Light Strawberry Souffles

This souffle is "light" because it is egg white only, but still melts in your mouth with a burst of fresh flavor. If you need a use for the leftover egg yolks and you have an abundance of fresh strawberries, make strawberry ice cream! The souffles will be ready to eat long before the ice cream freezes!

1 1/2 cups quartered strawberries

2 t. lemon juice

4 egg whites

1/4 cup sugar, plus more for lining the souffle cups

pinch of salt

2 T. butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Puree strawberries and lemon juice. 

Line 6 ramekins or 8 oz. oven-safe baking dishes with butter and sugar.

Whip egg whites, gradually adding 1/4 cup sugar and  pinch of salt, until stiff peaks form. Whip in half of strawberry puree. Fold in remaining strawberry puree.

Pour mixture into ramekins, filling them to the top. Level with a knife to ensure an evenly-browned top, or allow mixture to have a dollop top, but watch that they don't burn.

Bake for 14-17 minutes or until tops are lightly brown. Serve immediately. If you have leftovers, put them in the fridge and have them the next day, topped with slices of fresh strawberry. It will have compacted and be more the consistency of a light strawberry gelato. 

Chocolate, Banana and Peanut Butter Shake

This shake is so thick and creamy, you won't notice that there is no ice cream in it! Freezing the banana makes a good substitute for ice cream, the peanut butter gives it extra thickness and chocolate soy milk gives it a silky quality. It makes an equally good breakfast as dessert!

This is also a great way to use bananas that are getting too ripe. Just slice them, lay them out on a plate and put them in the freezer. Once frozen, move the banana slices to a freezer bag and then use them in this shake or other fruit smoothies as needed. 

You will need a blender that can crush ice.

1 banana, sliced and frozen

2 T. peanut butter

1 cup chocolate soy milk

Place frozen bnana slices in the blender. I try to let them sit at room temperature for a few minutes to get the frost off before I turn the blender on. I think this reduces the chance that you'll get a frozen chunk of banana in your shake. 

Add peanut butter and soy milk. Turn blender on high or ice-crushing setting for 20 secnds or until smooth.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Nothing says "I love you" like a giant heart-shaped cookie! When I was growing up, my mom always got us Valentine's Day gifts, and one year she made my sister and me each a heart-shaped chocolate chip cookie using just the recipe on the bag of chocolate chips and her heart-shaped cake pans. I've resurrected this idea from time to time on Valentine's Day, but this year decided to try it with my husband's favorite peanut butter cookie recipe. What makes this recipe his favorite is that we add "extras" to the batter... like chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, or whatever candy or dried fruit we have in the pantry.

Whether you put it in two heart-shaped cake pans or just drop the dough in spoonfuls on a baking sheet, these cookies are full of love!

1/2 cup shortening

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup white sugar

2 eggs

1 cup peanut butter

1 t. vanilla

1/2 cup milk

 2 cups flour

1/2 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

1 1/2 t. baking powder

1 - 1 1/2 cups of your favorite additions (chocolate chips, raisins, chopped nuts, other candy or dried fruit, etc.) - Optional

In a mixer, cream shortening and sugar. Add eggs, peanut butter, vanilla and milk and continue to mix until combined. 

Separately combine flour, salt, baking soda and baking powder. With mixer on, gradually add dry ingredients to wet and mix until combined. Stir in any addtional nuts, dried fruit or candy you'd like. If you want to make one for you and one for your sweetheart, divide the batter in half here and customize the additions. 

Add batter to two greased 9-inch heart-shaped cake pans and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or until cooked through. You may need to put aluminum foil on top of them for the last 5 minutes if the tops begin to brown before the cookies are fully cooked.

For drop cookies, scoop out 2 T. of dough at a time onto a greased cookie sheet. You can press them down with a fork to make the traditional peanut butter cookie waffle top. Bake cookies at 350 for 10-12 minutes.

When life brings you lemons...

make Limoncello!

My husband and I went to Monte Carlo for our honeymoon, close enough to Italy that they serve the delicious lemon liquor Limoncello at the end of every meal. When my in-laws brought us a bag of lemons from California a few weeks ago, we decided to learn how to make this lemony libation.

All you need is a middle-of-the-road vodka like Pinnacle, a peeler to remove the rinds from your lemons and some simple syrup. Because you don't use the lemon juice in Limoncello,  you'll have about a cup of the versatile juice to use in sweet and savory dishes the rest of the week!

Essential Kitchen Gadgets

• Grater
• Strainer

Ingredients

• 5 lemons
• 2 cups of vodka
• 2 cups of sugar

Instructions

Wash lemons and peel the rind off of them in strips, being careful to not peel so deep that you get the white underside of the rind. (Squeeze the juice out of the lemons and set juice aside.) Combine peels with vodka in a sealed container and let sit at room temperature from 1 week to 1 month. Shake it occasionally.

Strain peels out of vodka and mix with simple syrup. Make simple syrup by heating sugar in 2 cups of water over medium heat until sugar is dissolved.

Bottle your limoncello and store it in the fridge or freezer. It also makes a great gift!

