Category — in the KItchen

I miss breakfast in Paris. Everything was covered in cheese and came with coffee.

(And since it’s currently really early in Paris right now, it’s totally justified … my crazy craving for cheese bread + more coffee, at 7pm on the East Coast.)

My first birthday was a Strawberry-Shortcake-Themed party.  And though at the time I was all about the sweet-smelling pink-haired big-headed doll (oh did I love Strawberry Shortcake!), I was also a huge fan of the actual cake.  It was, in fact, my first birthday cake.

So as summer rolls around and strawberries are fresher than ever, I’m clamoring for a plate of old-fashioned from scratch strawberry shortcake.

Homemade Strawberry Shortcake

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups halved strawberries
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup orange juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons chilled stick margarine or butter, cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
• Cooking spray
• 6 tablespoons whipped topping (I used sugar-free)

Directions

1. Combine fresh Dole strawberry halves, 1/3 cup sugar, Dole orange juice, vanilla, and lemon juice in a pan, and simmer on low until desired consistency. Place in air-tight tupperware, cover and chill.
2. Preheat oven to 425°.
3. Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; cut in margarine with a pastry blender or 2 knives (or a potato masher!) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add buttermilk, stirring just until moist (dough will be sticky).
4. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead lightly 4 times with floured hands. Pat dough into a 6 x 4-inch rectangle. Cut dough into 6 squares (or use a cookie cutter and cut into circles). Place 1 inch apart on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 425° for 12 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.
5. Split shortcakes in half horizontally using a serrated knife; place each bottom half on a dessert plate. Put a dollop of whipped topping and about 1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each bottom half. Top with shortcake tops; spoon a bit more whipped topping and another  1/4 cup strawberry mixture over each top.

By the way, the biscuits are simple, soft on the inside, and perfectly chewy and buttery soft on the outside.

I cooked down the strawberry filling, then stored in an air-tight container and chilled, to get that syrupy consistency.

Seriously, amazing.

See my full recipe on Foodie.com.

Recipe adapted via Cooking Light, JUNE 1998

Enter your own favorite summer recipes in the Dole Facebook Contest + Dole Facebook Sweepstakes, using at least one cup of Dole product, for a chance to win a trip to Los Angeles to participate in a celebrity cook-off contest.  Prizes include, $10,000 and $1,000 awards, and if cooking is not your thing, but you’re a fan of good food, enter the Dole sweepstakes drawing to win a chance to be a Dole Fan judge where you’ll join Chef Ben Ford and his panel of judges in the Dole California cook-off, which also includes a $500 cash prize.

*Compensation was provided by Dole via Glam Media.  The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Dole.

I heart donuts.  I’m not sure why exactly.  For starters, I am completely and utterly intolerant of sugar, so my donut eating involves a tiny nibble and a feigned “I’m satisfied after that measly one bite” smile.  Also, donuts are probably one of the least sophisticated of desserts, and I love baking.  But the mystery behind the fried dough deliciousness is much of the donut’s appeal as well.  Plus, who doesn’t travel up the east coast for donuts?  Oh, err, that’s just my family?

But I digress.  Let me get back on topic (it only took me a paragraph today … not bad, self!)  My mom and I had been oohing and aahing over cake pops for some time, and for my Poppy’s most recent birthday, we wanted to do something a little special as a party favor.  The event was set to be a brunch, and that weekend quickly came upon us and homemade cake pops seemed just a tad daunting at the eleventh hour.  So we thought and thought, and what goes better with brunch than donuts?  So to Dunkin Donuts we went … begging for donut holes.  (Let me just say, donut shops are not big fans of giving away their day’s supply of donut holes.)

What you’ll need …

• donut holes (lots + lots of donut holes)
• lollipop sticks
• styrafoam or green foam board (to prop pops while they dry)
• chocolate (we went with dark + milk)
• edible glitter, spray paint, sprinkles, etc.

