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Posts Tagged ‘Savvy Entertaining’

Shortcake platedGrowing up, we always had an abundance of strawberries during the summer months. My mom made strawberry shortcake at least once a week.

At the end of a long, hot, hard day of working on the farm, a serving of shortcake soaking up sweet strawberry juice and topped with a scoop of vanilla ice cream was a little bite of summer heaven.

Although I shared the recipe at the back of my recent release, Farm Girl, I thought I’d also share the recipe here today along with some photos!

Ingredients

Ingredients

Start by mixing together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Set aside. Cream butter then add egg and whip until light. Add sugar and mix well.

Start by mixing together the flour and baking powder in a separate bowl. Set aside. Cream butter then add egg and whip until light. Add sugar and mix well.

Mix in vanilla then alternate mixing milk and flour until well blended.

Mix in vanilla then alternate mixing milk and flour until well blended.

Spoon batter into a 9x13 baking pan that has been greased and floured (or sprayed with non-stick spray). Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Spoon batter into a 9×13 baking pan that has been greased and floured (or sprayed with non-stick spray). Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Wash berries, remove stems and hulls and place in a bowl. I cut mine into pieces and chunks.

Wash berries, remove stems and hulls and place in a bowl. I cut mine into pieces and chunks.

Mash them until they are juicy, but not pulverized like you would for jam. Sprinkle on sugar, stir and let rest for at rest for about 10 minutes.

Mash them until they are juicy, but not pulverized like you would for jam. Sprinkle on sugar, stir and let rest for at rest for about 10 minutes.

Serve immediately or cover and store in fridge until ready to serve.

Serve immediately or cover and store in fridge until ready to serve.

When ready to serve, place a piece of cake on a plate, drizzle with berries and top with ice cream. Yum!

When ready to serve, place a piece of cake on a plate, drizzle with berries and top with ice cream. Yum!

Strawberry Shortcake

¾ cup sugar

½ cup butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 cup milk

2 tsp. baking powder

2 cups flour

4-6 cups of strawberries

½ cup sugar

Vanilla ice cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine flour and baking powder, set aside. In a large mixing bowl, cream together ¾ cup sugar and butter, then add egg and vanilla extract. Alternate adding flour mixture and milk to the bowl until batter is well blended.

Pour into a greased 9 x 13 baking pan and bake until top is a light, golden brown.

Cool completely.

Wash and hull strawberries, placing them in a large bowl. Mom always used a potato masher to break them down a little. You don’t want to pulverize them, just mash them enough they get good and juicy and break into nice little pieces. Stir in ½ cup of sugar until sugar dissolves then let rest for at least 10 minutes.

When ready to serve, cut slices of cake then top with strawberries and a scoop of ice cream.

She Who Loves the Tastes of Summer

 

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Just a little summery thought today…

sunshine

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Beach

Around this time of the year, I start dreaming of being somewhere tropical and wonderful versus somewhere that the lawn needs mowed, the housework needs some attention, and someone needs to go to the grocery store. Again.

So to compensate for the fact that fresh pineapple is about as close to an exotic location as I’m going to get, I like to fill my home with some fun fragrances.

Some of my favorites for summer are:

Citrus

Sage

Nectar

Tropical

From candles to lotions, you’ll find me using these during the next few months.

Certain scents, like a delightful lotion that mixes tropical flowers with coconut, get me through my island-less existence. I inhale it deeply, slather too much of it on, and pretend I’m sitting in a chair somewhere close to the beach.

Find the scents that make you smile and add them to your go-to selections for the summer months.

She Who is In Need of a Vacation

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birthday cake with colorful candles

Today would have been my sister’s birthday.

She lived all her life with a tumor in her brain and severe epilepsy. It was a head injury she sustained during a seizure that ended her life eight years ago.

Although she was mentally disabled, my sister still found enjoyment in life.

She could sit and stitch little animals and cartoon characters for hours. Her exact likenesses of Snoopy always amazed me, especially when I hated embroidery work and was terrible at it.

She loved dogs of all shapes and sizes and most often had one. In her younger years, she belonged to a 4-H group that taught her how to train her dogs and she used that knowledge on all the dogs she owned during her lifetime.

I’d say she took pleasure in tormenting me, the baby sister who arrived fourteen years after she’d claimed that title. Until the day I finally realized my sister would never have a normal life by society’s standards and the reasons behind it, we often fought like, well, sisters.

She learned to play the guitar, admittedly not great, but she did better than I could in forcing her fingers into the positions required to make the chords on the strings. She’d sit in her room and strum away, practicing the songs her guitar instructor taught her to play.

My sister was a dreamer, always thinking about what ifs. She’d thumb through catalogs and magazines, rattling off ideas of what if we went there, or what if we got this or that item.

One of her biggest dreams was to travel to Graceland and see the home where Elvis Presley lived. My parents made that dream happen for her when I was eleven. They pulled me out of school for two weeks and we went on a cross country road trip. To be honest, being stuck in the backseat of the car with my sister for days on end was no picnic, but it was pretty cool to see the excitement on her face as we rolled into Memphis.

As you may have guessed, she was a huge fan of Elvis Presley. Her room was covered in Elvis posters, she had every record he ever recorded, she owned several Elvis dolls and could sing the lyrics from every single one of his songs. Every single one.

So in tribute to my sister, to celebrate her birthday, here is a little YouTube video of Elvis.

She Who Wishes She Could Say Happy Birthday One Last Time

 

 

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