Our first night in this place was Friday. However because the kitchen was pretty much a complete disaster…
we decided not to cook. I realize it doesn’t look that horrible in that picture, but what you can’t see is that pretty much every kitchen item we own was in a box in the living room, so cooking wasn’t really an option.

We got pizza delivered and celebrated the move with bubbly…water.

Saturday we spent the ENTIRE day cleaning the old apartment then took a much needed break at the San Jose Earthquakes v. New York Red Bulls game.

When you’re used to watching English Premier League games the MLS looks…kind of weak. But it was fun, and the fireworks after the game were awesome.

This morning we made a little more progress unpacking and I made some patriotic pancakes for a little early Independence Day cheer. These are just buttermilk pancakes, but using half whole wheat flour makes them hearty and the berries add enough sweetness that you don’t really need syrup…a dollop of yogurt and some fresh berries are pretty much perfect.

Recipe:

makes 8-12, depending on size

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup sugar or evaporated cane juice
1/2 tsp salt
2 1/4 cups buttermilk
2 eggs, beaten
2 tbsp butter, melted
about 1/2 cup mixed blueberries and sliced strawberries, plus extra for serving

Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.

Stir the eggs, buttermilk, and melted butter together.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix gently (it’s fine if the batter stays a little lumpy).

Heat a griddle or large skillet over medium heat and spray with nonstick spray. Ladle a little batter onto the griddle, then sprinkle with a few berries. Let cook for a few minute, or until the bottom is golden brown. Flip and cook an additional minute or two. Repeat with remaining batter and berries.

Serve with plain yogurt and berries.

Strawberries and rhubarb…such a perfect combination. But I just can’t get excited about strawberry rhubarb pie. It’s not the fussiness of rolling out the crust – I actually kind of enjoy that. I just feel like I’ve eaten so many pies in my life that it’s time to give more attention to the other desserts that highlight fruit so well. Cobblers, crisps, crumbles… there are so many options!

I’ve been using white whole wheat flour in just about everything lately and it’s perfect here as well, but of course you can use all purpose if that’s more your style. The original recipe called for a full teaspoon of orange zest, which I would scale back next time because I felt like the orange flavor infringed on the strawberry and rhubarb a little too much. The original recipe also called for tapioca, but I didn’t use any thickeners and the texture seemed fine to me.

Recipe:
(adapted from Simply Recipes)

fruit
4 cups rhubarb stalks cut into 1-inch pieces
2 cups strawberries, stemmed and sliced
1/2 cup evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon of grated orange peel

crust
2 tbsp evaporated cane juice or granulated sugar
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter, chilled
1/4 cup milk
1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat the rhubarb and sugar in a heavy saucepan over medium heat for about 10 minutes, or until rhubarb begins to soften and some liquid collects in the pan (stir occasionally). Remove from heat, then stir in the orange zest and strawberries.

Pour the fruit into a 2 1/2 or 3 qt baking dish and make the topping.

Stir the flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder together with a fork. Cut the butter into several small pieces, and blend into the dry ingredients with a pastry blender until it resembles small pebbles. Stir in the milk and egg, and mix just until there are no more traces of flour.

Drop pieces of dough all over the fruit, then bake for about 25 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.

I’ve been buying massive quantities of fresh strawberries lately, but they usually don’t last long enough in the house to bake with. This week I bought a half flat, determined that some of them would actually make it into a dessert rather than just being consumed fresh by the bowlful.

I’d never made an icebox cake before, but the idea of layering cookies with strawberry sauce and whipped cream, then letting time and the refrigerator work their magic seemed pretty brilliant, particularly since I had to work all day and couldn’t put together a labor-intensive dessert like I love to do. I found a great-looking recipe on Seven Spoons, but wanted to bring some chocolate to the party instead of using graham crackers. So, I made some chocolate wafer cookies.

I used Smitten Kitchen’s recipe, sliced 1/8″ thick. Let me just warn you, the chilled dough is really good. So good, in fact, that I was slicing mine, I probably ate one little disk of dough for every one that made it onto the baking sheet. Good thing I’m running a lot these days.

Anyway, if you want to, you could obviously use store-bought wafers. Then you just chop up some strawberries and make a sauce, whip a little heavy cream with sugar and vanilla, and layer everything together and put it in the fridge for about 8 hours. The result, when sliced (which I should have taken a picture of…oops) looks like a cake with a 5 thin layers, with plenty of chocolate and strawberry flavor and sweet, velvety whipped cream holding it all together. Definitely not waistline friendly, but totally delicious.

Recipe:
(adapted from Seven Spoons)

strawberry sauce
1 pound strawberries, hulled and roughly chopped (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/3 cup sugar
juice of 1/2 a lemon

cake
3 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream, divided
1 cup confectioner’s sugar, divided
A pinch of salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
chocolate wafer cookies (you’ll need about 60)

To make the sauce:
Put about 2 1/2 cups of berries in a medium saucepan with 3 tablespoons of the sugar and the lemon juice. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce to a simmer. Cook, stirring, until the fruit becomes soft and the juices begin to thicken, about 8 minutes.

Puree with an immersion blender until smooth, then strain through a sieve back into the saucepan. Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until clear, glossy, and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Add the remaining fresh berries and cook for about 2 minutes. Use the immersion blender again, pureeing until smooth. Strain through a sieve, then add additional sugar to taste.

To make the cake, line the inside of an 8 or 9″ springform pan with plastic wrap so the bottom and sides are completely covered.

Whip 2 1/2 cups of cream until it holds soft peaks. Sift in the powdered sugar and salt, mix for a few seconds, then add the vanilla and continue beating just until stiff peaks form.

