Strawberry Cheesecake Trifle

I was looking for a fancy, delicious treat to share with friends and family. This one sealed the deal - so quick and easy. And, oh so tasty. It's hard to belive -- but if there is any left over -- it's actually better the next day!

2 quarts strawberries, sliced
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons almond extract
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2--8 ounce blocks cream cheese, softened
1 C. sour cream
2 C. powdered sugar
1 t. vanilla extract
1/4 t. almond extract
16 ounce tub whipped topping or 1 pint cream, whipped (I've used strawberry whipped topping -- equally delicious)
1 large angel food or pound cake, torn into pieces (I prefer angel foo)
Preparation:Set aside some berries for garnish. Mix rest with sugar and almond extract. Set aside. Mix cream cheese, sour cream, powdered sugar, vanilla and almond extract. Fold in whipped cream.
In a trifle bowl: 1/2 cake, 1/2 berries, 1/2 cream cheese mixture, repeat layers. Garnish with remaining berries. Refrigerate.

Refrigerator Pickles

Just idea for a summer treat!

2 C Sugar
1 C Vinegar
1 T Celery Seed
1 T Salt
9 C Sliced Cucumbers
Sliced Onion (optional)
Sliced Green Pepper (optional)

This mix keeps in the refrigerator for up to 2 months.

This week in meals

I have a confession to make. A large part of why I wanted to start a food blog is so I could better plan and manage the meals I make. Its really been working and this week I was quite proud of the planning and meal making that went on in our household. I know it sounds silly, but with all of the other things going in my life, I really needed to eliminate stress when it came to eats.

Here's what we had this week:
Saturday-BLTs for lunch, chicken gyros with tzatziki sauce, spinach squares and red grapes
Sunday-state fair (and Foreigner concert) fried pickles, cheese curds and nitro ice cream
Monday-Anthony grilled a steak, salad with balsamic vinegar dressing + a peach, leftover spinach squares and yogurt (the fair filled me up the night before)
Tuesday-turkey burgers on grilled country wheat bread (I used leftover tzatziki on mine), locally grown summer squash and zucchini sauteed with olive oil, onion, salt and pepper
Wednesday-slow roasted pork tenderloin rubbed with olive oil, sea salt, garlic and thyme, red grapes and Barefoot Contessa's vegetable slaw
Thursday-leftovers

All of these recipes were way easy and very tasty. I relied heavily on my Joy of Cooking cookbook this week, which is good for basics to expand on.

Carnivale's Mojito Recipe

For the drinkers of the group...

I went to a mojito class last night at a Cuban/Latino restaurant here in Chicago called Carnivale: http://www.carnivalechicago.com/. Supposedly they have been voted as having the best mojitos in town- now we can all be the judge!

For the seasonal fruit variety, we had a blueberry one and it was delish- perfect blend of sour and sweet!

8-10 mint leaves (remove stems)
1/2 lime quartered
1.5 oz. white rum
1 oz. simple syrup (use equal parts sugar & warm water- simmer until sugar dissolves)
club soda

In a highball glass, muddle limes and mint, then add rum and simple syrup.
Fill glass to top with ice and top off with club soda.
Pour all ingredients into a shaker and back into the highball glass. Serve with a straw and ENJOY!

For seasonal fruit flavored mojitos, use recipe as noted above but only use 1/2 oz of simple syrup and 1 oz. of fresh fruit puree (to be added before rum and simple syrup).

To make fresh fruit puree, stew your desired fruit over low heat with a bit of water. Once fruit is soft, drain any remaining water and blend into a syrup.

Vegetable Slaw

I had no idea there was a Barefoot Contessa web site with recipes! I made this last night from the Barefoot Contessa at Home cookbook. I cheated and used a bag of pre-cut slaw, and I halved the dressing recipe since the bag was a 1lb bag and it was just the two of us. Very tasty!

Vegetable Coleslaw (serves 8 to 10)
1 pound white cabbage (1/2 small head)

3/4 pound red cabbage (1/2 small head)

5 carrots

2 cups good mayonnaise

1/4 cup Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons cider vinegar

2 teaspoons celery seeds

1 teaspoon celery salt

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Fit a food processor with the thickest slicing blade. Cut the cabbages into small wedges and place horizontally into the feed tube. Process in batches. Next, fit the food processor with the grating blade. Cut the carrots in half and place in the feed tube so they are lying on their sides. Process in batches and mix in a bowl with the grated cabbages.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, sugar, vinegar, celery seeds, celery salt, salt, and pepper. Pour enough of the dressing over the grated vegetables to moisten them. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Placing the vegetables horizontally in the food processor ensures long shreds.The vegetables can be grated a day ahead and stored, wrapped in plastic, in the refrigerator. Keep the red cabbage separate, or it will turn the other vegetables pink.

photo from barefootcontessa.com

What is your Favorite Seasoning?

This is mine. I use it on everything...well, maybe not everything but a lot of things. What's your favorite seasoning?













Image courtesy of http://www.foodservicedirect.com

Food substitution resource

I always call my mom when I have food substitution questions, but on Saturday I found this handy web site, called Cook's Thesaurus. I was make Camby's spinach squares and wanted to make sure I knew what would be a good brick cheese substitute if my grocery store didn't have it (they did).

Not only did I get the history of brick cheese, it also listed several substitutes. I love the internet (and the squares were delish!)