Strawberry Corn Cake - Surprisingly Tasty!

It has to be one of my favorite parts of Spring...biting into a juicy, red, ripened strawberry.  Believe me, I can, and will, devour them directly from the patch...no washing necessary!  Growing up, we lived right down the road from Brooks' Farm Strawberries.  Almost every year, my mom or grandmother would take us to pick our own.  I vividly remember my younger sister eating her weight in strawberries before ever even leaving the patch, covering herself in red juice from head to toe.  My grandmother always picked enough to put in her freezer so that we could have fresh strawberry shortcakes year round.  Mom always put sugar over them after they were sliced, and put them in the fridge for later.  Or, we would put them in our Frosted Flakes on Saturday mornings, back when good cartoons were still on TV on the weekends.

My grandmother, who's birthday happens to be right in the middle of strawberry season, turned 91 this year.  She is currently in the hospital, going through rehab for Neuropothy, which is a condition that affects the nerves in her arms and legs.  She was unable to enjoy her birthday at home, so we brought the birthday to her!  We made German Johnson tomato sandwiches (her favorite), and for dessert, we had strawberry short cakes.  My mom purchased some local fresh strawberries, tossed them with sugar, and put them over the little yellow cake cups that you get in the grocery store.  We topped them with whipped cream, and a candle, and voila!, birthday cake!  It really brightened her day! It's amazing what something as simple as food can do for the soul! 

Our "Lil" Peach Tree--Part 4

April 18, 2012.  

There are now little baby green peaches hanging on our 'lil peach tree! It's only a matter of the perfect amount of sunshine and rain to keep these babies growing.  Now I don't normally spend my time watering trees, but this year I decided that I definitely wanted to be able to enjoy these precious little fruits, and have been watering the tree as I see fit. (I may have snuck in a little Miracle Grow too...).  I am not willing to take those same risks this year.  I guess it's still a waiting game...

 

April 25, 2012.

Wow! Only one week later, and the little peaches have grown!  From a distance, this lil tree looks no different from the last couple of posts, but it you look closely, you can see how much the baby peaches have grown!

Molasses Cookies

Charles, my beloved husband, kept saying to me, "You keep promising me you are going to make those, but you never do."  So I finally did.  I looked for recipes for molasses cookies, similar to the ones that I remember making in culinary school.  I remember being proud of myself, capable of producing these wonderful treats from scratch.  

Thick & cakey batch

And now I get to share them with my hubby. He took a bunch to work for their Thanksgiving feast, and I made a separate batch to take to our traditional Thanksgiving family meal. Both batches came out a little bit different.  One was flat and crunchy, and the other was thick, soft, and cakey.  Both were very tasty.  The difference very well could have been the temperature of the butter before it was put into the mixture, or the amount of time the mixer ran at each stage of mixing.

No Bun Pun Intended...Ultimate (Cinnamon) Buns

I know, I know, it's pretty cheesy......CREAM CHEESY!!! LOL.  I came up with quite a few bun puns, but I just couldn't bring myself to use them in this post...I just had to keep it simple and clean.

All puns aside, a great cinnamon bun is hard to find.  The only way I felt I could satisfy my hunger for a warm sweet, cinnamon-y bun, was to make my own.  I wanted to be able to smell them baking in my own kitchen, just enough to warm my heart.  No "Cinnabon" could replace that fresh from the oven sensation we all love so much. 

Baking any kind of yeast dough is a lengthy process...from mixing the dough, letting it rise, forming the dough, and then letting it rise again.  It was an all day process for me, but well worth the wait.  Looks like the little dough boy helped too!!

Continue reading for recipe...
(Revised from America's Test Kitchen, All-Time Best Holiday Recipes)

Corncake--I Mean--Cornbread

Brunswick stew, pumpkins, bake sales, yard sales, flea markets, and fall fundraisers.  Fall is just around the corner now...the leaves are starting to change and fall to the ground, and we are starting to have longer, cooler nights here in North Carolina.  It is my favorite time of year for many reasons, but I think my absolute favorite has to be the hot meals that comfort us throughout the cooler seasons.  Here my focus isn't necessarily on the main course, but the bread...nice, soft, steaming hot cornbread.

Delights from My Garden--Part 1

German Johnsons are going to be here soon!

Wow! I have quite a few delightful treats in my garden this year!

First and foremost, the German Johnson tomatoes...I can't wait...and the Marion heirlooms right beside them.  I can't wait to fight for that tangy juice from the bottom of the bowl, to be able to make a sloppy sammich with just salt and pepper, or to simply eat one like an apple...dirt and all.

 There's also quite a few different varieties and colors of summer apples-red, green, and yellow.  It is such a joy to watch them grow and mature into a tasty morsel...whether eaten raw, in a cobbler, cooked to perfection in a cast iron frying pan, or pureed into homemade applesauce.  Nothing better than shaking the tree to have them fall from up above...like pennies from heaven.

Apples in the morning dew

Apples from 1 of about 8 trees in my yard

 Last year I had all of 1 peach from my tree.  I distinctly remember my mom trying to tell me that there was a ripe peach on my tree.  I didn't believe her...it had been very dry, and none of the trees had produced anything all year. But sure enough, there it was, a beautiful piece of art. I carefully plucked the single peach off the tree.  As I bit into it, I realized it was the freshest,  sweetest, juiciest, peach I have ever put in my mouth...too bad it was the only one :(.

...gonna eat alota peaches." 

"Movin to the country...

So this year I have 2 trees hanging full of 'lil peaches, and I am hoping that we are granted with enough sky juice to once again produce these flavorful, ripe, fuzzy  peaches.

 ...yes Juli, I remember the 6 hour tour...with all the peaches!

Blackberries...Take Me Back To The Good 'ol Days

Sitting here eating blackberries...soft yet crunchy, sweet yet tart...takes me directly back to my childhood. I vividly remember picking wild blackberries in the edge of the woods on a hot, humid summer night. Most of the time it was a treat after a long day of hauling corn, tomatoes, cucumbers, green beans, squash, potatoes and butter beans to the house from Gingi's garden. The sound of tree frogs and crickets in the background, the setting sun (if it wasn't already dark), sweat dripping down from Gingi's sweat band ,and the smell of honeysuckle. There was nothing better than sticking your already dirty hand into a prickly bush, and finding that big fat juicy berry. The end result...purple stained fingertips and seeds in your teeth...yummy, yummy, yummy, I got love in my tummy!


I will also never forget the red bike tire tracks I received while picking blackberries...;)