Fresh Strawberry Pie

Strawberry season will soon be here in upstate New York.   Nothing better than a fresh strawberry pie.   I can fortunately bake through two seasons of fresh strawberries with my daughter living in South Carolina.

Their season runs through April and May and then of course I can come home and ours will start in June.  

We love fresh fruits in our house.  We often eat them for dessert after dinner or for a snack.   I have to admit summer fruits are my all time favorites.  We have many opportunities to go pick your own in several places within a 50 mile range of our home.   We start with strawberries and then move on to raspberries, black raspberries, blueberries and black berries.  

A fresh strawberry pie is a favorite in our home.   Big sweet juicy berries coated with a thin layer of glaze made from cornstarch and Jell-o and piled high in your favorite crust.

There are several flavorful crusts that work well with fresh strawberries.   I have made and tried all butter crust, half butter half Crisco crust, store bought, graham cracker, short bread and a crushed pretzel crust.  

There are also several types of glazes you can do as well.   You can purchase a glaze where you add water, heat and stir,  you can make the above Jell-o version or you can get a jar of seedless strawberry jam add a little water and heat on the stove, let cool and coat your berries.  

Here is my recipe with the Jell-o version of glaze.   Feel free to swap  out and try different crust recipes.   

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Cheesecake Large and Mini

Our family has always liked cheesecakes whether they are large, small, ice box or baked.  They can be plain or topped with a variety of goodies.   You can change up the type of crust you make from graham cracker, chocolate cookie, pretzel, cereal or vanilla wafer.    You can also change up the flavor of the cheese filling.  The choices are endless.  You can mix and match to whatever your family prefers.

Last weekend we attended a graduation party and I made mini cheesecakes to take with me. 

Topped with fresh blueberries, strawberries, and raspberries

Topped with animal crackers, fruity pebbles, and mini chocolate chips

Plain, Large M&Ms and Mini Oreo cookies

As you can see with all the different toppings there was quite a selection to choose from.  I have used this recipe for a number of years and it has always turned out good.  Give it a try you won't be disappointed.

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Had a graduation party to go to and I don't like to go empty handed.  So these mini cheese cakes got topped with homemade Strawberry Rhubarf jam and half of a fresh strawberry.  

 

These mini cheesecakes got topped with crumbled up baklava. 

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Tis The Season for Rhubarb

I can remember the patch of rhubarb that grew at my mother's house, my childhood home.   I also remember in the spring time when the rhubarb would get about foot tall and underneath those big dark green leaves you could find bright red stalks.   As a young girl I would pick a stalk and go running back to the house to find the sugar bowl, where I would take that fresh picked stalk of rhubarb and stick it straight into the sugar bowl and then take a bite of the rhubarb and all of the sugar that would stick to it.   This ritual would continue until the entire stalk had been dipped in sugar and then devoured.   Great combination of sweet and sour.  What I don't remember is my mom making anything with the rhubarb.   That's not to say she didn't, I just don't remember or I didn't like it once it was cooked. 

Now days I have a few small patches of rhubarb growing in my yard. I have trying to grow them for at least 10 years.  They are slow in spreading but provide me with enough to make a few batches of Jelly or other treats.   My backup plan involves good friends who have a large patch and they often let me pick my fill if I ask nicely.   

This year I expanded my repertoire from just making Rhubarb Jelly to making a few other things.   

I took my Raspberry Bar Recipe and turned it into Rhubarb Blueberry Squares.  

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Next I swapped out half the blueberries in my Blueberry Lemon Loaf recipe for an equal amount of fresh chopped Rhubarb.   Scooped the batter into paper lined muffin tins and made Blueberry Rhubarb Muffins.  

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Lastly, was twist on Puff Pastry Straws using my Rhubarb Strawberry Jelly as the filling. 

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All of these were big hits with family and friends, I can tell because there were no leftovers. 

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The Little Things In Life Make Us Happy

One of my friends said it best, "It's never good if your blueberries are sinking."  And I totally agree.   I think we have all made quick bread recipes or cakes where the items that are supposed to be suspended in the batter through out the cooking time, have all sunk to the bottom and made  a two layer mess. I can't tell you how many times this has happened to me.  

Needless to say, when I made this recipe and the blueberries didn't sink, I was very excited.   It's the little things in life that make us happy.   This Blueberry loaf is easy to make and the batter is thick enough to suspend the blueberries throughout the cooking time.  When you slice into this loaf  you can get a blueberry  in nearly every bite.  This can make the person eating the loaf a very happy person.  This is not an overly sweet tasting loaf, it is just right. The lemon flavor is very mild and the blueberries are tart.  

