointing that out ... 

And then, I printed off some outlines of the state and stuck them around the house in various places.  I even taped them to some skewers and used that to label the food.

Veggies & Dip, Ya'll

And then, finally, I made up a game (that we never got around to playing) of stats about North Carolina that I got from Wikipedia.

Here's the menu for our North Carolina themed party (recipes forthcoming):

BBQ sandwiches
Funeral Rolls
Pimento Cheese
Sausage Balls
Lil' Smokies
Watermelon
Veggies and Dip
Fresh Lemonade
Minty Sweet Tea
Banana Pudding
Blueberry Boybait




I am so thankful for these friends and the chance to send them off to their new state!

Cleaning with Citrus Vinegar

White vinegar is one of my very favorite cleaning agents.

First and most importantly, it's non-toxic, which is great when there are little ones who figure out how fun spray bottles are.  One spray in the mouth of vinegar, and she's not likely to try it again.

Secondly, it's so. stinkin'. cheap.  Seriously!  Like, $2 for an entire gallon.

Furthermore, it's versatile.  I challenge you to name another single ingredient that can de-grease a stove, curdle milk, and condition hair.

That being said, sometimes when I use vinegar to clean I get overwhelmed by the vinegaryness of it.  My most recent solution is to steep citrus peels in white vinegar in the fridge for a few weeks, strain out the pulp, and then pour the citrus vinegar into a spray bottle.  Then, it doesn't smell so pungent.  It's mildly pleasant, if I do say so myself!

I did this with orange peels a few months back, and it has made cleaning delightful less of a boring chore.

I am currently steeping some lemon peels in vinegar, and can't wait to start cleaning with that when my orange vinegar runs out!

No word yet on cooking with this vinegar.  I think if I am going to do that, I should get organic citrus fruit, and do a little more research on how shelf-stable it is.

Cart Redo

I love metal carts.  I found this one last fall for $5 at a thrift store, and it was just the right size for a narrow space in the nursery.  It was black, and somewhat rusty, but perfect for the space.

I covered up the rust with a hand-me-down tea towel with embroidered strawberries on it.

And then not too long ago I got a decorating itch.  I wanted a project that wasn't too big or expensive - so I settled on a $4 can of spray paint for the little cart.  I chose a sage green paint, pulled the cart outside, and went to work.

And that was it!  I let it dry in the garage for 24 hours before bringing it back inside.

I know every DIY-er says this, but paint really is the cheapest way to give something a new life!  I love the green, and I am also happy to know that decorating itches are not always expensive.