Recipe: Strawberry Lemonade Bars

Yessss!!  I'm writing and in a timely manner.

These bars are amazing and delicious and still really simple to make. I used the same crust from my last lemon squares but I added a twist to my lemon filling and decided to go with Strawberry Lemonade Bars this time.  I had fresh strawberries sitting in my refrigerator just waiting to be consumed and this seemed like the perfect trial. It's summertime and who could possibly resist the combination of fresh strawberries and lemonade.
To compensate for the extra liquid, I used an extra egg and another tablespoon of flower. I also cut down on the sugar content a bit because last time I found the lemon squares a little too sweet for my tastes and also because ripe, fresh strawberries should add their own sweetness to the batter.

The most beautiful strawberry lemonade bars

Ingredients

use Aluminum foil for easy cleanup

crust:

• 1/2 cup (1 stick butter) room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup all purpose flour 
• pinch of salt

filling:

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 -3/4 cup sugar
• 2 freshly squeezed lemons
• 2 cups fresh strawberries
• 1 tbs freshly zested lemon zest (I used zest that I had frozen from last time)
• 3-4 tbs all purpose flour

Line an oven proof pan with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easier cleanup.  Preheat your oven to 350°F. 

If you have an electric mixer, I would use it to cream the butter and sugar.  I don't have an electric mixer, so again I had to do it by hand. It just takes a little more time and patience but it's totally doable. I used a fork to mash the butter and sugar and then kneaded the salt and flour into the mix.  When it's a cohesive mixture and not too sticky (add a little more flour if you need to) press it evenly into your pan, bringing it up slightly along the edges. Now I'm notoriously bad at measuring, especially while in Italy. The recipe calls for a stick of butter, but the form is different in Italy, so I added a little at a time until the butter was able to hold all of the sugar. I figure, the more butter the better!  

Bake for 15 minutes, until lightly golden. Turn it, if you start to see only one area of the crust bubbling or coloring.
While the crust is baking whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, lemon zest and 3 tablespoons of flour.  Whisk until well-blended with no clumps.

Just look at that gorgeous color

In a blender, pulse your ripe strawberries for a few minutes. If you don't have a blender, you can alternatively crush them with a fork. Add this to your lemon and egg mixture.  If it's looking too runny, add in an additional tablespoon of flour but do it slowly so the flour blends and doesn't form clumps.
Pour the filling over the crust and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the lemon filling is set and firm.  Keep a close eye on your lemon bars and rotate to make sure it colors evenly.
The bars are done when the liquid sets. I wasn't being particularly attentive this time around (I was washing dishes instead) and my oven has a hot spot, so a little bit of my crust burnt. But that's okay because it was still utterly delicious.
Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Then cut into squares or triangles.  I used a round pan, so some of mine were oddly shaped, but that wasn't a problem.  I just ate those scrapes as testers.
Put in the fridge and then serve cold as a nice refreshing dessert!

The crust was still buttery and excellent and the strawberry lemonade filling was wonderful.  Use fresh berries and fresh lemons because the flavor payoff is fantastic.  The ripe strawberry really adds a kick of sweetness and reminds me of summertime adventures.  It also really complements the tartness of the lemon.

Good Friday Salad in a Jar

I made another salad in a jar on Good Friday for my day trip to Ostia Antica. I figured that it would be a great picnic lunch.
I'm not really a practicing Catholic although I usually do follow the traditions of Lent.  I usually give something up. One year it was the elevator in my building (which was great because I still don't use elevators unless I'm actually completely wiped out). Another year I gave up ice cream. That one didn't work out nearly as well.  I kept forgetting that I'd given up ice cream and wound up deciding to tack on days to my lent to make up for it.
This year, Lent seems to have flown by and I never actually got around to giving up anything. And since my awarness level wasn't particularly high, I'm sure that I also ate meat on Fridays as well. I've never been a stickler for these things, but I do try to follow along... This year I seem to have dropped the ball.
For Good Friday, however, I decided to follow tradition and have no meat all day.

So my salad was vegetarian.
My first layer was fresh olive oil, balsamic vinegar reduction and some oregano (grown and dried by one of my roomie's family).  Then I added white cannelloni beans with a little salt. Then came a layer of strawberries (I'm seriously starting to enjoy my roommates reaction when I put fruit into salads, it's utterly hilarious). Then a layer of delicious Asiago cheese because I really love its creaminess and how well it pairs with strawberries. Then I added a 1/4 of a small red onion diced coarsely because I adore the bite that the red onion adds to the salad. It adds a bit of kick and texture at the same time. Finally I filled the rest of the jar with mixed greens. I got an extra large package at the super market that has arugula, lettuce and some dark green and purple leaves that I don't know the name of. It's seriously one of my favorite mixes of salad.
Voila. My salad was amazing as I sat among the ruins of Ostia Antica. It was a truly memorable and delicious picnic lunch.

