The best Summer Trifle you will ever taste. Seriously!!

This comes from my friend Jo-Ann's blog, www.pumpkinpetunia.blogspot.com. I made it for bookclub last night and it tasted better than I could have imagined. You really have to try it!!

SUMMER TRIFLE

1 prepared recipe sour cream pound cake, sliced or cubed (recipe follows)
1 prepared recipe lemon curd, chilled (recipe follows)
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature; 1/2 cup powdered sugar; 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, cold
16 oz. fresh strawberries, sliced 2 pints fresh blueberries (I used fresh raspberries in place of the strawberries)

To make the cream:

Beat the cream cheese and powdered sugar. Add the heavy cream and continue beating until thick. Chill until ready to assemble trifle.

Assembly:

Layer in a trifle dish or large bowl–

Half the sliced pound cake–use smaller pieces to fill in the gaps Half the lemon curd One third of the blueberries and strawberries Half the whipped cream mixture

Repeat with the remaining cake, lemon curd, another 1/3 of the berries, and whipped cream. Top with the remaining 1/3 strawberries and blueberries.

Let chill in the fridge until ready to serve.

Serves a bunch.

Sour Cream Pound Cake adapted from The Joy of Cooking

3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature (I used regular salted butter and cut the salt to 1/4 tsp.)
3 1/2 cups granulated sugar
6 eggs, separated and at room temperature
1 cup sour cream, at room temperature
2 tsp. vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 8″ square baking pans or a 9″ Bundt pan.

Whisk the dry ingredients together and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, beat butter until creamy. Add 3 c of sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. (Don’t skimp on this step.)

Add the egg yolks one at a time, beating for at least 1 minute between additions. Add the vanilla extract.

Add 1/3 of the dry ingredients, beat just until it disappears into the creamed mixture. Add 1/2 of the sour cream. Beat to combine. Repeat with remaining flour and sour cream, making sure to end with the last 1/3 of the dry ingredients. Set aside.

In a separate bowl beat the egg whites with an electric mixer until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup of the granulated sugar a little at a time. Continue beating until stiff, glossy peaks form.

Carefully fold in 1/3 of the egg whites to the batter using a large rubber or silicone spatula. (It’s okay if there are some streaks of egg white. This is to lighten the batter before the remaining egg whites are added.)

Add the remaining egg whites by gently folding, being careful not to deflate the whites.

Spread the batter into the prepared pan. If using 8″ square pans, bake for about 35-40 minutes. (Don’t open the oven at all during the first 30 minutes or the cake will fall in the center.) If using the bundt pan, bake for 60-75 minutes. Tent the pans with foil if the top browns too quickly. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean.

Let cool for a few minutes in pan before removing the cake to a wire rack to finish cooling. Cake gets better the longer it sits. Be sure to wrap it well in foil or plastic wrap so it doesn’t dry out.

Lemon Curd - no kidding, this is H E A V E N L Y... seriously consider making a double batch.

Juice of 3 lemons
Zest of 3 lemons
1 cup granulated sugar
3 whole eggs
6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled

In a bowl, rub the lemon zest with the sugar until wet and sandy. Whisk in the eggs. Add the juice. Add the melted butter.

Transfer the mixture to a stainless steel (or other non-reactive) pan. Cook over medium heat while whisking constantly until the curd thickens. (It will be about the consistency of thin yogurt.) Quickly remove from heat. Strain through a fine mesh sieve into a clean bowl. Press plastic wrap on the surface and chill until ready to use.

HOT mama

The weather in Portland has been absolutely awful this past week. I can handle the 90's, but 3 days of 100+ temperatures, PLUS humidity, equals one cranky pregnant woman. I guess it's not just being cranky, but so tired that all I want to do is lounge on the couch and fall asleep, but it's too hot to sleep. You get the point. Homes in Portland generally don't have central air, but we do have a window a/c in our bedroom. If we didn't have that, we'd be sleeping in a hotel! Needless to say, it has been too hot to cook. Period. There goes the budget for eating out! As I'm sitting here at 8:55 p.m., the thermometer outside reads a crisp 80 degrees. Compared to yesterday's 104 at 7 p.m. I'LL TAKE 80!!

Problems searching the blog?

Is anyone else having trouble searching this blog for recipes? It's just not working for me. Every time I try something it says no posts match my query. Maybe it's just me. Let me know what the trick is or just search for all the recipes with blackberries and email them to me. Thanks!

Chicken & Zucchini Casserole

If you have extra zucchini (who doesn't?) and like Thanksgiving type foods, this casserole's for you. Just tried it last night & it was fabulous!

INGREDIENTS
1 (6 ounce) package stuffing mix
3 cups diced zucchini
2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted
1 medium carrot, shredded
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup sour cream

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large bowl, combine stuffing mix and butter. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping. Add the zucchini, chicken, soup, carrot, onion and sour cream to the remaining stuffing mixture. Transfer to a greased 2-qt. baking dish. Sprinkle with reserved stuffing mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees F for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

Oven Roasted Veggies

Berta, this is one of my favorite veggie dishes. I use whatever vegetables I have on hand, usually potatoes, onions and carrots, but I've thrown in green beans and cauliflower before too, and they're tasty.

