sneaking in fruit

It's my oldest boy's birthday. Twenty two years ago today, he came into this world, on his due date, changing my world forever. One thing he loves is strawberry cake. It started when he was little and every so often he tells me he wants a strawberry cake for his birthday. This year that worked for me too. I took a basic lemon cake mix and diced up a pint of strawberries to mix into the batter and baked it. For the frosting, I boiled down half a pint of strawberries, half a pint of raspberries and a handful or two of blueberries with the juice of a lemon and strained it through a tight mesh sieve. I then beat the fruit sauce into a can of overly sweet vanilla frosting to thin it out and take the sweetness down a few notches.

The result was nice. But it was a great way to sneak some fruit into something I knew I was going to be eating.

A slice of cake isn't a bad thing. A whole bundt cake... well, that's another story. But it was nice easing some of the guilt that could normally plague me in a situation like that. Also, it was nice to have things balance a bit better. It was a big hit too, my son loved it and I suspect someone may be raiding the fridge tonight for more after I go to bed.

So let that be a lesson, if you're thinking you need to get some fruit or veggies in your diet but don't know how, try sneaking them into other foods to sort of fool yourself. Even if you don't need to fool yourself, it's a nice way to add some extras in your life. :)

Berry Pie

mmmmmm.... berries!

Summer means berries and berries mean yumminess. So the other day when I saw a recipe for an ice box berry pie, you know I had to try it.

First comes the graham cracker crust. Now you can buy one (easy) or you can make one (also easy).

Graham crackers (about 8 ... a sleeve's worth) crushed into fine crumbs

1/2 stick (4 TBS) unsalted butter melted and cooled

3 TBS sugar

Mix the cracker crumbs, sugar and melted butter together. Press into a pie dish along the bottom and sides and bake for about 15 min at 350* - until toasty brown. Set aside and cool.

Filling:

2 cups EACH: raspberries, blueberries and blackberries

1/2 cup sugar

3 TBS corn starch

1/8 tsp salt

1 TBS fresh lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)

2 TBS fruit jam or jelly... I used IKEA's mixed berry jam

Gently clean the berries and place in a big bowl gently mixing them together. Remove 2 1/2 cups of berries and puree in a food processor or blender. Press through a fine sieve into a sauce pan, using the back of a spoon, to get about 1 1/2 cups of puree. Discard seeds left in the sieve. Place pan on medium heat.

Whisk together the corn starch, sugar and salt and then whisk into puree. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly until it's the consistency of pudding. Take off the heat and mix in the lemon juice.

Pour into the cooled crust.

Melt jam in the microwave and gently toss the remaining berries to coat. Pour on top of puree and push into the mixture a bit. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let set in the fridge for 3 hours or so. Serve at room temp or chilled.

Now a quick word about a favorite kitchen tool. When my sister was in Amsterdam, she saw a little spoon rest in a hardware store and brought it home for me.

I prefer the standing spoon rest - it takes up less real estate next to the stove when I'm cooking. The bright yellow enamel is easy to clean and brights up that little corner of the kitchen.

It resides with the tea towels from Sweeden and Italy my niece brought home from her travels for my kitchen. When I use my IKEA 365 pot for cooking, I truly feel like a world traveler. Even if just for the short time I standing by the stove making dinner.