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Blueberries, BBQ Sauce and Ribs

Who doesn’t love BBQ Ribs?   They are a staple at my house.  Everyone likes them.   We make them throughout the year by baking them low and slow in the oven.   I purchased a jar of liquid smoke a few years ago and I sprinkle a little of that on before dry rubbing the ribs.  Set them aside and let that marinate for a couple hours before baking them off in the oven, uncovered, at 300 degrees, basting them with BBQ sauce the last fifteen minutes of their cooking. They come out perfectly cooked, tender and juicy every time.

 

Did you know there are differences between spare ribs, baby backs, country ribs, and St. Louis cut ribs?   We have tried them all and but we prefer the extra meatiness to the St. Louis cut. 

Today, I made my own BBQ sauce to use up some of the 11 pounds of blueberries that I picked yesterday.    We really liked it.  

 

Try something a little different for your next batch of ribs, pulled pork, or chicken. I promise you won’t be disappointed with Blueberry Jack Daniels Barbeque Sauce .  You should serve them at your next tailgate, picnic or dinner.  Your family, friends and guests will be happy you did!

 

 

Blueberry Jack Daniels Barbeque Sauce

Ingredients:

¼ cup chili sauce
¼ cup ketchup
¼ cup apple cider vinegar
¾ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
¼ of a large white onion, diced
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 pint fresh blueberries
14 shakes of Frank’s Red Hot Sauce or one diced jalapeno (seeds removed or not)
5-6 shakes of garlic powder
2-3 ounces Jack Daniels or other Bourbon (hold the bottle upside down and give it a solid 3 Mississippi count)
 

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except onion and blueberries, in a sauce pot and heat uncovered over low heat.  Either chop onion or blueberries by hand or place in food processor and chop until fine.  Add blueberries and onions to the pot while stirring.  Reduce heat to simmer and cook for about an hour.  Remove from heat and allow the sauce to cool.   Slather sauce over your favorite BBQ creation and enjoy! Leftovers must be stored in the refrigerator.
 

Notes/Swaps

I doubled this recipe.  I used some to baste the St. Louis ribs, but I am going to keep the rest in a mason jar in the fridge.     Blueberries go really well with pork.   We can’t wait to try it with grilled chicken or beef.  

If you make enough extra, you can put it in pretty jar and give it as a gift.      



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Picking Berries

Growing up we spent a lot of time picking wild berries of summer. My dad had 40 acres of land. When the wild berries were ripe we would manage to pick several quarts a piece. We would start the season with wild strawberries, move onto black and red raspberries, and then end the berry season with black long berries. Sometimes we would find an occasional current bush or goose berry bush. My favorites were always the wild strawberries and black raspberries. I always liked them freshly picked. My mom however, liked to can and freeze jam and jellies because it would allow the tastes of the season to last longer and also stretch the deliciousness to many more hungry mouths.   

 

We would always get ready by dressing in heavy jeans and a long sleeve shirt.   Mom, would spray us with bug spray on occasion, hand us a large pail and send us out the door.   We would come back with 1/2 full and full pails, stained hands and mouths, burdocks on our clothing and sometimes in our hair and plenty of scratches from taking off our long sleeved shirts and tramping through the berry patches.  Often whining it was too hot or buggy to pick anymore.  

These days I am lucky to find a few wild strawberries and a quart of wild black raspberries. I have however found a few places that I can pick blueberries and purchase them by the quart a lot cheaper than I can buy them already picked by the quart. I find it very relaxing and enjoyable to stand at a bush pulling off the ripe berries and hearing them plunk into the bottom of a plastic bucket. I often lose all track of time and am always surprised at how fast a couple of hours in the patch go by. I also find it very hard to stop picking until the bucket is full. That is how enjoyable I find it. Funny, how as a child I always thought of it as more of a chore and couldn’t wait to get to the eating part.  

 

 

 

Infused Blueberry Syrup

Ingredients

1/2 cup maple syrup (your favorite brand)

1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1 tbsp. lemon juice 

Dash of salt

Dash of cinnamon (optional)

Directions

Put the syrup and blueberries into a sauce pan and bring to the boil. Be sure you have a pan big enough that it won’t boil over. Syrup or sugar based syrup tend to foam up when boiling. Let bubble for 5 to 8 minutes, and then pour into a creamer and bring to the breakfast table with the pancakes. If you like your syrup thicker you can reduce it further down by cooking it longer.   However, be careful not to overcook it, as the natural pectin may thicken into a jelly.

Notes/Swap

• You can also smash the blueberries with a potato masher while cooking the syrup down and then strain the syrup to remove the skins. 
• Also good poured over ice cream
• Stirred into plain  yogurt
• Drizzled over plain cheesecake
• Added to milkshakes or smoothies
• Spilled over pancakes, waffles or French toast

• Serve it over a brick of cream cheese with finely diced jalapeno peppers w/crackers
• Serve over pork chops or pork roast with a few fresh berries thrown in 
• Make extra, pour it in a mason jar and give it as a gift.  



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