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut in medium cubes
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in medium cubes
1/2 large onion (red or sweet or whatever variety you like), cut in large pieces
2 large carrots, cut in sticks
1/2 pound fresh green beans
3 cloves garlic, crushed or minced
3 fresh rosemary sprigs, snipped into small pieces, or 1/2 tsp. dried rosemary
3 tablespoons olive oil
Salt & Pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until evenly coated with olive oil. Place in greased or non-stick baking pan in one even layer. (Cooking time increases when double layered.)
Roast in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes at 450 degrees. Lower heat to 375 degrees for another 15-20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Makes 6-8 servings.
Note: High-temperature roasting caramelizes the natural sugar in vegetables & concentrates the flavor. Cooking time depends on the density and size you cut the vegetables. Any vegetable can be used.

Tasty!

This one's for you Roberta

So, I think I may have posted this before, but it's healthy and delicious! And Super easy!

Zucchini, Carrot, and Onion Sandwiches

Grate as much zucchini, carrot, and onion as you would like, add a pinch of salt, cook it in a frying pan with butter for about 5 minutes. Place mixture on a toasted piece of bread, I like a layer of Mayo on the bread, it gives it a good flavor. Place a slice of tomato on the veggie mixture, and then a slice of cheese. Toss it under your broiler until the cheese is melted and gooey.. Eat and enjoy!

eating healthy

You all know how much I love baking, desserts, sugar, etc. Well, I need your help. I just found out that I have gestational diabetes, and I'm going to try and manage it through diet and exercise. So, send me your "healthy" recipes - but nothing that contains broccoli! I still won't eat that.

Cherry Cobbler

Mmmm . . . just found this one on the web . . . I'll be trying it out this week!

Cherry Cobbler
1/2 cup butter
1 cup self-rising flour
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
4 cups pitted, tart, red cherries
2 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup sliced almonds
Preheat oven to 350F. In 9" oven-proof dish, melt 1/2 cup butter in oven. Sauté almonds in 2 tablespoons of butter for a few minutes to soften. Stir in cherries and set aside. Blend well flour, 2/3 cup sugar, milk and almond extract. Remove the pan with melted butter from the oven; add batter and spread to smooth. Top with cherry/almond mixture and sprinkle with remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Return to oven and bake 25 to 35 minutes or until batter is golden brown and puffed around the fruit. Makes 6 servings.
NOTE: If a moister cobbler is desired, add 1/3 cup orange juice or water to batter.

Cherry Upside-Down Cake

Get ready for lots of sour cherry recipes! I picked, pitted & froze 100 cups of cherries from our little tree. Then when I went to Girl's Camp & could pick no more, mom and dad came out and picked the rest to take home & can. Mom, how many quarts did you get? Anyway, here's the yummy cake that I invented for Rhonda & Bryce when they came out for a rodeo with us.

4 cups pitted fresh sour cherries
4 heaping tablespoons flour
2 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. almond extract
1 dash cinnamon
1 cup sugar

Place cherries in large bowl or gallon size ziplock bag. Add flour, and mix so that the cherries are coated. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Place cherries in a 13x9 baking dish. On top of cherry mixture, pour on a standard size cake mix, any flavor (I used devil's food yesterday & it was AWESOME!! but I've also used white cake & it was mighty tasty, too). Pour 1-2 cups Sprite on top of cake mix, and mix gently. You don't want to stir really hard, just gently poke in the Sprite so that the cake mix is moistened. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35-45 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out relatively clean.

black beans and rice

I have been craving a Portuguese sausage - Linguisa, along with some black beans and rice. One of our local grocery stores used to stock Linguisa, but I haven't been able to find it in ages. So today I went on a quest to find it - drove a little farther than I normally would, but I'm sure it will be worth it!

Brazilian Beans
2 cups of cooked beans
2 tablespoons of oil
1 small chopped onion
1 clove of crushed garlic
1-2 cup(s) of water
1 bay leaf
parsley and spring onion (optional)
1 teaspoon of salt
1 dash of black pepper

1. Sauté the onion and the garlic in hot oil.
2. Add the beans, the water, all the seasonings and stir well.
3. Bring it to a boil under medium heat until the liquid is thicker.
4. Put the beans in a bowl and serve it with Brazilian style rice.

Brazilian style rice
1 tablespoon of oil
1 (small) chopped onion
1 (small) clove of crushed garlic
1 cup of rice
1 1/2 cup of boiling water
1 teaspoon of salt

1. Sauté the onion and the garlic in hot oil.
2. Add the rice and stir-fry well.
3. Add the water and the salt.
4. Let the water boil for some minutes.
5. When the water level drops, cover the pan and lower the heat.
6. When the rice is cooked, turn off the heat and let the rice rest for about 10 minutes.
7. Put the rice in a bowl and serve it.

Add some linguisa sausage and EAT!!