Strawberry Shortcake

While we’re not quite at that time of year here in Maine, it is that time … STRAWBERRIES! I love strawberries just hulled and sliced with a bit of sugar and balsamic vinegar. Though I have made Dark Chocolate Strawberry Ice Cream and Strawberry Limeade, if I had to add strawberries to a recipe, my all time fav would be Strawberry Shortcake.

When Fantastical Food Fight announced April’s spatula down to be Strawberry Shortcake I was delighted! I changed up my Grandmother’s Biscuits a tiny bit to make them sweet, not savory and simply sliced up some strawberries and let them macerate for a while.

Traditionally you would serve these beauties with whipped cream. I have not been able to bear the sight of schlag on my food since … well, let’s just say, Vermont, a loss of power, whipped cream and a pumpkin pie. Gives me the willies just thinking about it!

Hopefully by the time you read this any threat of snow will be gone … I’m pretty sure I heard that rotten weatherman say the dreaded S word this morning!

Biscuits:

• 2 C all-purpose flour
• 1 T baking powder
• 1/2 t salt
• 3 T sugar
• 1 stick butter, chilled
• 2/3 to 3/4 C half and half

Strawberries:

• 1 quart strawberries
• 1/3 C sugar
• 1 T Balsamic

If you want the ooky whipped cream:

1 1/2 cups whipping cream for topping, or non-dairy whipped topping

NOTE: Try to use the best balsamic possible. Not everything you buy in the supermarket is anything close to traditional balsamic. If you want to treat yourself to something wonderful, try the Traditional Balsamic from Fiore. Their products are really great … stay tuned for an ice cream with their Amarena Cherry Balsamic!

Rinse the berries under cold water; drain well. Hull and slice the berries; place in a bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and balsamic; cover and let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Whip the cream (sweeten with 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar, if desired) until it holds a soft peak. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Preheat the oven to 425.

In a food processor combine the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and pulse to mix. Cut butter into about 8 pieces and add to the mixture. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, but with few pea-size chunks of butter left in the mixture. Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and make a well in the center. With a fork stir in the cream, just until dough is moist.

NOTE: Be very careful not to overwork the dough. The dough doesn’t hold together well at this point, but let the dough stand for a minute, and magic happens.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Fold the dough over on itself (knead) 2 or 3 times, until it is holding together and is less sticky.

Gently pat the dough into a 6 by 12-inch rectangle about 3/4-inch thick and cut into 8 (3-inch) biscuits with a floured round cutter. Transfer to a buttered foil-lined cookie sheet. Brush on a little milk or cream and sprinkle tops with some sugar, if desired. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until risen and golden brown.

Split each biscuit horizontally. Top with about 1/3 cup of berry mixture. Replace the tops and top with a tablespoon or so of berries. Serve with whipped cream for topping.

Serves 8.

Watermelon Limeade #SundaySupper

It’s seems to be a winter that’s getting longer by the moment. As I sit here typing, on March 22, it’s SNOWING again! Just as my head is turning toward starting some seedlings for planting and planning out our garden. It’s SNOWING! AGAIN! I need something spring-like. Something summer-time cool to chase away the winter blasé mood.

It was a combination of events that led me to try this recipe … first, Sunday Supper’s theme of Citrus Recipes That Will Make Your Smile, hosted by Lisa at Jersey Girl Cooks AND walking through the supermarket and finding watermelon! I know, I know, it’s the wrong time of year. I don’t care. It looked fab and I needed a cocktail.

The original recipe did not call for gin. To me, it called for gin!

• 6 cups 1-inch-pieces watermelon (from about 1/2 5-pound watermelon)
• 1/2 cup cup fresh lime juice
• 2–3 tablespoons light agave syrup (nectar) or honey
• Lime wedges (for serving)
• GIN

Purée watermelon, lime juice, and 2 Tbsp. agave syrup in a blender until smooth. Add 1 Tbsp. more agave, if desired. Strain into a large pitcher filled with ice and stir in 1/2 cup water. Serve over ice and garnish with lime wedges.

