So, It’s my best friend’s birthday this weekend, so I am up at her place, visiting in Maine. And of course, there was a birthday cake to be made, so I made this amazing Mountains of Berries Cheesecake. It’s a vanilla cheesecake and fresh berries that I picked myself (well, at least the raspberries and blueberries). It’s goinng to be a disaster to cut, but that is ok because it will still taste good!
I went blueberry picking again last weekend. And currants and raspberries actually, but that doesn’t have much to do with this post. In typical fashion, I made some more jam. I love jams. And per my usual, I decided to make this one with a twist: adding a bit of balsamic vinegar and simmering the jam with some rosemary. Now, it isn’t an overwhelming rosemary flavor and the balsamic really just adds a bit of brightness. At any rate, it is delicious on toast but I could also see this being very yummy with savory things, like adding to a cheese plate.
Sometimes you just need a chocolate ship cookie. Am I right? This variation is simple to make, makes a mound of cookies (about 70) and are crazy yummy: Toffee Bit Mini Chip Florentine-Style Oatmeal Cookies. Pantry staple for the most part. Perfect for BBQ snacks and to tuck into lunch boxes for summer camp!
As is usual in later June, usually the first weekend after the summer solstice, I went PYO Strawberry picking today. It wasn’t great weather, and I picked less berries that usual because they seemed smaller, there were less of them, and the impending rain. As usual, I have plans for the berries, so stay tuned. Here is my first recipe: a crumble bar stand-by: Strawberry Almond Crumble Bars. Bursting with fresh strawberry flavor!
Yesterday was a bit of a stressful day. Not just for me, but it definitely felt like the entire circle of friends around me had an elevated stress day. It wasn’t good. But you know me with particularly hard days, that usually means that I end up baking something. That “something” this time was cupcakes, Triple Chocolate Cupcakes to be exact. It started with Trish musing about chocolate cake and morphed from there. So, in essence, it’s all Trish’s fault. 😛 For now, though, enjoy the cupcakes: dark chocolate cupcakes with white chocolate buttercream frosting and a drizzle of chocolate ganache. While it didn’t make the day less stressful, I was in a better state after making them.