Red, White, and Blueberry Trifle

Ingredients:
10 oz angel food cake, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 pints strawberries, sliced
2 pints blueberries
for cream filling:
6 Tb fat free sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups cold water (I used milk)
1 pkg sugar free white chocolate pudding mix
12 oz fat-free frozen whipped topping

Directions:
Whisk the condensed milk and water in a bowl. Whisk in the pudding mix for 2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft-set; fold in the whipped topping.
Arrange half of the cake in the bottom of a 14 cup trifle dish. Sprinkle evenly with a layer of blueberries. Spread half of the cream mixture over the blueberries and gently spread. Top with a layer of strawberries. Layer the remaining cake cubes on top of the strawberries, then add more blueberries and top with the remaining cream mixture. Finish with the remaining strawberries and blueberries, arranging them in a pretty pattern. Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour.

Strawberry Shortcake

I had these at a friends house and immediately fell in love. This is my new favorite strawberry shortcake recipe. These little shortcakes are soo good and soo easy to make. My daughter took a shortcake to school to eat as her snack without any toppings, she liked them so much.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
3 TB sugar
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
3/8 tsp salt
1 cup heavy cream
1 qt strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
more cream for whipping (at least 1 cup to serve 6, probably more)

Directions:
Grease baking sheet with spray. Preheat oven to 450. Whisk together flour, 3 Tb sugar, baking powder and salt. Whisk in cream to make soft dough (the dough is really sticky, it will clump your whisk, I just use my hands to mix). Drop dough in 6 mounds and flatten to 2 1/2 - 3 inches in diameter. Sprinkle tops with sugar. Place in oven and immediately reduce heat to 425. Cook 15-17 min (10 was enough for me--so be sure to check). Cool on racks 5 min to 2 hours. Crush 1/3 of the strawberries in food processor (or use potato masher) with 1/3 cup sugar. Slice remaining berries and stir into crushed berries. Let stand at room temp for at least 20 min. Berries can be made up to 4 hours ahead and refrigerated. Whip cream into soft peaks, sweeten and add a little vanilla. Split shortcakes in half horizontally. Spoon 1/2 the strawberry mixture on bottoms, then replace tops. Spoon remaining berries over tops and add spoonfuls of whipped cream. Enjoy!

Layered Summer Fruits with Creamy Lime Dressing

Ingredients:
3 cups cut up cantaloupe
1 quart strawberries, quartered
2 ripe medium mangoes, seed removed, peeled and cut up
2 cups blueberries
2 cups cut up honeydew melon


Dressing:
1 pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup frozen limeade concentrate, thawed
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1 cup whipping cream whipped (I used cool whip when the whipping cream I had was unusable)



Directions:
For dressing: beat cream cheese, limeade concentrate and powdered sugar with electric mixer on med-high speed about 3 minutes until smooth. Fold in whipped cream. Set aside.

In trifle bowl layer cantaloupe and strawberries. Spread half the cream cheese mixture over the strawberries. Layer mangoes, blueberries and honeydew over cream cheese mixture. Spread remaining cream cheese mixture on top. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 2 hours before serving.

Marinated cucumbers

Ingredients:
4 medium cucumbers, thinly sliced
1/2 cup vinegar
1/4 cup cold water
2 Tbsp chopped dill
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
dash pepper

Directions:
Combine sliced cucumbers with all other ingredients; cover and refrigerate 2-3 hours before serving.

Key Lime Ice Cream Pie

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup bottled key lime juice
1/2 cup whipping cream
dash of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 graham cracker pie crust
Cool whip or whipping cream

Directions:
Combine first 6 ingredients, stirring with a whisk. Pour mixture into freezer can of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions (we have a Cuisinart ice cream maker that is awesome). Once ice cream is made pour into a graham cracker crust. Smooth out and then I made whipping cream and piped it on top of the cake and topped with sliced key limes.

Savory Summer Squash

Ingredients:
1 small zucchini, julienned
1 small yellow summer squash, julienned
1 medium tomato, diced
3 Tbsp finely chopped onion
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder (I just used fresh minced garlic)
1/4 tsp dried marjoram
1/4 tsp seasoned salt
1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:
In a skillett, saute the zucchini, yellow squash, tomato and onion in oil for 1 minute. Sprinkle with seasonings, cook 5-7 minutes longer or until vegetables are tender.

Blueberry Pie

 It is best served warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Ingredients:
9 inch frozen pie crust (or make your own : )
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup flour
6 cups fresh blueberries
1 tbsp lemon juice
Topping:
1 cup flour
2/3 packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup cold margarine

Directions:
Heat oven to 425F. Mix sugar, flour, and cinnamon in large bowl. Stir in blueberries. Turn into pie crust. Sprinkle with lemon juice. Pat topping evenly over blueberries to form a top "crust". Bake 35-45 minutes. If topping browns too quickly cover with a sheet of foil.
Topping:
Mix flour and brown sugar in medium bowl. Cut in butter with a pastry blender until crumbly.

