Citrus Salad Toss

This is a great summer salad with lots of fresh fruit and veggies. My husband hates fruit in a salad, so he calls this "chick food." I have to agree, it is perfect for a baby shower, bridal shower, or girls night. You can easily make this a main dish salad by adding sliced, grilled chicken. Yum!

Citrus Salad Toss

Salad:
8 cups baby spinach
8 cups romaine lettuce, chopped
1 red onion, thinly sliced
1 large orange, sliced or 1 can (11 oz) mandarin oranges
1 pint strawberries, sliced
2 avocados, thinly sliced or diced
2/3 cup toasted or candied almonds or pecans (optional)

Dressing:
Juice of 1/2 orange
Juice of 1 lime
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lime
1 Tb. sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Combine all salad ingredients except avocado and nuts. Toss gently.
2. In small bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients except oil. Slowly add oil while continually whisking to form an emulsion.
3. Add avocado to dressing and toss lightly (the citrus in the dressing will help prevent the avocado from browning). Add dressing and avocado to salad and toss gently. Sprinkle with nuts if desired.

Tip: if your red onion is strong or you just want a milder flavor, cover the thinly sliced onion with cold water for 30 minutes, then drain well. This takes some of the bite out of the onion for a milder taste.

Lemon Fruit Salad

Let's just say this. This is my very favorite part of Thanksgiving dinner. I love it. Can't get enough of it. And look forward to it all year long. It's a classic from my Aunt Mary. Make it. Enjoy it. Love it. Come back for more. Sorry about the horrible pictures...just know it's amazing.

Lemon Fruit Salad

1 can lemon pie filling
1 8 oz. package cool whip
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
3 bananas, sliced
1 can mandarin oranges, drained
1 1/2 cups pineapple chunks
2 cups miniature marshmallows

Combine all ingredients. Refrigerate until ready to serve, not more than 12 hours. Enjoy!

Triple Layer Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake is my very favorite dessert. We served it at our wedding and I happily ate leftovers for every meal for two weeks straight. Although my waistline didn't much like it, my taste buds were in heaven. I'm always looking for a new way to enjoy strawberry shortcake. About a month ago I decided to bust out one of my Christmas presents, Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes. I found the recipe for angel food cake and knew that I had to try it as a triple layer strawberry shortcake. All I have to say is that Corey & I devoured this cake in less than two days...and it brought back lots of good memories from our wedding.

Triple Layer Strawberry Shortcake
adapted from Sky High: Irresistible Triple-Layer Cakes

6 egg whites
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. cream of tarter
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. almond extract
2/3 cup cake flour
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites on high speed until light and frothy. Add granulated sugar and cream of tartar. Continue beating until soft peaks form. Add vanilla and almond extract.
3. In separate bowl, mix together the flour, powdered sugar, and salt.
4. With mixer on low speed, slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture. Beat until just combined (be careful not to overmix).
5. Divide the batter between three ungreased (if you grease the pans the cake won't rise properly) 6-inch round cake pans (if you don't have 6-inch cake pans, you can divide the batter between two 8-inch round pans or one 6-cup tube pan).
6. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Invert pans onto cooling racks and cool completely. Remove from pans.
7. Beat whipping cream, sugar, and vanilla with mixer until soft peaks form.
8. Place one cake layer on serving dish. Top with 1/3 of the cream and 1/3 of the berries. Repeat with remaining layers. For best results, serve immediately or refrigerate and serve within 24 hours.

Fresh Fruit Tart

Can you believe I've been holding out on you like this? I made these tarts two weeks ago and I'm just now getting around to sharing the recipe with you! I'm so sorry and hope that someday you'll forgive me. These turned out gorgeous and delicious, a perfect way to use up the fresh fruit that has been on sale here lately.



