Strawberries....

It's strawberry season.  I dig 'em, but I must admit I don't like eating them plain.

They look innocent enough.

I hate biting into one and finding them not sweet...bitter yuckiness.  It turns me off strawberries for a while.  So, I bought a pound of strawberries thinking I'd use them for shakes, but while at Sprout's store I found these...

You know who else liked these?  Yep, Ms. Luna.  Of course, I only gave her a tiny bit.

I figured I'd add some strawberries and whipped cream on top and make a delectable dessert.  

Ugh! The background is distracting from the delectableness of my dessert!  

Here's what I used:

For strawberries:

1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

2 tbs balsamic vinegar

1/4 cup sugar

Mix all ingredients together, cover and let sit at room temperature for about an hour.

Sliced strawberries with sugar on top

 For the whipped cream:

1 cup whipping cream + 1 tbs clear vanilla extract + 1/4 cup sugar =  yummy whipped cream

I added all ingredients to standing mixer (fitted with wire whisk attachment) and blended away for about 4-5 minutes (start off at slow speed....unless you enjoy having milk splattered everywhere...increase to high as it comes together) until form peaks.  

I cut the mini angel food cake in half, added the strawberry mixture then a generous dollop of whip cream, and finished with the top of the mini cake.  

Until next time!

Luna patiently waiting for more angel food cake.  

Nails!

Did I mention before that Vivian loves painting her nails (and anyone else that will ask)? 

She has a box full of nail polishes.

This past week she “created” her new nail look and wanted to do my nails the same.  Of course I couldn’t deny her and below are the results….

Pretty nails!

What she used:

1. Nail Polish – I forgot what color this is actually called but it’s like a baby blue

2. Nail Polish Strips (such as Sally Hansen, Salon Effects Real Nail Polish Strips) – she cut them into shapes to fit the nail

3. Top Coat --  Used to seal the strips so they don't peel off.

Vivian hard at work.

She said the nails looked “old fashioned”.  Yep! They sure did.  I love that she gets creative with her nails.

Until next time!

Luna slept the whole time...she was tired after her haircut. She did have two bows on but took one off.  

International sandwich...

On Saturday I visited, Aria, the new international market that opened nearby.  It is full of good stuff from different countries.  I mainly went there to pick up some naan bread.

It is amazingly good and best of all they bake it while you wait.  I wish I would of thought to take pics but I was too enthralled by the process to think about whipping out my smart phone.  Basically the baker man adds water to a metal table then adds sesame seeds and grabs a handful of dough, he then stretches it out and kind of slaps it silly.  I believe the slapping it so take out any air bubbles.  He then lays it on a big spatula and put it into a conveyer type oven and stretches it out.  It’s about 5 feet in length!  And oh man does it taste good…all warm and doughy and goodness and dang! I stopped myself from eating it right then and there….I mean how embarrassing would that have been!  From the bread section I moved on to where the cheeses are located…conveniently right next to the bread area.  I think I tasted all the cheeses they had but settled on two Mexican cheeses…queso fresco (fresh cheese…more of a “crumbly cheese”…so yummy!) and panela (also a “fresh cheese” but its milder and when heated its creamy and soft.)

My mom calls it "quesadilla cheese".

For lunch on Sunday I made grilled cheese sandwiches using the items purchased from Arias and stuff already had in my fridge.  I made two variations…

1^st:

2 slices of  prosciutto (the saltiness of it went well with the mild flavors of the panela cheese.

2 slices of panela cheese

1 tsp. of mayonnaise (I added hummus to mine but mom & Vivian aren’t into hummus so more for me!)

1-2 tomato slices

baby spinach

Naan bread – I had Vivian cut about 8” square from the long naan bread and then folded that to make each sandwich about 4”

Spread mayonnaise/hummus on naan bread, add cheese, tomato, meat, spinach, and cheese. Lay sandwich on pan or grill (I used my little George Foreman Grill).  I sprayed the grill with butter flavor Pam prior to adding the sandwich.

The "grill" is so small only one fit at a time.

2^nd:

2 slices of turkey deli meat (if thinly sliced add more)

1 slice of chipotle cheddar cheese

1 slice of fontina cheese

1 tsp. of mayonnaise

Naan bread – I had Vivian cut about 8” square from the long naan bread and then folded that to make each sandwich about 4”

Spread mayonnaise on naan bread, add chipotle cheese, tomato, meat, spinach, and fontina cheese.  Lay sandwich on pan or grill (I used my little George Foreman Grill).  I sprayed the grill with butter flavor Pam prior to adding the sandwich.

We had a great and filling lunch and by Sunday night most of the nann bread was gone!

So good! I  wish I had one of these for lunch today. 

 Until next time,