Berry Whipped Cream Cake

Recipe adapted from Angela’s

About 25 years ago, my friend Angela surprised me with a gorgeous strawberry whipped cream cake on my birthday, toting it all the way down to a beach party no less. She said the recipe was so simple that her 9 year old son could make it all by himself. The very first time he made it he was so excited that he ran to show it to Mom. But sadly he slipped on a rug, lost his balance, and the top layer of cake, cream, and fruit all slid off onto the floor. Poor kid! Fair warning: put the cake where you want it before you assemble it. Let the cake settle for an hour or so after frosting. The layers will stabilize as the cake slowly absorbs liquid from the cream. Or, if you must, move it verrrrry carefully.

High Protein Vegan Chocolate Fruit Shakes (Smoothies)

Chocolate and Fruit: A Summer Natural

Recipes inspired by Everyday DASH Diet

What’s better than summer fruit? Summer fruit with chocolate, of course! And better yet, how about a high-protein smoothie that tastes like a decadent milkshake? A delicious and protein-rich smoothie is an excellent pick-me-up for those who, like me, are only allowed short breaks at work. In 10 or 15 minutes, almost any small meal feels like force-feeding. But guzzling a smoothie in 15 satisfies hunger easily. For those who are working up to Green and Pink Smoothies for lunch, adding chocolate to the mix might make joining the smoothie culture more palatable.

Vegan Smoothies: Green Drink & Pink Drink

Recipes inspired by Laurie

It’s the post-holiday season and a new year. Many of us have overindulged during the past weeks, consuming more than usual quantities of rich and caloric foods. We might have gained a few pounds, or just feel a bit sluggish after too many delicious but not-too-nutritious treats. New year = new start. Protein and veggie or fruit-based smoothies make satisfying breakfasts, lunches, or snacks. They’re delicious and vitamin- and mineral-rich, yet don’t cost too many calories.  My friend Laurie, an expert on liquid meals, shared her list of high-nutrition smoothie ingredients with me, and I came up with these basic go-to recipes. I invite you to add or substitute ingredients as you like.

Frozen Strawberry Daiquiri

Double Your Pleasure

Recipe Inspired by Cuba Cocina!

It’s Memorial Day weekend, time for parades, picnics, and potables, preferably alcoholic. Remembering my failed yet fun attempt to make frozen daiquiris with fresh strawberries last Labor Day, I decided to give it another shot. Using frozen strawberries instead of fresh strawberries and ice gives the daiquiris a more concentrated strawberry hit, intensifying both flavor and texture. I reduced the amount of rum per drink to 2 - 2.5 oz. rather than 3, since all of my photos from Labor Day were too blurry to use after just a few sips. Use your own judgment, or lack thereof.

Strawberry Apricot Pizza or Pizzettes

Fabulous Fruit Pizza

Recipe adapted from Rebecca Mastoris

With the ancient grain festival of Lammas (Lughnasadh) just past us on August 1, traditionalists are thinking of homemade breads. And yet, traditional breads require long preparation time and extended use of a hot oven—not really the thing for August. Enter the pizza, America’s near-favorite bread (just behind hamburger buns, go figure). And what more seasonal way to celebrate grains than pairing the pizza crust with plentiful summer fruits and young cheeses? This recipe will make two 12-inch pizzas or 6-8 small “pizzettes.” Throw an informal pizzette party by inviting family or friends to roll their own dough, then arrange the apricots, strawberries, cheeses, and garnishes on their food creation. Pop them into the oven for about 10 minutes and enjoy for a mid-afternoon treat, or for a fun lunch or dinner.

Strawberry Rhubarb Cobbler

Treats for Two

Recipe Inspired by Field of Greens

The short rhubarb season is here! When I was young, my parents cultivated a rhubarb patch. Just about anytime, I could go outside and grab a few stalks, remove the poisonous leaves, and eat the raw stems. Dunking the wet stem into a small pile of sugar before every bite made for a fresh, juicy, sweet-and-sour treat. These days it’s more popular to combine strawberries with rhubarb and bake it into a pie. Since piecrusts are not yet my forte, and the laziness of a late spring Friday is upon me, the simpler idea of making a cobbler came to mind.