Sunday Supper Citrus Recipes That Will Make You Smile

Appetizers

• Lemon Lime Shrimp Cocktail w/a Citrus Yogurt Dipping Sauce by The Freshman Cook
• Mango Citrus Salsa by Feeding Big

Breakfasts

• Chocolate Orange Cinnamon Rolls by Caroline’s Cooking
• Creamy Vanilla-Orange Overnight Oats by A Little Fish in the Kitchen
• Key Lime Muffins with Key Lime Glaze by Family Around The Table
• Lemon Donut Holes by The Bitter Side of Sweet
• Lemon Poppy Seed Quick Bread by Pies and Plots
• Lemon Ricotta Pancakes by Renee’s Kitchen Adventures
• Meyer Lemon Olive Oil Muffins by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
• Orange Chocolate Chip Muffins by Jersey Girl Cooks

Main Dishes

• 10 Minute Lemon Pasta With Crispy Basil by Sprinkles and Sprouts
• Asian Lemon Chicken by Brunch-n-Bites
• Calamansi Shrimp on Couscous by Asian In America
• Citrus Marinated Chicken Thighs by A Day in the Life on the Farm
• Citrus-Glazed Scallops with Chunky Avocado Salsa by The Weekend Gourmet
• Lemon Ricotta Spaghetti with Peas by Cricket’s Confections
• Meyer Lemon Chicken Piccata by Cindy’s Recipes and Writings
• One Pan Parmesan Lemon Chicken and Asparagus by Fantastical Sharing of Recipes
• Orange Beef by Palatable Pastime
• Orange Chicken by A Mind “Full” Mom
• Skillet Roasted Lemon Chicken by My Savory Spoon
• Slow Cooked Orange Chicken Breasts by Simple and Savory
• Thai Lime Basil Chicken Stir Fry by Wholistic Woman

Sides

• Cilantro Lime Quinoa by Home Sweet Homestead
• Tiny Batch Blood Orange Marmalade by What Smells So Good?

Desserts

• Banana Cake with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting by Grumpy’s Honeybunch
• Clementine Pistachio Pomegranate Upside Down Cake by Sunday Supper Movement
• Easy Japanese Lemon Yuzu Bars by The Ninja Baker
• Key Lime Chiffon Pie by Food Done Light
• Ladyfinger Lemon Torte Recipe by Positively Stacey
• Lemon & Blueberry Skillet Cake by Cosmopolitan Cornbread
• Lemon Key Lime Layer Snack Cakes by Crazed Mom
• Meyer Lemon Creme Brulee by Soulfully Made
• Meyer Lemon Mousse by Recipes Food and Cooking
• Pink Grapefruit Meringue Tart by Baking Sense
• Sittin’ On a Sandbar Key Lime Pie by Gourmet Everyday
• Starbucks Lemon Loaf Recipe by Life Tastes Good
• The Best Lemon Bars Recipe by That Skinny Chick Can Bake
• Triple Citrus Macaroon Mascarpone Tart by The Crumby Cupcake
• Triple Lemon Poke Cake by Shaken Together

Beverages

• Homemade Grapefruit Soda by Hezzi-D’s Books and Cooks
• Pineapple Orange Smoothie by Dizzy Busy and Hungry
• Ruby Red Mimosa by Our Good Life
• Simple Meyer Lemon Margaritas by My Life Cookbook
• Watermelon Limeade by From the Bookshelf

Join the #SundaySupper conversation on twitter on Sunday! We tweet throughout the day and share recipes from all over the world. Our weekly chat starts at 7:00 pm ET. Follow the #SundaySupper hashtag and remember to include it in your tweets to join in the chat. To get more great Sunday Supper Recipes, visit our website or check out our Pinterest board. Would you like to join the Sunday Supper Movement? It’s easy. You can sign up by clicking here: Sunday Supper Movement.

