Strawberry Cake

You know what blows? Unemployment. Rain. Crappy day time television. Job applications. Extreme boredom. Put those things together, let it marinate for two weeks, and you'll have yourself a big mess of complete and utter, "get-me-out-of-this-house-before-I-kill-the-cats" stir craziness.

You know what doesn't suck, though? Light, fluffy vanilla cake stuffed with fat, juicy strawberries. A perfectly moist cake made with simple ingredients that are sure to be sitting in your pantry/fridge right now. A sweet treat that can be mixed, baked, cooled, and devoured in less than an hour. 

This cake is the only thing keeping me sane today. There's something about cracking eggs and stirring batter and slicing strawberries that's really soothing. It's familiar, it's easy, and I'm guaranteed to get something great at the end of my labors. I'm still a little stir crazy, but after a few slices of this stuff I'm starting to feel like maybe life isn't so bad when there's strawberry cake to eat.

Recipe can be here, courtesy of the Gourmand Recipes blog.
** I didn't have milk in the house, so I used 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream instead. Worked just fine, and I think probably added some extra sweetness/richness to the cake.

Twisted Strawberry Lemonade

Last week, David Leibovitz's blog had a delicious-looking guest post on strawberry vodka. Soon after that, TasteSpotting and FoodGawker exploded with entries showcasing different fruit-infused vodkas. Since everyone else was doing it...

Yeah, I hopped on the infused vodka train. 

Ripe strawberries smell so good! And after three days in a tightly sealed jar with said berries, the vodka smelled pretty good too. One whiff and I had visions of delicious strawberry-flavored cocktails dancing before my eyes. 

Some people say summer is all about the beach and weekend cook-outs...I say it's about the drinks. Gotta stay hydrated in the heat, you know! And what's better for the body and soul on a hot summer day than lemonade? Strawberry Lemonade. With vodka.

Twisted Strawberry Lemonade

Ingredients:

- 2 cartons ripe strawberries, quartered

- 1 750-ml bottle of vodka

- 1 cup sugar

- 1 cup water + 4 more cups for diluting

- 1 cup lemon juice

- Ice

Steps:

(1) In a large jar or other seal-able container, combine strawberries and vodka. Soak for 3 days, swirling jar every day.

(2) Strain vodka into a large pitcher filled with ice. Set aside.

(3) In a pot, heat 1 cup water and sugar until sugar is completely dissolved. Turn off heat, and let syrup cool. Then, add syrup to the pitcher.

(4) Pour remaining 4 cups water and lemon juice into the pitcher. Stir until well combined.

(5) Serve with more ice. The colder the better! 

Classic Lemonade

Man, it was hot today! The weatherman predicted thunderstorms all week, but there was nary a raindrop or storm cloud in sight. By the time I got home it was 88 and sunny. And just a little muggy, 'cuz you know, it's summer in Virginia. Basically, it was the perfect day for an icy cold pitcher of fresh, homemade lemonade. 

Times like these, I really wish we had furniture on our balcony. Can you imagine how amazing it would be to recline in a lounge chair on the balcony after work, sipping from a frosty glass of lemonade, enjoying life and basking in the warmth of the fading sun? That's like, poetry, almost.

But, without the aforementioned lounge chair on my balcony, I had to settle for enjoying this tasty lemonade on the couch while watching back to back episodes of Bones on TBS. Not such a terrible way to spend the evening.

Lemonade (From Simply Recipes)

Ingredients:
- 1 cup water, plus 3-5 more cups for dilution
- 1 cup sugar
- 1 cup lemon juice

Steps:
(1) Make simple syrup by boiling sugar and 1 cup water until sugar is completely dissolved.
(2) Pour syrup and lemon juice into a pitcher, along with 3-5 cups of water, depending on how much you want to dilute the sweetness of the lemonade. (I went with 5 cups, and the lemonade was plenty sweet.)
(3) Refrigerate until you're ready to serve, or load the pitcher up with ice cubes.
(4) Stir and enjoy cold. Preferably on a balcony on a nice warm day.

Cheddar-Stuffed Jalapeno Burger

Dan was jonesing hard for Five Guy's  and Ray's Hell Burger this weekend. Who can blame him? They've got amazing burgers! But, getting to Five Guy's meant spending 30 minutes in intense local traffic, and Ray's Hell Burger is always packed to the gills on weekends, so neither option seemed particularly appealing.  We didn't want to give up burgers altogether though, so we decided to buy ground beef and make/grill our own. What a great idea that was! The smell of grilled burgers is such a nice, summery smell, isn't it? And, the homemade burgers were unbelievably yummy -- juicy and bursting with flavor. So good, in fact, that we ended up making them for dinner two nights in a row.

This picture doesn't do a good job of capturing how massive this burger was, but trust me...it was huge. Dan and I each ate half and felt completely stuffed. And just look at that crispy bacon, thick patty and oozing cheese. So. Good.