Asian Kale Salad with Strawberries and Apricots

Fiesta of Color and Flavor

Recipe by Robin

Kale is trending, plus we get some every week in our CSA share lately. I must confess it is not our favorite vegetable. We’ve tried all the usual recipes: ginger garlic kale, Portuguese soup, bean & bacon soup, Italian braised kale, and massaged kale salad.  We’ve created some more unusual dishes: shrimp braised with kale and carrot, mushroom, and kale stir-fry. With kale’s popularity these days, I asked myself, what have I never seen done with it? Kale with fruit came immediately to mind, possibly inspired by early ripe apricots on my counter. And so, I was off to explore the non-intuitive combination of tough, cruciferous kale with sweet, squishy fruits.

Popover Pancake with Strawberry Sauce

Easy to Make and Fun to Serve

Recipes by Philippa and Mom

As the years go by, I appreciate my cousins more and more. Most are far away but remain close to my heart. A few years back, after a 30-year hiatus, I visited my cousin/godfather Dick, and Philippa, his wife of nearly 50 years, in Pennsylvania. Both had inspired my early study of music by their interest and by their own musicianship. Amongst the catching up, Philippa whipped up the most amazing meals, including a light and airy popover pancake for breakfast one morning. She assured me that it was easy to make. It didn’t seem possible that its puffy, soufflé like proportions could be easily duplicated. But surprisingly this impressive dish takes little time and effort and uses few ingredients.

Strawberry Lemonade

Welcome to Summer

Recipe by William

At first glance, my cousin William and I don’t have much in common. He’s a young man with a daughter, and I’m his mom’s age and have never had kids. He’s a career military man, and I work in higher education building websites. He lives down Kentucky way, soon to be on duty in Germany, and I’m in California near the coast. He’s got a couple of dogs and I have goldfish. So what do we talk about? Family, food, and home. We’re both happily married (his wife is a Robin too) and like hanging out at home. Like me, William likes to experiment in the kitchen and make up new recipes. This recipe is his creation, and it’s perfect to celebrate the start of summer today in the northern hemisphere. The longest day of the year calls for some seasonal refreshment!

Strawberry and Spring Vegetable Salad

First Salad Attempt: Made with Chopped Nuts while Intoxicated

Recipe by Robin

In a way, creating recipes is like reinventing the wheel. Somewhere, sometime, someone has put together a dish similar to what you’re creating. It might have even been you, especially if you belong to a CSA farm and get similar veggies for weeks at a time from a local farm. And so it is with strawberries in salad. I’ve combined them with spinach, Parmesan and pine nuts, with radicchio, butter lettuce, and feta, and simplest of all with arugula and goat cheese. And yet a bounty of mixed spring lettuce from our DIY square foot garden plus 5 pints of strawberries and some basil from our CSA inspired me to make yet another strawberry salad.

Strawberry Trifle

Just a Trifle for Dessert

Recipe by Robin

Seasonal Eating has just passed the 100,000 mark for individual pageviews. Thank you, readers! In celebration, here is a recipe from another recent celebration, the Celtic/UK Themed 50^th Natal Anniversary of my friend Rox, an enthusiast of all things British, from King Arthur to Stonehenge to fine tea. As Ms. Rox was garbed in uncharacteristically royal attire (stitched up locally by the Royal Dressmaker, no less), this queenly dessert was perfect for the occasion. But let me back up. How many non-Brit readers have ever tasted a trifle or know how they’re made? If my research is any indicator, not many…including myself until just recently.

Arugula and Strawberry Salad

Arugula, Berries, Cheese, Simple Dressing, That's It!

Recipe by Let’s Cook and Chef Eric Carter

I’ve already blogged two strawberry salads, one with butter lettuce, radicchio, and feta topped with strawberry dressing and another with arugula, spinach, pine nuts and Parmesan. This is the simplest and quickest one yet. Ironically, I learned it at a Succulent Seafood class at Let’s Cook, taught by Eric Carter, culinary program director at Cabrillo College. This was our simple accompaniment to our stewed, seared, baked, and grilled fish and shellfish. Yes, we made four entrees, including bouillabaisse, in less than 3 hours. So Eric and Let’s Cook owner Patricia decided upon a quick salad with just a few ingredients to pair with the seafood. This recipe can be handy for your own cooking-intensive menus, especially during spring and summer when strawberries and fresh arugula abound. And it's delicious. My husband, who formerly said "No more arugula in salads!" had two helpings. The recipe can be doubled, as we did, for larger groups.

Strawberry, Arugula, and Spinach Salad

Pine Nuts and Parmesan Add Contrast

Recipe by Robin

We’re in the time that old-timers call the dog days of summer: hot, sultry days that are noticeably shorter than June’s. It’s the final hurrah, the wrap-up of summer, a time to appreciate being outdoors in shorts and sandals, sitting around the yard relaxing, tending the garden, or heading to the beach for some sun and fun. Cooking elaborate dinners in a hot kitchen? Not so much.