Spread a small amount of the cream on the bottom of the prepared cake pan. Arrange a single layer of wafers so the cream is covered as much as possible. Spoon some whipped cream on top of the wafers and smooth so they are covered by a thin layer. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the strawberry sauce over the whipped cream, then top with another layer of wafer cookies. Repeat with whipped cream and strawberry sauce until you have 5 layers of cookies and 4 layers of whipped cream. Do not spread strawberry sauce over the top layer of cream.

Cover the pan loosely with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours.

About 1 hour before serving, remove the cake from the fridge and remove the plastic wrap. Invert the cake onto a serving plate, and remove the plastic wrap from the top and sides. Smooth out the sides with an offset spatula if needed. Place the cake in the freezer, uncovered, to chill for 30 minutes.

In the bowl of a stand mixer with the whisk attachment, whip the remaining 1 cup of well-chilled heavy cream. After soft peaks begin to form, sift in 1/2 cup powdered sugar and continue beating until it holds stiff peaks.

Take the cake out of the freezer and gently spread a thin layer of the whipped cream to cover. Spread the remaining strawberry sauce over the top, then put the whipped cream in a piping bag and pipe some decoration, if desired. Chill for 30 minutes before slicing to serve.

The Thursday night Farmer’s Market in our town is kind of a scene. It’s always packed with people, barbecue carts, a bounce house, puppet shows and live music, various political and religious booths, and of course, plent of farmers selling fabulous produce. It can be overwhelming and I usually don’t feel like dealing with the crowds (or the cold!) But Saturday mornings, most of the same farmers go to a shopping center parking lot, and that market is just focused on the food. I love it.

I picked up tons of great stuff this weekend, including the first fresh California strawberries I’ve had in a very long time. I knew Mike and I could devour all three baskets with no problem, but I couldn’t get the idea of strawberry bread out of my mind, so I decided to do some experimenting.

I used white whole wheat flour because it’s the best thing on earth, and a cup and a half of diced fresh strawberries. I wish I could say I waited for it to cool so I could cut perfect slices, but obviously that didn’t happen. I have a feeling I’ll be baking dozens of loaves of this over the next few months. With local strawberries so plentiful, who needs banana bread?

Recipe:
2 eggs
1/4 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups fresh diced strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 F and grease an 8 x 4″ loaf pan.

Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and baking powder in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs until the evenly yellow (but not frothy). Stir in the yogurt, oil, and vanilla and stir until evenly mixed. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until there are no longer traces of flour. Gently fold in the strawberries, then pour into the prepared pan.

Bake for about 40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then run a sharp knife around the bread and turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before slicing.

It seems like every morning I wake up, look out the window, and fall in love with California all over again. Where else do you get sunny, seventy degree days in the middle of January and a summer and fall free of hurricanes or tornadoes? Yes, we miss out on the seasons a little bit, but there was definitely no doubt that it was winter a few weeks ago, when it was 50 and pouring for an entire week straight.

My first winter here, I remember being shocked to see fresh, local strawberries in the farmers market in early February. In Oregon, the strawberry season was painfully short so the idea of being able to get strawberries that had not spent weeks in transit completely blew my mind.

If you happen to be in a place where there’s snow on the ground and no strawberry plants for thousands of miles, these cupcakes are here to put a smile on your face and bring you a little bit of summer…all you need to do is pick up some frozen strawberries at the grocery store. (And in all honesty, I think these may actually be better made with frozen strawberries!)

Some of the comments on the recipe indicated that the strawberry flavor wasn’t strong enough in the icing, so I took the advice of one commenter and boiled the puree to reduce it and concentrate the flavor. It not only gave the frosting a beautiful pink color, it definitely made the strawberry flavor nice and strong. I only made 6 cupcakes because I was baking a few other desserts the same day, but the recipe is easy to double.

Recipe:
(adapted from Martha Stewart, originally from Candace Nelson at Sprinkles Cupcakes)

Cupcakes:
3 tablespoons strawberry puree (just puree fresh or thawed frozen strawberries in a food processor)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch salt
2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) softened butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg

Frosting:
1/4 cup soft butter
1/2 cup thawed frozen (or fresh) strawberries, pureed and simmered until reduced by half
1 3/4 cups powdered sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla

To make the cupcakes: Preheat the oven to 350 F. Put paper liners in 6 cupcake tins.
Sift the flour, baking powder and salt onto a piece of wax paper. Set aside.
In a small bowl, whisk together the milk, vanilla, and strawberry puree.
Cream the butter in the bowl of a stand mixer, and add the sugar. Beat for a few minutes, until light and fluffy. Add the egg and mix on low until combined.
Add half the flour mixture and mix briefly on low. Scrape down the bowl and add the milk mixture, mixing just until combined. Scrape down the bowl and add the remaining flour mixture. Mix on low, then divide the batter evenly among the prepared cupcake tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a cupcake comes out clean.
Cool in the pans for about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make the frosting:
Beat the butter, sugar, and vanilla in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add the strawberry puree a teaspoon or two at a time until the frosting is smooth and spreadable.

I could never name a favorite fruit; I love way too many kinds, but I am partial to strawberries, especially this time of year when I can buy 3 baskets for $6 at the farmers market.   I grew up in Oregon, where I’m convinced the best strawberries in the world grow, and the season was painfully short.  I am now incredibly spoiled to live in a place where strawberries grow pretty much year-round.  True, they may be slightly inferior to Oregon berries, but they are still very good, and there is never a shortage around.