Strawberry-Lemonade Icebox Pie

The other night we went to one of Mike’s friend’s houses for a get together. His friend was the recipient of a firkin for Father’s Day and he needed a thirsty crowd to drink it all when he tapped it.  Mike requested that I make Martha Stewart’s Strawberry-Lemonade Icebox Pie to bring along.

Martha has you making a graham cracker crust from scratch and topping the pie with meringue. I buy a pre-made pie crust. And I’ve eliminated the meringue. It travels better without it and I can bring the strawberries on the side.  Plus, this makes the hardest part of the recipe juicing the lemons which isn’t hard at all.  And people still love it.

Here is the pie cooled out of the oven.

And a crappy iPhone photo of Mike’s slice next to a strawberry pie from Wegman’s.

I have to admit that I don’t love this pie but I’m not always the biggest pie or lemon fan.  It’s very lemony and people who like it say it’s refreshing and not too sweet.  It’s easy to transport to a cookout and perfectly summery.

 

Triple Berry Summer Buttermilk Bundt

Last week I was going through my Google reader and came across this delicious cake on Smitten Kitchen.

At the end of the week we were visiting with friends who live near the beach and this seemed like the perfect treat to bring along.

The recipe was very easy to follow. I chose blueberries, red raspberries and strawberries and put in a little more than three cups, possibly closer to four.

The cake smelled wonderful as it was baking and even better as it cooled.

I baked it the night before and then made the glaze at my friends house. I think it was a little looser than the one on Smitten Kitchen, maybe my lemon was extra juicy, but it was still delicious.

Everyone really liked it. Check out all those berries!

It really was the perfect thing to bring for a nice summery dessert to fuel up for plenty of fun on the beach.  Check out how beautiful it was on the beach!

For BYOCN Some Soft and Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Cookies

Tonight is BYOCN (bring your own craft night) which is my knitting night and a good number of us are knitters but people bring other things as well.

I decided to make these Soft and Fluffy Blueberry Lemon Cookies to bring along.

They were so easy to make.

I am the queen of leaving out ingredients, forgetting to bring the butter and eggs to room temperature, and just plain making a mess.  But the sugar and butter creamed perfectly, I folded in the blueberries with few of them breaking, and I didn’t burn anything or get them stuck to the pan.

We had to test one out for quality control purposes. They are so light and sweet and tangy.  I thought they might be almost like a muffin top, but they are not dense at all just soft and cakey.

And the blueberries are so juicy and sweet.

And now I will go bring them to my fellow crafters.

Lemon Basil Bowties

I got a late start to my run after work and wasn’t home and showered until almost 7:30 pm.  But we had a perfect, quick dinner planned.  In fact, all the prep work for Lemon Basil Bowties can be completed before the pasta water even boils.

Mike doesn’t even like cottage cheese and he likes this recipe.  Tonight we also added the juice from the two lemons.  The final dish is a perfect balance of creamy from the cottage cheese, sweet from the basil, tangy from the lemon and toasty nuttiness from the pine nuts.

Orzo Pasta Salad

Last night we went to our friend Lisa and Andrew’s house so I brought my favorite pasta salad.  This is the first time I’ve made this salad this year and I love the way the kitchen smells while I’m putting it together.

I started making this loosely based on an orzo pasta salad my friend Celeste told me she makes.

Ingredients:

• cooked orzo
• chopped up asparagus (I throw it in the pasta water a few minutes before the orzo is done to cook it)
• halved grape tomatoes
• feta (I used reduced fat)
• one lemon zest and juice
• shredded or ribbons of basil
• olive oil

I just mix all the ingredients together after the orzo has cooled and refrigerate until it’s served.

If it’s not lemony enough, you can add the juice of another lemon. This salad tastes like spring and summer. It’s refreshing, flagrant and wonderful. It can be a side or it’s own meal.

Too Much Zucchini?

It’s my understanding that a lot of people with gardens are experiencing an abundance of zucchini right now.  I wouldn’t know because we quit our garden after three years of pretty disappointing results. However, I know some people who are more than generous with their own home grown vegetables.

To use some of our gifted zucchini, we made Feta Chicken with Zucchini, a recipe I found in Real Simple five years ago. For some reason, it seems like it takes a lot longer to cook than the original recipe but otherwise this recipe is perfect. The feta gets crispy and browned and all the flavors work great together.

The side is Trader Joe’s Harvest Grains Blend.  Delicious!