Strawberry Season 2011 has commenced!

I took a week of "stay-cation" this past week.  One of my favorite springtime activities is picking strawberries, and it was the perfect week, because the weather played out just perfectly for strawberry season to begin on my week off!  I took my oldest daughter with me.  We picked 2 big flats of strawberries.  I froze many of them.  On Friday morning we had whole wheat pancakes with real whipped cream (unsweetened) and fresh strawberries (with a sprinkle of powdered sugar on top).  Yum!

Today I made this tart, which I've had in my mind for quite some time.  I think you would love it.  It's light and very springy!  We delved into it after the youngest finished her nap today.  I heard "quite delicious" and "best dessert ever" from the family!  Hope you'll try it! 

I want to share with you two new strawberry tools that I bought recently, both of which were fantastic!  Easy to use and made my workload much lighter!  These tools really sped up the time I spent prepping!

 

The Chef'n StemGem and Sliceter were both awesome tools that I picked up at Sur La Table.  It appears they're also available elsewhere for the same prices.  Hulling the strawberries went much faster than using a paring knife, and only cut out the unnecessary parts.

So without further adieu...

Strawberry Citrus Tart (makes 2)

Tart Cake:
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp fresh orange zest
pinch of salt
6 egg whites
1/4 tsp cream of tartar
1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup granulated sugar
4 egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
1 pint heavy whipping cream, whipped until stiff
1 jar lemon curd, chilled

Fresh sliced strawberries for top

For cake:
Prepare 2 tart pans (preferably the kind that will make a well in the center when flipped, such as Pampered Chef's) with cooking spray, a circle of parchment, and more cooking spray.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 375.
In a prep bowl, mix sifted flour, salt and orange zest.  Set aside.  Beat egg whites and cream of tartar in large bowl until frothy.  Gradually beat in 1/4 cup granulated sugar; beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Set aside.
In another bowl, beat egg yolks on high speed with 1/3 cup sugar until thick and lemon-colored, several minutes.  Beat in the vanilla.  Fold the flour mixture into the yolk mixture.  Fold the yolk mixture into the whites.  Spread evenly into the 2 tart pans.
Bake at 375 for 12 minutes.  Center should spring back when you gently push with your finger.  After cooling for 5 minutes, invert to your serving platter.  Cool. 

For filling, gently fold the lemon curd into the whipped cream until well blended.  Spread into the well of each cake.  Top with sliced strawberries and indulge. 

Go on, have a second piece.  I won't tell.

For the birds

I wrote this early last month, but didn't ever get around to editing and publishing... but I think it's still relevant, so here it is:

January is a month where many of us are uninspired to do anything.  Christmas and Thanksgiving put us into overload, we're recovering from all the activities, parties, cooking, baking... for me January is very inspiring.  When the snow comes here, it is very exciting because it doesn't happen much.  We've had snow several times this winter, which comes and goes very quickly.  My biggest inspiration for this project was seeing the birds after the snow melted.  As soon as the snow was melting and the ground was soggy, those birds were out in full force, looking for food.

When I went to pick up some groceries on Christmas vacation, they had some large pinecones on clearance, leftover from Christmas.  I bought them, and picked up a bag of bird seed on another day.

The girls and I sat down with 1/2 jar of cheap peanut butter, and covered the pine cones with peanut butter using plastic knives.  Then we rolled the cones in the bird seed.  I tied some twine to the top (tie it tightly), and then we hung them in the front and back yards (it's best to hang above a branch that will support a bird).  The seed left in the tub got sprinkled in the grass for the birds to also enjoy!

Now, we can enjoy watching the birds get some food to eat! 

Happy Winter!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Am I the only mom in the world who has kids that don't peel their crayons?  This year I decided to melt crayons into heart shaped ice cube trays, but the most difficult part was peeling all those crayons!  I used the double boiler method with some leftover food cans.  They turned out fine, but I think I took on too much this year, with 2 kids, we had to do enough for about 25 kids.  Hopefully they will use them!  I tied them into tiny cello bags with a bow on top.  I recruited daddy to help, since it ended up being more work than I bargained for.  This might be a great project for parents whose kids enjoy peeling all of their crayons.  It takes a LOT of crayons to do this.

Here's my oldest's lunch for Valentine's, complete with heart shaped PB&J and I hulled the strawberries in a way that, when sliced, looked like hearts!  Daddy wrote the message with a food marker.

I included this card and a simple bead bracelet in her lunchbox:

Hope your Valentine's is full of love and friendship!