Key Lime Blueberry Pie

This is Shane's recipe. Most of my desserts require chocolate and in general I'm not a fan of lemon/lime desserts. Shane decided to change it up this time by adding in some blueberries. I think everyone agreed the blueberries made his key lime pie even better. Sweetened it up a bit and it was oh so good!

Ingredients:

1 9 inch graham cracker pie crust

1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk

3 egg yolks (whites are not used)

1/2 cup key lime juice

handful of blueberries (optional)

8 oz containter Cool Whip

Directions:

Combine condensed milk, egg yolks and lime juice. Blend well until smooth. If adding blueberries do so now. Pour into pie crust and bake at 350 for 10 minutes. Allow pie to stand 10 minutes before refrigeration. Just before serving top with whipped cream and garnish with lime slices

Strawberry Jello Cake

Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix (yellow works too)
1 container Cool Whip
1 large package strawberry jello
1 box frozen sweetened strawberries, thawed and drained
sliced fresh strawberries

Directions:
Prepare cake mix as directed. Bake in 9x13 cake pan as directed. Remove from oven and poke holes in the cake with fork. Every two to three times you poke the cake; turn the fork so as to make bigger holes (If the holes are not big enough, the Jello will not seep down into the cake.) Make sure you poke all the way to the bottom if possible. Prepare jello using one-half the amount of water. Pour jello over the top of the cake covering it completely. Place in refrigerator to cool. Add thawed sweetened, drained strawberries to the cool whip. Place in refrigerator. Once the cake has completely cooled frost with the cool whip mixture and top with fresh sliced strawberries.

Strawberry Pie

I was introduced to strawberry pie by my mother-in-law. It is so delicious. For some reason I don't have a copy of her recipe so this is my best attempt to copy it using other recipes. I don't make my own pie crusts--I'm lazy that way, so this is just store bought. If you make your own, like my mother-in-law, the pie will be even more delicious. Next time I will mix the strawberries with the thickened pureed strawberry mixture before adding it to the pie crust. I think it will be less messy and prettier that way.

Ingredients:

Pie crust--ready made or make your own

3 oz cream cheese, softened

4 cups strawberries (I'm guessing--enough to fill a pie shell and then to make the glaze)

1 cup white sugar

3 Tbsp cornstarch

3/4 cup water

Cool Whip

Directions:

Bake pie crust as directed. For me--preheat oven to 425. Poke holes in bottom of crust with fork and bake on top of a cookie sheet for 10 minutes. Take pie crust out and let cool.

After pie crust has cooled spread cream cheese on the bottom of the cooked pie crust. Arrange 2 cups of strawberries on top of the cream cheese in the baked pie crust. You want it to fill up the pie so more or less depending on how many it takes to fill it up. Take the other strawberries and puree them to make about 1 1/2 cups. Add the sugar to the pureed berries in a medium saucepan. Place saucepan over medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. In a small bowl, whisk together the cornstarch and water. Gradually stir cornstarch mixture into boiling strawberry mixture. Reduce heat and simmer mixture until thickened, stirring constantly. Pour mixture over berries in pastry shell. Chill for several hours before serving. Serve with cool whip.

Sweet Potato Potato Salad

Ingredients:
2 potatoes
1 sweet potato
4 hard boiled eggs
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
3/4 c mayonnaise
1 Tbsp prepared mustard
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions:
Bring large pot of salted water to a boil. Add peeled and chopped potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, abt. 30 min. Drain.

Peel and chop cooled hard-boiled eggs
Combine the potatoes, eggs, celery, and onion.

Whisk together the mayonnaise, mustard, salt and pepper. Add to potato mixture, toss well to coat. Refrigerate and serve chilled.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
Dressing:
1 lemon
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp poppy seeds
Salad:
8 oz strawberries, bulled and quartered
1/2 medium cucumber, sliced and cut in half
1/4 small red onion, sliced into thin wedges
1 package (6oz) baby spinach

Directions:
For dressing, zest lemon using lemon zester to measure 1/2 tsp zest. Juice lemon to measure 2 Tbsp juice. Combine zest, juice, vinegar, sugar, oil, and poppy seeds in small bowl. whisk until blended. Cover, refrigerate until ready to use.
Hull strawberries and cut into quarters. Score cucumber lengthwise using zester/scorer, remove seeds. Slice cucumber, cut slices in half. Slice onion into thin wedges. Place spinach in large serving bowl; add strawberries, cucumber, and onion. Whisk dressing. Pour over salad, gently tossing to coat. serve immediately.

Cole Slaw

Ingredients:
1/2 head of cabbage--cut into fine slices (or a bag of cole slaw mix)
3 tomatoes, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 cup mayonnaise
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix the cabbage, tomatoes, onion. Add just enough mayonnaise to coat everything--about 1/4 cup or a large spoonful. Season with salt and pepper to taste.