Watermelon Popsicles

The warm weather came back for one last September fling, so the kids and I decided to make our own watermelon popsicles.

We started with some yellow watermelon we had on hand. The kids get cutely excited about yellow watermelon. It tastes just like pink! But it's yellow!

We chopped up the melon and ran it through our food mill to purée and remove the seeds. You could also just start with a seedless melon or work with a strainer. The Boy enjoys the food mill--much less scary loud than a food processor and you get to crank the handle.

After adding a spash of lime juice, we poured it into the popsicle molds. A few hours in the freezer and we were done!

Ridiculously Easy Peach Crisp

This dessert comes together crazy fast, satisfies the urge for a warm sweet treat, and dirties just the baking dish and a paring knife.

Fill a baking dish with sliced, peeled peaches

Sprinkle with brown sugar, cinnamon and lemon juice

Cover with crumbled gingersnaps

Bake and you're done!

Recipe below or printable version here.

Zucchini Cookies

I probably shouldn't admit this but when I see a bowl of freshly grated zucchini...

...I don't think, "What a tasty, healthy vegetable!" I think, "Oh, tasty, sugary baked goods!" Like zuchhini bread. And zucchini cake. And these awesome zucchini cookies.

The recipe include chocolate chips and walnuts and coconut. (It calls for raisins, too, but I would never sully such yumminess with horrid raisins.) They freeze well and can be eaten nearly straight from freezer. (Not that I would ever do that. Ahem.)

Recipe below; printable version here.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

We're on vacation at the moment. Playing in the sand, spending time with family, and enjoying chocolate zucchini cake.

Why, Heather, you might be saying. That cake looks a little mussed. Like the top third completely separated from the rest of the cake and was plopped back on in a rush.

Eh, maybe. I refuse to admit anything. But it's vacation time and the cake still tastes great (the mix of cinnamon and cocoa is to die for).

Visit Simply Recipes for the recipe!

Cooking with Kids: Watermelon-Raspberry Slush

The Boy love love loves finding his monthly Highlights High Five magazine in the mail. Seriously one of the most genius Christmas gifts he's gotten (thank you Great-Grandma!).

It often includes a kid-friendly recipe that preschoolers can make (with a little adult help, of course). The August issue featured raspberry-watermelon slush. Think convenience store icees, only without the high-fructose corn syrup and artificial colors. In fact, this one uses nothing but fruit and a touch of lemon juice.

Blend 1/2 cup raspberries...	...with 2 cups watermelon and a splash of lemon juice.
Freeze in a 2 quart dish...	...stirring with a fork every 30 minutes.

After about 90 minutes it was thick and slushy, ready to be dished up. So tasty on a warm summer evening! And The Boy was so proud that he had made us all dessert.

A healthier berry crisp

Fruit crisps are delightful all year round, don't you think? Warm apples in the autumn, tart berries over ice cream in the summer. And so easy to make, which always scores a dessert a gold star in my book.

This particular crisp is dairy-free, so The Girl can enjoy it, too. With the usual generous butter in the topping side-stepped, it also becomes low-fat: four grams fat per serving, compared to twelve in my standard fruit crisp recipe.

Mix fruit together with brown sugar and tapioca	Combine oats, flour, brown sugar and cinnamon for the topping
Stir together with egg white, vanilla, juice and just a bit of oil	Coat berries with topping, bake and enjoy!

Recipe below; printable version here.

(PS I like to double the cinnamon and add a touch of nutmeg.)

Strawberry Clafouti

More strawberries! I made a clafouti, only with our little early summer stars instead of the traditional cherries.

I wish I were a better photographer so I could capture how tasty this little number was. Clafouti is a new discovery for me--mellow, fruity, very summery--and now I'm daydreaming about all the other fruits I could try.

And it's easy, too. Went together in no time at all. Toss halved berries in cornstarch and line the bottom of a heavily buttered dish. I used a few more than the recipe called for so that the bottom would be covered. Definitely fit in as many as you can.

Blend flour, eggs, sugar, vanilla and milk, pour the batter over the berries, and bake for close to an hour.

It becomes a lovely dish a bit like custard, a bit like cake. A friend who was over the night we ate this remarked that it reminded her of flan. The berries floated to the top during baking, making a colorful layer.

It would be absolutely decadent at a brunch.

Recipe below, or view a printable version at the Sunset website.

Strawberry Custard Pie

As promised, here is the best strawberry custard pie recipe. Ever.

I'm totally not kidding. Ridiculously tasty.

It takes an obscene amount of time, dirties several dishes and is liable to clog your arteries by the third bite. But you won't care because it tastes so good.

I only make it once a year. (Why? See: above.) But after eating it that first time, it ruined me for other strawberry pies. It seems wrong to make anything else when strawberries are in season.

It is time-consuming, but not complicated. Part of its beauty is that it doesn't take shortcuts. No pudding mixes or boxes of gelatin. Start with a baked pie crust.

Yes, I know it's lopsided. Shush.

Make a simple custard on the stovetop from milk, sugar, cornstarch, egg yolks and vanilla. Oh, and toss a little butter in there at the end. I mean really, why not at this point?

It looks boring now. But just wait.

Back to the stove to whip up a glaze from (more) sugar, (more) cornstarch, water and lemon juice. The recipe calls for a full ½ teaspoon red food coloring, but I always stop after a few drops. I don't need my glaze that red. Add hulled, halved strawberries, gently spoon atop the pie, and chill...


... and you have yourself a pie.

Fair warning: in my experience, it doesn't keep very well after it's been cut. The leftovers get a bit runny the next day and it all turns ugly. All the more reason to gather some folks together to finish it off the day it's created.

Recipe below; printable version here.

Banana Bundt Cake

I cleaned out our kitchen freezer the other day and found several frozen, shriveled bananas. You know, the dark overripe ones you toss in the freezer thinking you'll do something with them later? I decided it must be later.

I'd show you a picture of my frozen banana stash, but overripe bananas gross me out a little. I just have to remind myself of the tasty baked goods that come of them!

The Girl's dairy allergy always has me on the lookout for dairy-free cake recipes. I do a lot of substituting for milk and butter in other recipes, but one that's dairy-free from the beginning always has the best chance of success.

We love this Banana Bundt Cake. It's not only dairy-free, but fairly low fat. One slice has just 140 calories and a little under 6 grams of fat. Not too shabby for tasty cake. The mashed bananas and applesauce make up for the small amount of oil. It's dense enough to eat from your hand (great for picnics). If you want to dress it up, you can brush on a basic glaze.

Yum!

Recipe below.