The Amphitheater and Temple

Recipe: Grilled Chocolate and Strawberry Sandwich

I found a recipe for a grilled brie, raspberry and dark chocolate sandwich and I really want to try it.  The photo looked so amazing and I'm very curious about the combination of brie and chocolate.  I feel like the raspberries would be an amazing way too bring the flavors together.
I went to the store with intentions of getting raspberries and brie but sadly I couldn't find raspberries so I bought strawberries instead.  Less of a tang but still enough sweetness to work with the cheese and chocolate.
I wanted to try making my brie, choclate and strawberry grilled cheese but just as I was prepping it as a dessert my roommates came into the kitchen and I lost my nerve.  I chickened out and didn't make the sandwich I had originally intended to make.  I just didn't feel like explaining my logic to my roommates (AGAIN) and get the judging looks.  I love my roommates. They are amazing girls but not always the most adventurous with food.
So instead of making my grilled cheese dessert I made a grilled chocolate and strawberry sandwich with no brie that was utterly amazing.  Next time I'll make it with my brie regardless of who's around.

Ingredients:
2 slices bread
2-3 pats of butter
1 bar dark chocolate
3-5 strawberries

I had a very large bar of chocolate to make my sandwich so I used a sharp knife to make chocolate shavings.  I decided for finer shavings rather than large chunks so the chocolate would melt faster and more evenly.
I covered both slices of bread with a medium layer of chocolate. If you're a chocoholic add more!  Then I sliced the strawberries and put them to the side for later.  
Put the better in a pan and heat over a low flame.  When the butter is melted, carefully place the bread in the pan.  Try not to let the chocolate touch the pan because it will melt, burn and then stick to the pan.
Let the bread get nice and golden shifting it around the pan once in a while (to make sure it's not sitting in any hot spots). A few minutes should do.  The chocolate will start to lighten in color.
When you take the bread out of the pan, you will be able to easily spread the chocolate with a knife and it will magically look like nutella.
Add the slices of strawberry to one of the slices, close the sandwich and eat happily.

The chocolate and strawberries are delicious between the slices of warm buttery bread. I was very very pleased with my dessert sandwich.

Grilled Cheese Recipe: Balsamic Spinach and Strawberry, Sliced chicken, Walnut Grilled Cheese

Wow. The name and ingredient list is pretty long, but this grilled cheese was an amazing experimert that made my amazing roommates think I'm crazy.  The Italians would never put strawberries into a sandwich or a salad, let alone a grilled sandwich. Almost a week later, I'm still getting teased.  I don't really mind.  I know I'm not crazy. This combination was wonderful! So I made it twice.

This grilled cheese is absolutely beautiful with gorgeous colors.

I used a Walnut cheese that I randomly found in the supermarket.  It is a spreadable cheese with whole
chunks of walnut throughout. I decided to see how it is and I've decided it's really delicious. It is a mild tasting cheese, not overly pungent, with the lovely warm flavor of walnuts.  And the walnuts added a bonus crunch.
My grilled cheese also involved some strawberries for sweetness, some spinach dressed in a thick balsamic vinegar, and slices of chicken breast for protein. Again, AMAZING

Ingredients:
2 pieces of white bread (I would actually prefer whole grain, but I didn't find any at the store that day)
butter
Walnut cheese
2 or 3 strawberries sliced finely
Spinach
balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
3 or 4 pieces of thinly sliced chicken or turkey breast

Spread your walnut cheese onto one side of each slice of bread.  If you can't find walnut cheese, I would use