The instructions …

1. We set up our area first (because I’m totally anal like that) with everything in reach.
2. We melted the white chocolate and dark chocolate in two separate containers, microwaving in 30 second and then 15 second intervals until the chocolate was melted and could be mixed easily with a spoon.  (You can always re-microwave for a few seconds if the chocolate starts to harden.)
3. One by one we pushed candy sticks about mid-way through one side of the donut hole.  And as a cheat, to get the donut to adhere better on the stick, we dipped the tip of the stick in a bit of melted chocolate, then pushed the stick into the donut hole, and gently allowed each donut-on-a-stick to rest for a few minutes so that the chocolate would harden, holding the donut to the candy stick.
4. Then we rolled the donut-on-a-stick into the melted chocolate, using a spoon to pour chocolate on the parts of the donut that couldn’t easily be covered.  Carefully, after rolling any excess chocolate off, we stuck the end of the stick into the styrofoam board and allowed each chocolate covered donut to cool and harden completely.
5. Once the chocolate-covered donuts were dry, we covered some in edible glitter and some we sprayed with edible metallic spray paint.
6. Once all of our pops were completely dry, we wrapped two per clear plastic candy bag and tied with a twist tie and a bow (not shown.)

The donut cake pops were a huge hit!  Not only did the donut pops look great, but they tasted AMAZING (satisfied one bite of a donut lady, right here.)

If you don’t know Zabar’s it is high time you take a trip to New York City and stuff your face with the finest in Deli delights, then cross the block, enter H&H Bagels, eat a steaming hot freshly-baked bagel, and thank me later.*

So, for this year’s Passover Seder, night number two, I decided to make something fun – candied chocolate caramel nut matzoh brittle!  (Though truthfully, I did sneak in whole wheat matzoh …)

I was a tad nervous to try this recipe via the Zabar’s recipe blog, mostly because the seemingly simple recipe called for caramel-ization – which I am infinitely terrified of (I blame Chopped – all of these uber talented chefs always burn their caramel, and I envision a burning hot lava pit of singed sugar in my own kitchen.)  But get this – caramel is surprisingly easy to make … whoops!  Granted, I was super watchful of my bubbling sugar, but thankfully butter and sugar melt down quite quickly so my patience need only last so long.

Though I’m a huge chocolate fan, I also think this brittle would be incredible sans chocolate as a caramel nut matzoh brittle …

*Note: I shop for shoes in NYC, that way I don’t notice the damage my eating spree may or may not be doing on my waistline!

Desserts (and shopping) are my weakness. I know most people would choose meat and potatoes or some variation of the staples if stranded on an island (an island complete with your most favorite meal, of course); but I choose snacks every time. I’m a snack-aholic. I’m not even sure why I bother with dinner – it’s only the dessert I’m interested in. But then there’s the shopping – all of those gorgeous clothes and shoes, all mine for the trying on; and let me tell you, a few too many desserts in and the trying-on process becomes less and less fun. So, to satisfy my dessert addiction, and to keep checks on my waistline (how’s that for compromise?), I try to indulge in small ways.

In comes PHILADELPHIA INDULGENCE, these perfectly sweet gold containers that nearly sing on the shelf at my supermarket. PHILADELPHIA INDULGENCE products are actually Real Chocolate blended with rich, creamy PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese Spread. I’m a fan of sneaking protein into my snacks (hello, cream cheese), and the spread is surprisingly low in sugar and carbohydrates.

On Monday (because everyone knows Mondays are the worst), I was in desperate need of an indulgence, so to the market I went. I stocked up on two flavors of PHILADELPHIA INDULGENCE – milk chocolate and white chocolate (PHILADELPHIA also makes a dark chocolate flavor) – and all of the dipping essentials – strawberries, pretzels, and low-fat graham crackers.  I surprised the hubby with a sweet little spread and we had our own mini-chilled-fondue party, complete with mindless reality TV (a.k.a., a perfect night in.)

After about a handful of graham crackers and half the bowl of strawberries, hubby forewent the snacks and dug right into the container with a spoon. Though I chided him out loud, I totally wanted to do the same (i.e., did exactly that.) Both of us decided that the white chocolate spread would make a fantastic cupcake frosting, and tasted almost exactly like cheesecake. I leaned in favor of the milk chocolate version because everything’s better in chocolate.

Do tell – how do you unwind after a crummy day? What’s your favorite indulgence?

KRAFT PHILADELPHIA INDULGENCE! is Real Chocolate blended with rich, creamy PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese
Spread.

Disclosure: Compensation was provided by Kraft via Glam Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions or positions of Kraft.

That incredible-looking cake is actually inspired by Stella McCartney’s spring collection; Apollina created this Stella Cake (a Citrus Cake with Lemon Curd Filling and Orange Lemon Icing) with the collection in mind.