Fresh Berry Tart

Tart crust, enough for one 10" tart pan (I used this recipe, see notes below)
1 pkg. (4 serving size) instant sugar-free vanilla pudding mix
1 1/2 cups milk
1 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tsp. vanilla
3 Tb. granulated sugar
2 - 3 cups fresh fruit, washed and sliced (such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, and blackberries)
1 pkg. raspberry flavored Danish Dessert mix
1 1/2 cups cold water
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

1. Cook tart crust in 10" fluted tart pan with removable bottom according to recipe directions. Cool completely.
2. Prepare Danish Dessert according to package directions, substituting 1/4 cup lemon juice and 1 1/2 cups cold water in place of the water. Cool completely and set aside.
3. In bowl of stand mixer, whip cream, vanilla, and sugar until stiff peaks form.
4. In medium bowl, mix pudding mix and milk. Fold in half of the whipped cream. Spread pudding/cream mixture into bottom of tart shell. Spread a very thin layer of Danish Dessert over the top of the pudding mixture. Arrange berries on top of Danish Dessert, and top with another thin layer of Danish Dessert.
5. Melt chocolate chips in small bowl in microwave for 30 seconds, stir until completely melted, returning to microwave for 30 more seconds if needed. Put in a small ziploc bag, cut off a very small piece on the corner. Drizzle melted chocolate over the top of the tart. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 24 hours. Garnish with remaining whipped cream.

Note: I used Dorie Greenspan's "Great Unshrinkable Sweet Tart Shell" recipe...but I did it the lazy man's way, meaning I didn't freeze it in between steps. It shrunk a little, but still turned out delicious in less than half the time.


I also made some mini tarts with the same method, minus the Danish Dessert, and they were delicious as well.

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

These cupcakes are cute, delicious, and as easy as they get. I call them "I Heart My Husband Cupcakes" but you can call them anything you wish :) You can make this recipe however you wish, I prefer it with white cupcakes and strawberries mixed with the cream, but you could substitute chocolate cupcakes for the white or raspberries in place of the strawberries. Feel free to experiment!

Fresh Strawberry Cupcakes

1 package white cake mix and ingredients to prepare
1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup powdered sugar
2 cups strawberries, finely chopped
1/4 cup white (granulated) sugar

1. Prepare white cake mix according to package directions for cupcakes. Cool completely.
2. In large mixing bowl, whip cream, powdered sugar, and vanilla until stiff peaks form. Mix white sugar with strawberries, and gently fold strawberry mixture into cream. Frost cupcakes with strawberry-cream mixture. Serve immediately or refrigerate up to 12 hours.

Raspberry Spinach Salad

This was an experimental salad that turned out fantastic. It's one of those meals where you can mix and match ingredients depending on what you have. Here is the basic recipe:

4 cups fresh spinach, washed and dried

1 can mandarin oranges, drained

3 scallions (green onions), thinly sliced

1 cup fresh strawberries, sliced

1 cup fresh raspberries, sliced

1/2 cup sugar snap peas, sliced in half diagonally

1-2 cups grilled chicken breast, sliced or cubed (optional)

dressing of your choice to taste (raspberry vinagerette, poppy seed, or citrus vinagerettes are good)

Toss all ingredients together and serve. You can also substitute fresh oranges for the mandarin oranges, thinly sliced red onions (soaked in cold water to lessen the strong taste) for the scallions, add a handful of toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, or almonds are good), or omit the peas if desired. It makes a great main dish or omit the chicken for a side dish. Enjoy!

Danish Dessert

Another one of Corey's favorites. The picture really doesn't do it justice, it's really delicious, but it looks kind of messy!

Danish Dessert

1. Prepare white cake mix according to package directions. Bake in a sheet cake pan for 15 - 20 minutes. Cool completely.

2. Beat 12 oz. softened cream cheese and 1 1/2 cups powdered sugar until smooth. Add 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cool whip and mix. Spread on cooled sheet cake.

3. Prepare 1 pkg. raspberry Danish Dessert using 1-1/2 cups water and 1/4 cup lemon juice. Cook according to package directions and cool. Add 3 cups sliced fresh strawberries or 1 pkg. (12 - 16 oz.) fresh or frozen raspberries. Spread over cream cheese layer.

4. Refrigerate until ready to eat. Enjoy!

*If you want it to look extra fancy either cut the cake in half width-wise or bake the cake in 2 9 x 13 pans and spread half the cream cheese mixture and berry mixture on each layer and stack on top of each other. Spread the edges with additional cool whip and garnish with cool whip and extra berries.