strawberries! and more strawberries!

I ended up with 4 quarts of fresh strawberries today.  Many of them were already getting mushy so I had to do something with them before they went bad.    

So this:

Became this:

(strawberry-mint sorbet)

*recipe coming...later...

Which left me with this:

So I made this:

(pure, unadulterated, strawberry ice cubes)

Which left me with this:

So I made this:

(pure, unadulterated, strawberry pancake topping)

and this:

(strawberry-mango lemonade...with some Tullamore Dew...just for fun)

and here's some more pictures...just for fun

contemplating strawberries...so many possibilities...so little time

I had to cut so many tops...off so many strawberries...

mmm can't wait for this to freeze into sorbet!

 I could drink this syrup straight out of the jar...but I'll save it for my chocolate-chip pancakes!

Rosemary Biscotti

Rosemary Biscotti

3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 c sugar
rosemary ( to taste...I used a lot)
3* cups of flour (I used 1/3 wheat and the rest white)
          *my recipe said 2 cups of flour, and I know I've used the recipe before and I didn't remember needing extra, but it was way too sticky to work with until I added a whole extra cup of flour

Shape the dough into a loaf and bake it on a pan for 25 minutes at 350.  Then, remove it from the oven and let it sit until it is cool enough to touch without burning your fingers.  Use a sharp, serrated, knife to cut the loaf into slices.  Then lay the slices on a tray and bake them for 5-10 minutes on each side. 

Then, if you're a choc-o-holic like me...melt some chocolate chips and dip the ends of the biscotti in chocolate. 

When there wasn't enough chocolate left to dip, I used a knife to spread it on top of a few pieces.  Even better.

sticky hand!

This is from trying to form a loaf before I had added the flour.  Had to ask C to add more flour for me while I continued to attempt to shape the dough into something. 

Salad w/ Fresh Greens

The 7/8 grade class at my school grew salad greens in their raised bed, and today we had a big salad buffet at lunch.  Then I got to take some leftover greens home...so I had another salad for dinner!  But my dinner salad was way fancier than my lunch salad...   The greens are/were fantastic!

This salad has: mezclun mix, arugula, zucchini, radish, carrot, avocado, strawberry, shrimp, and my homemade dressing.

Lasagna

1) Cook 1 lb of ground beef in red sauce.  (I don't know how much sauce it was...enough to cover the meat while it was cooking...

2) Cook 9 lasagna noodles according to the directions on the box

3) Mix together 1 egg, 2 c shredded cheese, 1/4 c alfredo sauce, and 1 1/2 c mashed potatos.  (I just guessed the measurements for the cheese and the mashed potatos...I don't really know how much I used)

4) Grease a casserole dish and then
     1) cover the bottom with  a thin layer of the meat sauce
     2) lay down 3 lasagna noodles
     3) cover with meat sauce
     4) spread some cheese/ mash potato mixture on top of the sauce
     5) put 4 slices of provolone cheese on top
     6) lay down 3 more noodles
     7)  repeat steps 3-6
     8) cover with sauce
     9) sprinkle the top with shredded cheese, place one slice of provolone in the center
    10) bake at 375 for 30 minutes with foil on top, and then 10 without the foil. 
          * if your casserole dish is shallow like mine, you might want to put a pan under it to catch the sauce that boils out...

My first attempt at meat lasagna.  It was pretty good.  But my veggie lasagna is better.  I haven't made it in awhile, I guess I'll have to make it sometime soon so I can post it here.

One Tasty Salad

I'm not a huge salad fan...but every now and then I manage to make one that tastes pretty darn yummy.

Lettuce blend: Spring Mix/Spinach

Zucchini

Carrot

Strawberry

Avocado

Ranch

Rosemary Garlic Bagels

Absolute yumminess.  Best sandwich bagels ever!

And Cinnamon Bagels.  They're good too. With peanut butter.

1 1/2 tsp yeast

1 1/4 c warm milk

1/4 c butter

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1 egg yolk

1 c whole wheat flour

2 3/4 c white flour

divide dough in half

add 2 tbsp crushed rosemary and 1 tsp garlic powder to one half

add 1 tbsp cinnamon to the other half

knead 6-8 minutes

rise 1 hr

shape

rise 10 min

drop into boiling water, remove when they rise to the surface

bake at 400 for 20-25 minutes

makes 16 mini-bagels

Stir-Fry the first: Peanut Butter Beef

I had some thin-sliced skillet steak to cook for dinner, and normally I turn it into "beef tenders," but I decided I needed something new to try.  I knew that kind of beef is good for stir-frying...and I've never tried stir-frying before, so I decided it was time to try.

Sauce
5 tsp corn starch
1 can beef broth
4 tbsp (approx...) crunchy peanut butter
1 tbsp brown sugar

Stir-Fry stuff
2 carrots, sliced
2 sticks celery, bite-size chunks
3 radishes, sliced
1/4 c onion, bite-sized chunks
1 c green beans

.75 lb thin-sliced beef, bite sized strips
1 tsp minced garlic
rosemary

I cooked all the veggies in some olive oil, stirring frequently, while cooking the sliced beef with some rosemary in another pan.  Once the veggies were about done, I added the sauce, then added the beef once it was cooked.  Stirred all the stuff together and let it boil for awhile to thicken.

delicious.  because deliciousness is a requirement in my kitchen.

I suppose I should add the link for the recipe I based mine off of...

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/peanut-beef-stir-fry/detail.aspx