Image Board created by: Glitter & Pearls // Images: 1 featuring the citrus-print blouse by Stella McCartney // 2 // 3

This year, Valentine’s day sort of bit me on the butt.  Pardon my French.  And I’m a tad rattled about it being so early on in the marriage, sans romantic love day plans.  But you see, last Valentine’s day, only a few short months into our marriage, I went and got sick.  Surgery, couture wearing, hospital sick.  So this Valentine’s Day, I told myself, we’ll have a perfectly romantic well-thought-out evening.  (And yes, to me, romance, is generally thought-out.  I’m not a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kind of girl — can’t you just hear Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman saying that?  Type-A, all the way.)  But I digress.  And then it was Tuesday … the 14th … of February.  And I had no plans.  So here we are.

Be My Valentine Homemade Pizza Recipe:  If I have time, I will definitely be trying this tonight.  (The recipe even calls for refrigerated pizza crust – my kind of easy.)  If not, it’s good old circular (greasy) pizza for the hubs.

Etched Vino Decanters:  Oh so pretty; however, ours will come in a bottle.  Hey, at least it’s not a box.  Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

Red Velvet Brownies with White Chocolate Buttercream:  These have been on my to-do list for months.  Here’s to another year … on the to-do list.

Also on my to-do list – sweet card, cut-out newspaper hearts, and the world’s most phenomenal tent/fort/hybrid.  I coo-ed over that tent last Valentine’s Day, and this year is no exception.**  Only this month, I’ll be recreating said tent with towels, stacks of pillows, hair ties, and broom.  I’m willing to bet on disaster.

If all of this falls through, I’m taking my man to Waffle House.  (Seriously, major fast food chains are offering romantic Valentine’s Day packages, complete with candlelight and tater tots.)

Tent, Hearts, + Card via the ever-talented: Justina Blakeney for Design*Sponge

** Sadly – last year – once I read fishing line and screw hooks, I retired from fancy fort-making.  My brilliant plan that time, “I’m going to sit on my sofa with a blanket over my head.”

I dream of someday having a kitchen spacious enough (and well-stocked enough) to requisite a rolling wall ladder. Then again, it could get awkward as I glide across the walls belting out, “Beauty and the Beeeeaaassttt.”

Images via Pinterest

Like most of the world, I LOVE Halloween!  And as the Halloween-inspired posts roll in, I can’t help but smile.  I hope these do the same for you.

Allure goes straight to the makeup artists to give their best lessons for Halloween looks, and most of the inexpensive makeup looks are fairly easy to do.  #BecauseItsOkayToWaitUntilTheLastMinuteToComeUpWithAHalloweenCostume

For a chic Halloween costume alternative, Glitter-n-Glue’s got you covered.  Check out this DIY glitter skull sweatshirt – this piece combines all of my favorite things: DIY, glitter, skulls (because I think I’m punk), and sweatshirt forgiveness so that I can unabashedly consume Halloween treats.  An all around win.

This article had me laughing out loud.  Also, eerily true.  ‘Turning Tricks-for-Treats – the Most Inappropriate Kid Costumes on Sale This Halloween.‘

Devilish Halloween Black Velvet Layer Cake.  #JustificationForTheSweatshirt

Check out Glitter & Pearls on facebook and twitter and blog lovin’!

We’ve all been there – it’s the end of the week, you’ve splurged two, three or seven times since Monday, you know it’s time to start eating better, and alas, your refrigerator is mostly empty … and you’re starving.

I’m a huge soup fan, and as surprising as this may sound … making soup is relatively easy, and extremely low calorie.

I make vegetable soup when my refrigerator is running terrifyingly on empty.

So here goes nothing …

Ingredients

• small onion
• garlic cloves
• fresh veggies (all I had was carrots … I also love green beans and mushrooms)
• canned beans
• canned stewed tomatoes
• canned tomato paste or sauce
• canned corn
• frozen veggies (I had frozen broccoli and peas … yippee!)
• chicken broth or chicken stock cubes

Directions

• saute diced onions and garlic in a little olive oil until clear-ish/brown (or Pam for non-fat soup … though a little olive oil never hurt anyone, IMHO)
• throw in any raw veggies (again, all I had was carrots)
• stir in canned stewed tomatoes
• add water/chicken stock cubes or chicken broth (I used the tomato can and poured roughly 4 cans of water with 2 chicken stock cubes)
• throw in canned beans and all veggies
• let simmer for a good 30 minutes or more

My husband, who swears he hates tomatoes finished two bowls of this soup.

Check out Glitter & Pearls on facebook and twitter and blog lovin’!