Strawsmopolitan and a Splash Party

Do you ever feel like someone pushed the fast forward button on your life?  This summer has been totally like that for me.  I don't know where the time has gone, but I know that it's gone too quickly!

You know what this calls for?

A drink poolside.

Strawberry Bonanza Part 5 - Strawberry Gin Fizz

So, remember that roasted strawberry syrup?  No?  Oops, because I haven't posted it yet.  Have to fix that...

So, toss a couple of cups of chopped strawberries with 2-3 Tablespoons of sugar and the seeds of a whole vanilla bean.  Spread them out on a parchment-covered baking sheet with edges, then bake at 375 for about 20 minutes.

Strawberry Bonanza Part 4 - Basil Angel Food Cake with Strawberry Sauce

I am a total sucker for homemade angel food cake.  And lucky for me, the hubs is as well.  Angel food cake is one of those super-impressive-yet-not-impossible-to-make dishes that I love to whip out on a special occasion.  Like, say, a Thursday.  The week's worn you down, but you still have to get through more before the weekend...Thursdays should totally be angel food cake day.

Pesto for Dessert? Absolutely!

My kids are well aware of the weirdness that dances through my head, and sometimes, they are my best sounding boards.  So when I brought up the idea of a dessert pesto to them, I was expecting some good feedback.  What I got went a little like this:

"Hey guys, what do you think about me trying to make a dessert pesto?"

"Ew."
"Yeah, ew."
"Like with cheese?  Ew"

"No, not with cheese, sillies!  I was thinking of making it with mint."

"Mom, mint is NOT going to go well with garlic!"
"Yeah, totally ew."
"I'm not going to eat that."

Strawberry Bonanza Part 3 - Strawberry Pineapple Salsa with Black Beans

Again with the culinary mad science.  Faced with that 54 pounds of fresh strawberries that I may have mentioned before, my brain has been spinning out of control with ideas about how to use them.  It started churning as we were in the fields picking, and it continues to spin like a whirling dervish.  Last night, I started playing with the idea of strawberries and black beans together.  Because I really enjoy black beans.  But it didn't seem like a natural fit at first...until I started to think salsa.  Strawberries, black beans, cilantro, pineapple, green onions, and a little kick of pepper...awwwwww yeah.

Strawberry Bonanza Part 2 - Strawberry Rhubarb Blondies

You know that something is good when you see people's eyes sparkle when they first taste it.  Well, when my kids first tasted these Strawberry Rhubarb Blondies, not only did I see that sparkle, I also got tackled with hugs and praise.  Now if that isn't a seal of approval, I don't know what is!

Blondies are some of the simplest treats to bake up, and adding the trusty duo of strawberry and rhubarb makes them just irresistible!

Strawberry Bonanza Part 1 - Quick and Easy Strawberry Malts

This post is going to be short and sweet.  You see, the kids and I went strawberry picking today, and I may have been a little greedy...we picked 8 buckets of berries, roughly 54 pounds in all, in just under an hour out in the fields.

Turns out, 54 pounds is a LOT of strawberries.  So I've spent most of the day in the kitchen, trying to get them taken care of, because fresh strawberries don't keep well for very long.  So I'm pretty beat.

But after we got home from picking, I made a special treat for the kids.  All right, it was as much for me as it was for them.  Strawberry malts.