Peach Salsa

When the Dear One and I talked about getting married – really, the hows and wheres and whos part of getting married – it became apparent to us that we wanted only two things out of the ceremony (1) it had to be small and (2) we wanted all of our children there. Wait, maybe we wanted another – we wanted to be married.

Between us, there are 4 children (I always in include my dear daughter-in-law in that number), 7 parents, 4 sisters and 2 brothers, as well as their husbands, boyfriends, girlfriends. There is NOTHING small about that group of people. There is nothing intimate about that group of people. There is nothing simple about placing all those people in the same place at the same time.

Okay, so how about just you and me, our kids, someone to marry us, a best man and maid of honor. Everyone else? Well, we’re adults, this isn’t the first time for either of us, this is our choice and, hopefully, they will just be happy for us. We chose to be married this way and at our age not anyone else’s place to have issue or commentary.

Trying to put the 4 kids in the same place at the same time was proving impossible. We tried for 6 months and just couldn’t manage. It had to be all of them or none of them. How do you explain to the ones who couldn’t be there on a specific date and time that others would be there and we would just go on without them. Sadly, after trying to arrange something, it had to be none. We didn’t handle it very well – correct that – one of us didn’t handle that very well and it isn’t the one typing. Okay, okay, I didn’t handle some things well either.

But I honestly believe that it’s all about how you recover from your mistakes that really counts. If you make a mistake, and don’t admit the mistake and do nothing to rectify it, you’ve learned nothing and will likely do something very similar again. I believe that parents should apologize when they’re wrong – and we were wrong. I believe now we’re in a very good place together as a family. Our definition of family.

There is, though, one person, who I doubt will read this, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Your words meant more to us than you can possibly imagine. We will keep that note always.

We realized then, that as much as we love that small army of people, we married each other – not our mothers or fathers or sisters or brothers – each other. To a certain extent our children – it takes a village, don’t you know. We have a favorite son, a favorite older daughter, a favorite younger daughter and a favorite daughter-in-law. Mix them all together, add lots of love and a little understanding and patience, two adults who just love them to bits – oh, really, there’s no place else I’d rather be and no other people I’d rather be here with.

It’s that melding of people – all very different, things in common here and there, but somehow melded to make a family unit that bring me to … TADA! Peach Salsa.

This past summer we had TONS of peaches! You remember the Peach Liqueur – I think I do! There will be Peach Jam coming up.

I found this recipe in Small Batch Preserving. I’ve had it book marked forever, but I’m not quite comfortable with canning yet, so I would look at the book and cast it aside and then look and cast … the more I delve into it, the more I do like it.

The peaches bring a certain sweetness, a bit of kick from the jalapeño, tartness from the lime, they just all come together for one incredible bite.

The worst part of this salsa is peeling and chopping the peaches. IF – and that’s a big IF – I made a single batch, it might not have been so awful, but I doubled it. By the end of dipping them into boiling water, you JUST DON’T CARE.

• 2 C chopped, peeled peaches (about 4 medium peaches)
• 1/4 C finely chopped red onion
• 1/4 C finely chopped red pepper
• 1 T finely chopped jalapeno
• 2 T honey
• 1/4 t pickling salt
• grated rind and juice of 1 lime
• 2 T finely chopped mint

NOTE: To peel the peaches, bring a large pot of water to a boil. On the counter next to that pot have a large bowl of ice water. Place a couple of peaches in the boiling water for 20 or 30 seconds, transfer to the ice water. After a few seconds, the skins will pop right off. By the end you and your kitchen will be covered in sticky peach juice, but it’s totally worth it!

Combine peaches, onion, peppers, honey, salt, lime rind and juice in a medium stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce heat and boil gently, uncovered, for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in mint and stir for 1 minute.

NOTE: Not a huge mint fan so I used half the amount.

Remove jares from canner and ladle salsa into jars within 1/2 ” of rim (head space). Process 10 minutes for half-pint or pint jars.

NOTE: I process the jars in the dishwasher. I try to time the end of the dishwasher cycle to the salsa being ready.