Walnut cheese and Strawberry amazingness

a spreadable cheese like Laughing Cow or even Cream cheese because they are both mild in flavor. If you use one of these alternatives just add some fresh walnuts to your sandwich. Four or five broken into chunks should add just enough crunch and flavor to your sandwich.
Then on one slice of bread add a layer of strawberries.  You can add strawberries to both sides but I think it would make the grilled cheese a little difficult to eat because of the additional moisture.
In a separate bowl, mix your spinach, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  I use an Italian balsamic that is thick and creamy, but that can be hard to find in the states. You can use a regular vinegar (just don't overdo it or the sandwich will get soggy) or you can make your own balsamic reduction by cooking balsamic vinegar, and a touch of sugar in a pan over low heat, stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.  The flavor of the balsamic will intensify and sweeten and really add a nice kick to your sandwich (if you want to go to the extra effort). Place to the side.
Put a couple of pats of butter into a pan and heat over a low flame.  When the butter has heated and begins to sizzle, place your bread dry side down into the pan.  Shake your pan every now and then so it doesn't burn. The bread should grill for a couple of minutes or until it becomes golden and crisp. It will not take very long, so do not leave it unattended! You definitely don't want the bread to burn.
Remove from the heat.
At this point, you can close your sandwich and enjoy your strawberry walnut grilled cheese or you can go all out like I did.
I added a handful of the balsamic spinach, which is a nice complement to the strawberries.

Spinach and Strawberries: This was a different day, but the colors were
too pretty not to post. I should have added even more strawberries.

Then I added the slices of chicken breast and closed my beautiful crispy grilled cheese.  The cheese was warm and melted quite nicely while the spinach added a beautiful crunch and the chicken was mild enough in
flavor that it melded nicely with everything else.  The bread got to the perfect golden color, so it was crisp and butter on the outside as a wonderful contrast to the creamy cheese and juicy strawberries.
The sandwich can get a little messy so be careful!  The walnut spread does not get sticky like some other cheeses so it won't hold the strawberries perfectly.  You may wind up with some runaways!

Train Strikes and Early Morning Breakfast

So it's 10:30 now and I'm sitting at work. I've been here since 9am.  I don't teach until 1:30.
This is not me being compulsively early. I did not randomly decide to come in early and prepare for lessons. No, Rome train transportation simply threatened to strike, which means the last morning train leaves at 8:30am...  Now they cancelled the strike yesterday... However, given that the last time they "cancelled" a strike, it wasn't actually cancelled and we all wound up being late for work, this time we (two other teachers and myself) decided to take the train to work before 8:30am...
I've been awake since 7am... well, ok, half awake lying in bed trying to convince myself to keep my eyes open.  Nonetheless I was out the door by 8am and very luckily caught the 8:20 train. Oh, and just to be clear, I got to the station and realized that the strike has ACTUALLY been cancelled and today trains are running normally, but it was too late to turn back around.  I was not going to walk the 20 minutes to my house for a nap only to have to walk back later on.
So I got to Acilia before 9 and then walked to the grocery store.  I decided that if I'm going to be here literally ALL day long, I was at least going to have amazing food to carry me through.
At the grocery store, I had way too much fun.  I got kiwis, strawberries, mozzarella, milk, chocolate cereal, a giant bottle of coca cola zero, and bread for just about €9.  Essentially breakfast, lunch and dinner for the next 2 days.
I got to work by 9:20 and made myself an amazing bowl of cereal. It was even more chocolatey than I had
imagined from the packaging and turned my milk into chocolate milk.  It was delicious especially since it's the first time I've had cereal in ages.  Oh and I decided to cut my strawberries into it as well! Chocolate cereal and milk with freshly sliced strawberries. YES!  Breakfast of champions...
The chocolate cereal was crisp and super chocolate (actually more than I had actually anticipated... good thing I like chocolate) and the strawberries were very ripe and sweet.

The strawberries were so delicious

Yes, I am now hyper.  I also had 2 oranges leftover from last week, so I've been picking through those as well.
 The kiwis aren't quite ripe yet, so those will be for tomorrow.
Lunch is going to be a sandwich using the bread and mozzarella from the store. No worries, it won't just be mozzarella! I also brought some stuff from home.  I have lettuce, tomatoes and prosciutto from a couple of days ago and the fresh spinach I bought at the market yesterday. Plus I still have leftover fried eggplant from yesterday as well.  It is going to be an epic sandwich.
Tonight when I go home I'm going to cook.  I think I'll make a lentil soup for the next couple of days and I'll also make myself a spinach and cream sauce for some pasta. I want to cook up about half the kilo of spinach I bought yesterday while it's fresh. I'll steam it with some garlic, salt and oil and it will be incredible.  The rest of the spinach I'll eat in salads even though my Italian roommate looks at me like I'm crazy whenever I do.  She didn't know that raw spinach is healthy and delicious for consumption.  -.- I was a little shocked but slowly I'm introducing her to some entertaining foodie facts!!

