Berry Fruit Salad with Honey Lime Dressing.
Want to really make a statement and add a kick to your next fruit salad?
Mix strawberries, blueberries, blackberries and red raspberries in a bowl.
Add the zest and juice of one ripe lime and drizzle with 2-3 Tbsp of honey.
Stir berry gently, and enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Extreme Chocolate Cake.
For those times….
you know them…
when you just need chocolate cake.
I recently saw a question that made me think.
If you had to live without one of the following for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
For me, it would be chocolate. Though I adore baking and enjoy chocolate (and even crave it sometimes), if I had to give up one of these four, it would be the chocolate.
I can’t imagine not having coffee in the morning. A world without cheese?! I’m just not sure that is a world worth living in. And oh how I enjoy my glass or two of red wine in the evening.
How about you?
Now even though I would choose chocolate if I HAD to make the choice…. THANKFULLY I do not!
So here’s a chocolate cake I made recently (which is slightly adapted from this one I found at AllRecipes) – just because…
Because sometimes life is worth celebrating with chocolate cake!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour three 8-9″ round cake pans.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add eggs, milk, oil, and vanilla. Mix for 3 minutes with electric mixer. Slowly stir in boiling water by hand with wooden spoon until fully incorporated. Pour batter evenly into the three prepared pans.
Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 15 minutes in pans, then remove to cooling rack to cool complete.
Prepare frosting by beating butter with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Stir in the cocoa powder and powdered sugar, then milk and vanilla. Beat until fluffy and spreading consistency.
Spread frosting on each layer of cake stacked on top of each other and decorate as desired.
I shaved dark chocolate on top using a vegetable peeler from a large bar of Trader Joe’s 72% Cocoa Dark Chocolate and placed halved strawberries around the perimeter of the top.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Fresh Strawberry & Lemon Poppy Seed Cake.
If you know me at all, you know Poppy Seed Cake is my favorite of all cakes.
Unusual to most I’m guessing, but most significant to me because my Grandma always made it for my birthday (New Year’s Eve) since everyone is just about over it with sweets by then after the holidays.
I had some fresh strawberries that were on the verge of going bad and lemon on the brain from a cookie I was making for the wedding cookie table, so I decided to whip up and “zip” up a poppy seed cake for Easter Sunday.
A bit of tart and sweet lemon zest in the batter along with chunks of juicy red-ripe strawberries and a thin lemon glaze really “Spring”ed up my usual wintertime poppy seed cake craving.
Hubby loved his with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and an extra handful of fresh strawberries on top.
If you are looking for a fresh, not too sweet, but yummy Spring cake to serve, give this one a try. It is truly delightful!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a fluted cake pan or your favorite.
In a large bowl, beat together the melted butter, sugar, and lemon zest. Add eggs, one at a time, fully incorporating. Add milk, yogurt and vanilla next. Stir in dry ingredients until combined. Gently stir in strawberries and poppy seeds.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until cake test inserted comes out clean.
Prepare glaze by mixing lemon juice and powdered sugar until sugar is completely dissolved, then stir in milk until smooth. Set aside.
Cool cake for at least 20 minutes before drizzling with glaze.
Serve with additional fresh strawberries and ice cream, if desired.
Enjoy!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
*Adapted from a recipe found on BakerbyNature.com
Strawberry Chocolate Ganache Tart with Cookie Crust (No Bake).
You may recall seeing this dessert I made for our Valentine’s Couple Camp Party. I promised then that I would share the recipe.
I have to tell you… this dessert is not only beautiful and elegant looking, it is so simple, uses only five basic ingredients, and is possibly the most luscious chocolate dessert I have EVER tasted. And I’m really not exaggerating. I absolutely loved this tart!
I typically make dessert, but just taste enough to know it is okay to serve. This one, however… I not only had the evening of our party, I ate the last leftover slice!
I am certain I will make this tart again.. and again. It is a great dessert for ANY occasion, any season, anybody. I would take this to a summer picnic. I would make this for a birthday “cake.” I would make this for a Christmas dinner dessert. I would make this for ANY reason.
I originally came across this recipe posted by Mary at HomeisWheretheBoatis, and I only tweaked it slightly. Thanks for sharing Mary!
I so hope you will give this a try, and I cannot wait to hear how you like it!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Enjoy! I know you will!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
This past weekend, a gang of our bestie couple friends got together to celebrate love and friendship.
My McHendy “sister,’ Jill, and I collaborated to plan what we called “Valentine’s Couple Camp.”
Those of you that have been hanging around here at TheCreativeLifeinBetween for a while might remember our first Couple Camp Weekend Retreat that I posted about here.
Unfortunately, we missed a year… I guess weddings, babies, life… got us too involved. But when Jill called a couple weeks ago and said we should do another Couples Camp for Valentine’s Day, I was all in and offered to host at our home.
And so we did.
Bubby and Glenn were assigned appetizers, and boy did they rock the theme! Check out all the ways you can make food into hearts!
I created a special “Love Potion” cocktail to toast the beginning of our time together. I mixed 1/3 Grand Marnier Signature Collection No. 2 Raspberry Peach with 2/3 champagne and garnished with a fresh red raspberry. Yum!
Jill is our illustrious “camp” activities director. After a silly group photo,
Jill and I sent the rest of the gang to the bar, while we laid out the all the materials for everyone to create their own “Love Shack” out of chocolate graham crackers and candy (a Valentine gingerbread house of sorts). Everyone was given a flag to name their Love Shack and 20 pennies to distribute into shot glasses after everyone finished and presented their masterpieces to vote on the best.
We had some serious creativity going on. Check it out!