Low Sugar Strawberry Jam

Strawberries in Winter

Recipe by Happy Girl Kitchen

Making strawberry jam is magical. First, there’s the delicious scent of cooking berries that rises from the pot and permeates the kitchen. Second, there’s the way the berries foam up to several times their original volume while cooking, as they release air. How can berries be so full of air in the first place? Then there’s the always-magical gel point, where boiling fruit settles down and becomes jam. Lastly, there’s the magic of opening a jar in the winter and spooning out memories of summertime fields. Now is the time to start preserving!

Double Strawberry Muffins

Strawberries Inside, Too

Recipe adapted from anonymous Live Earth Farm CSA member

I admit that I’m obsessed with strawberries. Even though we subscribe to a CSA that provides 3 baskets every week, I’m often at the Farmers Markets buying more. In mid-strawberry season, the (refrigerator) shelf life of strawberries seems shorter than that of early-season berries, despite storing them for longevity. Sometimes they have surface blemishes and oddities. For this we have recipes.

Balsamic Roasted Strawberries

Roasted Berries and their Liquid

Recipe adapted from White on Rice Couple and Joy the Baker

I love finding recipes for things I’ve never thought of before, don’t you? Especially when the recipe is simple enough to tweak to my own tastes without fear of failure. Balsamic roasted strawberries are like that. The only way you can ruin them is to burn them. And I did burn some of the juices on the first batch, but they still tasted good, sans the black parts.

Lesson learned: with shorter baking time you can separate strawberries and liquid, baked longer strawberries and liquid caramelize together. You can choose to make them so there’s liquid to brush on top of a strawberry muffin with roasted strawberries inside. Or you might use the liquid and berries to top a cake. Or you might want to make slightly caramelized berries as a yummy quick jam. It’s your choice.

Low Sugar Strawberry Pineapple Jam

Now and Later, to Keep and Share

Recipe by Robin

Strawberry season. Here on the central CA coast, we are blessed with a long one, often beginning in late April and sometimes extending into November. In fact, it was the prospect of a season-long supply of Live Earth Farm strawberries that inspired me to sign up for their weekly CSA produce boxes.

By this time of the season, eating fresh strawberries is no longer a novelty, yet they’re still at their peak of flavor and freshness. We’ve eaten them plain, dipped them, drunk them, shortcaked them, frozen them, and even saladed or balsamic-minted them. What’s next? That’s right, strawberry jam!

Strawberry Pancake Syrup

Combined with Blueberry Pancakes

Recipe by Robin

I’ve always loved pancakes, especially the apple pancakes that my mom used to make. When I was a kid I adored going to small pancake houses that made syrups  from strawberries and other fruits. These days such syrups taste artificial, probably because local pancake houses are hard to find and the corporate chain pancake houses that have replaced them don't make syrup with real fruit.

5 Tips on How to Store Strawberries

From Ripest to Least Ripe

Method by Robin and Live Earth Farm

Recently my husband Bruce did a Google search on “how to slice a watermelon.” One of the top suggestions Google offered was “how to store strawberries.” Seems like a lot of people are asking that question at this time of year. And it’s a sad fact that the most deliciously ripe strawberries can go moldy in a matter of hours if stored wrong. One bad strawberry might not spoil the whole basket, but it certainly discourages one from finding out by tasting.

The main cause of mold on strawberries is too much moisture and too little air circulation. Hot temperatures, especially in humid climates, are another factor. Keeping strawberries as dry as possible until just before you prepare them to eat is the goal for successful storage.

Strawberry Salad with Strawberry Dressing

Celebrating Strawberry Season

Recipe by Robin

Happy first full day of summer (for those of us in the northern hemisphere)! Hope you enjoyed your solstice yesterday.

I love serendipity. What’s not to love when you get the right answer without even knowing the question? I’d wanted to make a strawberry salad for some time, since Live Earth Farm, our CSA, is renowned for its strawberries. I wanted salty feta cheese and a variety of bitter and neutral greens to contrast with the sweet flavor of the strawberries. The spinach and arugula that were on our list to receive last week seemed perfect. However, life is not always predictable, especially when dealing with small scale local farming and Mother Nature.  Oh, the irony of having an actual use for the promised arugula (which my husband says tastes like dirt), and not having it in the fridge. And yet, digging a little deeper (literally, in the vegetable drawer), I found a reasonable substitute from past weeks.