Recipe: Chocolate Chip Strawberry Cupcakes with Fresh Whipped Cream

So I've been trying to get around to baking for weeks now but something always seems to get in the way. Either work, or outings, or karaoke, or exhaustion...
I told myself I was going to bake on Sunday no matter what, and then Sunday got here, and well... I almost didn't bake!  I went to the Brooklyn Botanical gardens to see the Cherry Blossom Festival and by the time I got home it was after 6pm...
I lazed on the couch reading and texting with a friend... I kept saying I was going to bake, but I wasn't feeling particularly motivated.
However, I have promised a lot of cupcakes over the last few weeks, sooo at around 8pm I searched for a new and fun recipe to use. I found Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Meringue Frosting. It looks like a good recipe adapted from something in a Martha Stewart Cookbook. I then had to further adapt it because I was missing a couple of ingredients and the stores were already closed when I noticed.
I got around to putting the mix together around 1 and then baked Monday morning.
There is no explanation for my laziness but I just could not pull myself together to finish baking Sunday night. Luckily I woke up and finished everything Monday morning!

These can be served with or without a frosting because they are super flavorful.

Chocolate Chip Strawberry Cupcakes
3 cups flour
1 tbs baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3 eggs
1 egg white
1 cup almond milk
2 cups finely chopped fresh strawberries
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350° and line your cupcake tins.  The recipe should make 34 cupcakes.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt, and then put to the side.

In another bowl with an electric blender, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. Blend for about 3 minutes or until the mixture is pale and fluffy. Then add the eggs and egg white, one at a time, beating until each one is fully incorporated. Add the flour in two batches, alternating with the almond milk. (I actually wasn't paying attention and added all of the milk before the flour... I think it does change the consistency, as does the almond milk I used).
At this point, use a spatula to fold in the chocolate chips and strawberries. I waited till the next morning to chop the strawberries and add them into the batter because it had gotten too late. I was able to fill 34 liners.
Bake for about 25 to 30 minutes and voilaaaa.
                                        YUMMY CUPCAKES

Fresh out of the oven!

I chose to make a simple whipped cream. Just 2 cups of heavy whipping cream, 2 tbs brown sugar.  I made sure the cream was very cold andd so was the container that I whipped it in.

I served half with whipped cream and half without, and they were delicious both ways!

Recipe: Semi Homemade Chocolate Covered Strawberry Cupcakes with Strawberry Creamcheese Frosting

I've been trying to figure out what dessert I should make for Valentine's Day. I don't have a Valentine but I think it'll be fun to bring a little treat to the girls I work with. There are really quite a few options for pink and red desserts for the holiday but I started flipping through my old pictures and found these. Chocolate covered strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting. It brings in the colors and flavors that make me think of heart day.

I made these originally for my birthday way back in September. I made red velvet cupcakes from scratch and then didn't feel like searching for a chocolate cake recipe... I know, really lazy... But I cooked my entire birthday dinner by my lonesome, so I figured one set of cupcakes with a shortcut wasn't that bad.
Luckily, we had a box of dark chocolate cake mix, so I started with that.

I decided that I wanted to use the combination of chocolate and strawberry and made a Chocolate covered strawberry cupcake with a creamcheese frosting (which was easy since I was already making cream cheese frosting for the red velvet).

So here's my semi-homemade recipe:

For the cupcakes:
1 box of chocolate cake mix and all the ingredients indicated by the box.
12 small to medium strawberries, cleaned with tops removed

Preheat your oven to 350°F and follow the directions of your boxed mix.  Line your muffin tin with your choice of liner (maybe fun hearts for Valentines Day). Fill them about 3/4 of the way fill and pop a strawberry into each. Lower the heat to 325°F and pop your cupcakes into the oven for between 20-25 minutes or until the chocolate has set. The strawberries will cook down into an almost syrupy consistency.
Put them to the side to cool.
Let them cool fully before frosting.

For the frosting:
1/2 cup margarine (room temperature)
1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 to 1/2 a box confectioners' sugar (depending on your taste), sifted
4-5 medium strawberries, cleaned and then pureed.
1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream the margarine and cream cheese with an electric blender. Then add the sugar a little at a time. Be careful, this can get messy if your not careful (this I know from experience)!Mix in the vanilla. At this point you could put the frosting into the fridge and use as a regular cream cheese frosting. It's quite delicious.
If you want a strawberry frosting, blend in the strawberry puree now.
I like to put the frosting into a ziplock bag, cut of the tip and decorate the cupcakes with a large swirl pattern. For the strawberry frosting, make sure you refridgerate for at least a half hour before decorating.

Forgive the messy frosting! I should have let the frosting sit in the fridge for at least a half hour before  decorating. 

Mine came out a little messy, but they were delicious and moist and a big crowd pleaser.

-Raspberry Truffle