Now for that leftover lemon juice. It's hard to find lemon recipes that don't also include the zest of the rind. But here's a few good options to choose from. If you don't have the opportunity to use it right away, pour your lemon juice in ice cube trays, freeze and and store the lemon juice cubes in a freezer bag for later use.

A big batch of Lemonade


Hummus
Add one 15-oz. can of chick peas (drained and rinsed) and 1-2 cloves of crushed garlic to food processor and pulse until chopped. Add 1/4 c. water, 2 T. tahini, 1 1/2 T. fresh lemon juice, 1 T. olive oil and 1/4 t. salt, and dash of black pepper. Pulse until smooth. Add other fresh herbs or spices as desired. Serve with pita chips.


Mayonnaise
Add two large egg yolks, 1 t. dark mustard and 4 t. fresh lemon juice to food processor and pulse until well combined. While processor is running, slowly add 1 cup oil until mixture turns white and thick. Season with salt, pepper and other herbs and spices as desired. Store in an air-tight container for one week. (If raw egg yolks scare you, I've also heard you can poach the eggs in vinegar water before adding them to the mixture. Never tried it!)



Lemon Marinade for Fish
Combine equal parts lemon juice and olive oil. Add some minced garlic, salt, pepper and other herbs and seasonings as desired, and whisk together. Place fish filets in a shallow baking dish and pour marinade over top. Let sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then flip filets to marinate on the other side. Cover the baking dish with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork. Garnish with fresh herbs. Best for white fish like tilapia, halibut, cod, etc.



Lemon Cheese Pie
Make your pie crust of choice in a 9-inch pie pan, bake and let cool. I like to use a graham cracker crust.  (Pulse 6 oz. of graham crackers in food processor. Add 2 T. sugar, 1/4 t. coarse salt, and 3 T. unsalted butter, melted. Press the mixture into the bottom and along the sides of pie plate. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes, or until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.)

For filling, combine 1 package of softened cream cheese, 1/2 c. sugar, 2 T. fresh lemon juice, and 2 eggs and beat on high with an electric mixture for 2 minutes. Spoon mixture into cooled pie shell and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Pie should be slightly firm, but not browned on top. Cool on a wire rack and then chill in the refrigerator for at least one hour. Before serving, whip together 1/2 c. heavy cream, 2 T. confectioners' sugar and 1/2 t. vanilla. Top entire pie with whipped cream.
It's perfectly delicious on it's own, but I sometimes serve it with fresh berries on the side if I have them.

Pots de Creme

On Valentine's Day (or any special occasion), preparing a special meal at home makes can make for a much more romantic evening than going to a restaurant on one of the busiest nights of the year. Instead, make your sweetheart his or her favorite meal and then finish it off with a dessert that is extra special... Pots de Creme!

The name is French for "pots of cream," but it is more like a chocolate mousse. A wine glass (tea cup or any fancy little bowl) filled with this and a dollop of freshly whipped cream on top is the sweetest way to say I love you at the end of a home-cooked dinner.

This recipe comes from my grandma and is one of our family favorites.

1 cup chocolate bits
2 T. sugar
1 pinch salt
1 egg
1 t. vanilla
3/4 cup milk (2 percent or whole)
1/2 cup whipping cream
1 T. confectioners sugar

Heat milk over medium heat just until boiling. While it's heating, place all other ingredients into a blender. Pour milk over ingredients in blender, cover and blend for one minute. Pour immediately into 4 serving dishes. Chill to set (around 2-3 hours). Chill the bowl you're going to whip your cream in. Just before serving, use an hand-held electric beater to whip cream with confectioners sugar until it reaches desired firmness. Be careful not to whip it into butter. Serve pots de creme topped with whipped cream, and maybe a strawberry or raspberry to add some festive color.

Chocolate Muffins

Chocolate muffins -- are they a breakfast treat or dessert? It's up to you... these could be either! The basics for this recipe are ingredients you probably keep on hand. Then change it up depending on the occasion. Add dried fruit and nuts for a healthier version. Add candy and other confections to make them really decadent!

Essential Kitchen Gadgets

• Mixer (stand, hand or the old-fashioned non-electric beaters)
• Muffin pan

Basic Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 Tbsp baking soda
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 6 Tbsp canola oil
• 1 cup of your choice of dry goodies

Today I used chopped up Hershey's candies and raisins. Here are some other suggestions, but use anything that sounds good to you:

• dried cherries and white chocolate chips
• butterscotch chips and mini marshmallows
• dehydrated banana pieces and chopped peanuts

Instructions

Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. If you have a sifter, sift these ingredients together for a smoother batter. Whisk in sugar and set aside.

In mixing bowl, beat eggs on low and add milk and oil. Gradually add in dry ingredients. Once mixed, stir in your dry goodies.

Grease a 12-muffin tray (with or without muffin papers). Use an ice cream scoop to fill muffin cups with batter just shy of the top. Bake for 20 minutes in preheated 400 degree oven, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove muffins from tray and let cool on a wire rack. Once cool, store in an air-tight container until ready to serve.

Serving

All you need to eat this is a napkin to catch the crumbs. Makes them great as breakfast on the go or for taking to a picnic, office party, or to the home of a friend who invites you over for dinner!