Cheddar-Stuffed Jalapeno Burger

Ingredients: (Makes one very large burger)

- 2/3 lb ground beef

- 1 jalapeno pepper, chopped into little pieces

- 1 handful of grated cheddar

- 1 tbsp onion powder

- 1 tbsp salt

Steps:

(1) In a large bowl, combined ground beef, chopped peppers, salt, and onion powder. Mix well, then divide into 2 portions of equal size.

(2) Take one portion of ground beef and shape it into a large patty, about 1/2 inch thick and 4 inches in diameter.

(3) Spoon grated cheese into the center of the patty, leaving about half an inch to 1 inch around the edges uncovered for sealing.

(4) Shape second patty into roughly the same size and shape as the first. Carefully lay it on top of the first patty, and press down on the edges to seal.

(5) Turn giant patty over and make sure there are no cracks in the meat. Shape to your satisfaction, then slap it on the grill!

(6) Grill on high for about 7 minutes, flipping after a couple minutes on each side.

(7) Serve on a large kaiser roll, with tomatoes, lettuce, and condiments of your choosing.

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca

Remember when we were younger and watermelons could only be bought in the summer? A cold slice of the juicy red melon was always something to be looked forward to at picnics and bbq's when the weather was nice. And the seeds! Kind of a pain to eat around, but fun to spit at your friends and try to see who could spit them the farthest. Just don't accidentally swallow any of the slimy little buggers though -- a watermelon will grow in your stomach! 

Nowadays you can walk into any grocery store pretty much any time of year and pick up a juicy, sweet melon with no seeds. Isn't that mind-blowing? I can't decide how I feel about it -- on the one hand, it's convenient when I'm craving watermelon in the colder seasons, but on the other hand...watermelon is a summer fruit, damnit!

My dad is a champion watermelon selector. He can always tell just by lightly thumping the side of a melon which one is going to be the reddest and sweetest. I, on the other hand, am not so talented. I make a big show of thumping and listening, but all the melons sound exactly the same to me. So, the watermelons I bring home are usually pretty hit or miss. My most recent purchase was kind of a miss. The flesh was more pink than red, and not very sweet. Still refreshing, but not as delicious to eat. 

So, what to do with not-so-delicious watermelon? Blend that sucker up and turn it into a light and refreshing summer beverage! Like agua frescas, for example, which are fruit drinks made with blended fruit/water infused with various herbs. Generally non-alcoholic, but if you want to add some tequila, I certainly won't judge you... 

Watermelon-Lime Agua Fresca (From The Kitchn)

Ingredients:
- 2 lbs seedless watermelon

- 1 cup cold water

- 2 tsp lime juice

- 1 tbsp simple syrup (See below for recipe)

- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Steps:
(Simple syrup)

(1) Mix 1/4 cup water with 1/4 cup sugar. Bring to bowl over medium-low heat and simmer, without stirring, until all sugar is dissolved.

(2) Remove from heat, then add 1 tbsp chopped mint. Let steep for 15 minutes, and set aside.

(Agua fresca)

(1) Blend watermelon, lime juice, water, and simple syrup.
(2) Strain through a mesh strainer or cheesecloth.

(3) Serve over ice. Garnish with a mint to keep things classy.

Mini Blueberry Pies

Happy Pi(e) Day, everyone! What is Pi Day, you ask? It's a holiday commemorating the mathematical constant pi. Invented in 1989 by Larry Shaw, a physicist at the San Francisco Exploratorium, it was officially recognized by the US House of Reps as "National Pi Day" in 2009. Basically, it's a kind of nerdy day that makes engineers, and scientists, and anyone else who likes math giddy with glee. I love it!

I'm terrible with dates, so I didn't realize it was 3/14 until Facebook told me that my friend Tiffany had hosted a Pi(e) Party this past weekend in honor of the mathematically special date. There were sweet pies, savory pies, and...a mac n' cheese pie with a woven bacon crust! This, of course, inspired me to bake some pies of my own.

I woke up this morning feeling under the weather, and decided to stay home from work. This pie-baking adventure was the only thing that could motivate me to get off the couch, and I almost gave up on the whole project when I realized there were no frozen pie crusts in the freezer. Fortunately, I managed to find a recipe online for mini pies that looked pretty easy. Even with a drippy nose and watering eyes I could handle rolling out enough dough for 4 tiny pies.

Dan's favorite pie flavors are apple and blueberry. His mom makes him an apple pie every time we visit, and I once saw him eat an entire blueberry pie by himself in one sitting. So, I thought it would be a nice surprise to have some mini apple and blueberry pies waiting for him when he came home from work. Unfortunately, no apples in the fridge. Alas! But, I'm pretty sure he likes blueberry pies better anyway...

As everyone knows, I am a fiend for things in miniature, and these pies are probably the cutest things I've ever made. Delicious too -- the crusts are flaky and buttery, and each bite is just bursting with sweet, juicy berries. Yum! 

Recipe can be found here, courtesy of The Cookie Shop blog.

One year ago: Thumbprint Cookies