Hubby made his into “Camp Happy Beginning” reminiscent of the early days of love and not having much but feeling like everything is a rainbow …. or something like that… if you can imagine…
Mary made hers into “Mary’s Cozy Cottage” decorated with a comfy couch and chairs and a big colorful outdoor patio…
I was much busier laughing and taking pictures under the guise of “hosting” to focus too much on mine, but came up with this pretty lame “McKinney Love Shack.”
Bubby lovingly created the “McKinney B&B.”
and her Glenn created “Glen’s Gang Bang Getaway.” No explanation here. You can use your own imagination.
Jim cracked us up with his creation. Simple, but with a funny and politically-inspired statement. His “American” themed love shack had three characters involved… “I’m a Russian” on his way to the love shack, “Himalyan” in the love shack, and “He’s a Finnish” leaving the love shack…
Jill’s was a fabulous “Jill’s Sweet Shack” with a candy paved lane.
But Todd stole the show with his outhouse-themed love shack complete with cut out crescent moon doors.
We assigned Mary the entree knowing she would make all of our tummies happy, and she did not disappoint! In fact, we were so into her amazing stuffed shells, meatballs and spare ribs in homemade Italian sauce, I forgot to photograph it! Thankfully, she left a few for us to enjoy for dinner the next day, so I took a quick photo of our leftovers. Which, by the way, tasted just as magnificent! Thanks Mar!
I made a simple salad and sliced up some fresh bread to accompany Mary’s entree,
and we gave another toast to friendship!
I had fun preparing for our guests by tidying up the guest rooms,
including a quick convert of the nursery with an air mattress bed,
and placing heart-shaped Dove Red Velvet Chocolates on pillows.
I set the table with red plates and chocolate heart treats…
and even little heart shaped spoons!
Aren’t they adorable!
I was assigned dessert, so a chocolating I went. You already know about my chocolate-dipped wafer cookies and Ultimate Reese’s Peanut Butter Cookies which I had out, but I also made a bouquet of chocolate-dipped strawberries,
and the most amazing and simple No Bake Chocolate Ganache Cookie Crust Tart I saw on another blog.
I’ll share this recipe soon. It is seriously amazing and uses only a couple simple ingredients!
We talked the guys into playing Couples Scattegories and had fun staying up late drinking and talking until later than any of us ever stay up.
Hubby made omelets to order the next morning after we all awoke… later than we usually get up.
What a joy to have such wonderful friends to share time and our home with!
And quoting Jill from last time, I once again share:
“I recommend that all of our friends coordinate a Couple’s Camp weekend. Great fun. Lots of laughter. Many life stories shared. And the realization that life long friends and connections are priceless! So go make some memories!”
Thanks for the memories dear friends!
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Lemons and strawberries in November? (A time when we are usually baking with pumpkin and cinnamon and apples….?)
Well – we are experiencing some amazing Indian Summer weather here in Mars – with temperatures in the 70’s, the sun shining brightly, and the sky a vibrant shade of blue – so why not – right?
Well – the truth be told – that same cute little bugger who requested the Royal Flush Halloween t-shirts recently found a photo on Reddit that struck his fancy a few days ago of a freshly baked loaf of lemon pound cake with strawberries. He texted me the photo saying, “Please make.”
Well…. how could I resist? (I know….. pushover! – but really…. I live for this stuff!)
Turns out the sweet young lady who posted the photo stating “this just came out of the oven” did not post the recipe! How dare she??!! More than one reader called her “evil” for not posting the recipe!
I did some digging, however, and found the source and the recipe… Score!! (I know – I have issues!)
Turns out Bianca Davies, the “evil” baker/Reddit poster, is a trained chef from Cape Town, South Africa, who attended Le Cordon Bleu in Paris, but is equally inspired by her Granny and Granny’s lemon trees.
Per Bianca, Granny likes a cake that is “rich, moist, light, airy and slightly fudgy.” This little pound cake amazingly delivers on all of that – and more!
So before we get seriously into Autumn and Winter baking and cooking, you might want to enjoy one last taste of summer! You will not regret it!
Ingredients: Directions: Converted recipe from http://thesecretlifeofbee.co.za/ (Bianca Davies, Cape Town, South Africa) Cheers & Hugs, JodiLemon Strawberry Pound Cake
Looking for a bright, light, fresh summertime salad? How about fresh baby spinach leaves, slices of juicy ripe strawberries, chunks of creamy goat cheese, and crunchy candied walnuts all drizzled with a sweet and tangy poppy seed viniagrette? It just screams summertime!
Since we were talking about strawberries this week, I couldn’t resist making this when asked to bring a salad to Liz’s birthday party last evening.
Candying the walnuts is a cinch and homemade dressing makes it so much fresher. This salad is super easy and bursting with flavor.
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Directions:
Happy Friday! Enjoy the weekend, and have fun doing things at life in between.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
Shall we talk about strawberries…
the yummy, juicy, sweet, delicious, nutritious, ruby-red fruit of summer?
Or shall we discuss what John Lennon was talking about in the amazing Beatles hit, Strawberry Fields Forever…”
and boy are there a lot of commentaries out there on that!
Or do we want to talk about drawing and watercoloring and cardmaking and “art…”
some of my favorites things to do?
Or how about strawberry recipes…
Strawberry Spinach Salad, Strawberry Jello Pretzel Salad, Strawberries & Cream, Strawberry Pie – OH MY!?
What is your favorite? I love them all!
Or shall we just “Let it Bee?”
Let it be whatever we want it to be…
A symbol of summer,
A memory of our childhood,
A favorite hobby,
A sumptuous summer treat.
Let it be Strawberry Fields Forever…
at LifeinBetween.
Cheers & Hugs,
Jodi
PS Barbara, you know I love a challenge!
the creative life in between 