Happy Memorial Day with red, white and blue Shortcake!

Happy Memorial Day to you all! And much appreciation to all the men and women who have served our country and enabled us to live in peace and freedom today.

We joined friends for a lovely dinner last night in celebration of our national holiday and brought this tasty dessert to top off a delicious meal. Shortcake with red strawberries, blueberries and white whipped cream was perfect to honor our red, white and blue!  Last time I made shortcake, I used a recipe with milk (see here), but this time I used heavy cream. Yum~

This is a great dessert to bring along to your memorial day celebration!

Strawberry Shortcake 
Recipe found here

And talk about a beautifully decked out table, look at how our friend set hers~ perfect for a Memorial Day Celebration!

Raspberries with White Chocolate

The high school my kids' attend has an awesome college advising center and the counselors from the center recently held a volunteer tea to thank all  who have helped there for the past year. We were asked to bring a treat to share and while strawberries are a quick, easy and tasty treat, these little "bites" bring the yummy factor up a notch.  All you do is stuff white chocolate chips (I used Ghiradelli) into the raspberries and a tasty bite is ready to pop in your mouth! And they look pretty, too...

          Raspberries with White Chocolate

Fun way to Cut Pineapple

Last summer I stayed with a friend who was vacationing in San Diego for a few weeks. One night for appetizers before dinner, she and her daughter cut up a pineapple in a way I had never seen and thought it was beautiful! They learned this pineapple cutting technique at the Dole Plantation in Hawaii. It's also a great way to serve pineapple to kids.

Here are the steps to a fun and "fancy" cut pineapple~

1. Cut off top and bottom of pineapple

2. Cut in half

3. Then cut into fourths

4. Cut fruit away from skin

5. Cut slices in fruit and place back on skin

6. Serve slices skewered with toothpick- fun way to eat pineapple!

Peach Galette

When I made a  Plum Galette recently, I split the dough and baked the first half with fresh plums. A few days later, I sliced up fresh peaches, wrapped them in the prepared dough and made another simple but elegant dessert. This is a wonderful way to enjoy summer fruit.

Fresh Peach Galette

Dot peaches with butter, 

wrap them up in delicious dough...

and enjoy this yummy dessert with vanilla ice cream

Peach Galette  (same dough recipe for Plum Galette)
(this makes enough crust for one large galette, or you can divide in half for two small ones)

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup ice water1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted

2 peaches, sliced thinly

• 1 tablespoon cream (I just used whole milk)
• 
  
• In a food processor, or by hand with a pastry cutter, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, butter, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Don't overmix. Remove dough from processor and shape into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. 
•                    
• Meanwhile, wipe bowl of food processor clean and add almonds, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour; pulse until ground to a coarse meal.
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375°. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; sprinkle almond mixture over dough. Place peach slices on top of dough and dot with 1 tablespoon of butter, leaving about a 2 inch border around the edges.  Fold edge of dough over fruit. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Brush crust with cream and sprinkle with peaches and crust with sugar. Bake until crust is golden and underside is cooked through, about 70 minutes for one large one, or 45 minutes if you divide the dough in half and make two. Enjoy!

Plum Galette

My parents have some dear friends who have a plum party every year. They invite friends to pick plums from their trees that are laden with fruit. Grandkids were even included this year, but my kids unfortunately couldn't make it- darn!  My parents, though, shared a bag of these delicious plums and since I have always wanted to try a galette, this gave me the perfect opportunity.

I do not have a food processor, so I made the dough just like our grandmothers did before there ever were machines to do the work. I have fond memories of making pie dough with my grandma Irma and she was a quite a pro at making pies! I never really have made pie crust on my own, so this was a first for me. I tried to keep all the ingredients cold like Martha suggests in her recipe and I think it turned out great. I separated the dough into two rounds and made one plum galette and think I will try another fruit for the next one- I will keep you posted!

Juicy plums 

Pie dough made by hand :)

The plums are all wrapped up

Pretty Plum Galette ready to enjoy

Plum Galette

2 1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling

1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup ice water
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
• 5 to 6 plums, halved, pitted, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (keep slices together)
• 1 tablespoon cream (I just used whole milk)
• 
  
• In a food processor, or by hand with a pastry cutter, combine 2 1/2 cups flour, butter, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (if necessary, add up to 1/4 cup remaining ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time). Don't overmix. Remove dough from processor and shape into a disk; wrap in plastic and refrigerate 1 hour. 
• 
  
• Meanwhile, wipe bowl of food processor clean and add almonds, 3 tablespoons sugar, and 2 tablespoons flour; pulse until ground to a coarse meal.
• 
  
• Preheat oven to 375°. On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking sheet; sprinkle almond mixture over dough. Place plum slices on top of dough, leaving about a 2 inch border around the edges.  Fold edge of dough over fruit. Refrigerate 20 minutes. Brush crust with cream and sprinkle with sugar. Bake until crust is golden and underside is cooked through, about 70 minutes for one large one, or 45 minutes if you divide the dough in half and make two. Enjoy!

Loving Summer Fruit!

Isn't summertime the best?!