Strawberry Picking = Strawberry Pie

Me (Danielle Rose) and my cousin on the hay bales

After I attended sip & Savour Ontario last week, I really began to realize the importance of supporting local Ontario produce.  I immediately consulted my seasonal food chart so that I would know exactly which fruits and vegetables are in season in Ontario this summer and exactly when.  To my delight, I learned that right now is strawberry season! I made it my mission to get out of Toronto and head north to St. Andrews Acres to support Ontario strawberries...and let's face it, a delicious strawberry pie at the end of the day ain't so bad either. 

Not only was the day successful for bringing home a few pounds of juicy and flavourful strawberries, it was successful because I had so much fun in the process! I went with my mom and 5 year old cousin and, although the heat was pretty brutal in the fields, we had so much fun gathering all the strawberries.  My cousin just thought it was the greatest thing that we got to take them all home!  After the strawberry picking, we visited the little shop that they had, where they were selling strawberries that had already been picked, fresh picked rhubarb, and asparagus and tons of preserves, fudge, soup mixes, and more! They even had a large selection of free recipe cards from Ontario Farm Fresh, which I made sure to get one of each of! We supported the shop by purchasing our freshly picked strawberries, a package of fresh butter tarts, blueberry sauce, and 2 cups of frozen yogurt! What a great way to enjoy the beautiful summer weather in Ontario! If you are from Ontario and are interested in picking your own fresh produce, visit the Ontario Farm Fresh website to locate a farm.  

When I got home, I was so excited to bake with my fresh strawberries! I ended up making a strawberry pie. My mom usually makes this pie with a classic pie crust, but I wanted to switch it up and try to make it with a graham cracker crust...and I have had a few unfortunate experiences making pie crust, so I took the easy route.  The results were delicious but incredibly sweet!  If you have a sweet tooth, then you will love the graham cracker crust! If you prefer your pie a little less sweet, then I would suggest making a regular pie crust. What is also great about this pie is that there is no baking except for the crust.  This is perfect for strawberry season, because you won't have to heat up your house with the oven on.

Tip: Make this strawberry pie for your Canada Day celebrations on Wednesday! The red of the strawberries and white from the whipped cream are a perfect way to make your dessert table festive!

Ingredients:

4 cups fresh strawberries

1 baked pie shell (regular or graham cracker crust, see above)

1/2 cup sugar

3 tbsp cornstarch

1 cup water

1 tsp vanilla

whipped cream, optional for garnish

Directions:

1.  Hull washed and dried strawberries.  Set aside 1 cup of strawberries.

2.  Lay whole berries in pie shell, stem end down.

3.  Puree reserved cup of strawberries.  In a small saucepan, add pureed strawberries, water, cornstarch, sugar, and vanilla.  Cook and stir over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil.

4.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Cool slightly and then pour evenly over whole strawberries in pie shell.  Chill for at least 3 hours or until pie is set and no longer jiggly.  Serve with fresh whipped cream if desired. 

Herbed Corn on the Cob Butter

There's nothing like the natural sweetness from good fresh corn on the cob. I remember when I was little, I used to love going to a farm up north to pick my pumpkin for Halloween and I would always get corn on the cob at the end of our visit. My favourite part was the huge pot of melted butter that they would dip the corn in! Now that I'm an adult, I still love corn on the cob but am more aware how unhealthy a big pot of melted butter is. Although corn has a fabulous flavour on its own, I still like to add a little butter and to switch it up this time I decided to stir in some fresh herbs into the butter to highlight the natural flavours of the corn and brighten up the dish. Herbed butter totally transforms the flavour of your corn taking it to a whole new level of flavour!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp fresh basil, chopped

1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped

1/2 tsp fresh chives, chopped

1/2 tsp salt (if using unsalted butter)

Directions:

1. Stir all ingredients together. Serve alongside corn on the cob.

Banana Nut Muffins

Sarah, Dan, Lee-Anne, and I (Danielle Rose) at the Barn Bash

This past weekend I went on a bit of a road trip with some friends to Chisholm Ontario for my friend Lee-Anne's Family's Barn Bash.  The drive up to Chisholm takes about 4 hours (although we skillfully made it in 3) so I knew that we would need some snacks for the drive up.  Chips are a given for any road trip, so I wanted to make something sweet to bring along as well.  I thought these banana muffins would be perfect! Muffins are travel friendly, and the banana makes them satisfying, the nuts add additional flavour and health benefits, and the streusel topping adds an extra hint of sweetness. The muffins were a hit just as the Barn Bash was!  As much as I love these muffins, they don't compare to the love that I felt for my friends this past weekend.  It was an experience I will never forget! 

Note: The streusel topping is the same one that is used for a fruit crisp.  Use any leftover topping to bake on top of fresh fruit.

Tip: If you don't have buttermilk, you can substitute it with milk with a bit of lemon juice or vinegar added.

Ingredients:

Muffin Batter

1/2 cup butter

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 medium ripe banana

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup buttermilk

2 cups flour

1/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped

1/4 cup toasted pecans, chopped

Streusel Topping

1/4 cup butter, cut in chunks

1/3 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup flour

Directions:

1.  In a food processor, pulse together all ingredients for streusel topping until crumbly .  Set aside.

2.  Mash the banana to desired consistency.  You may choose to leave some of the banana intact.

3.  Mix together the mashed banana with butter, eggs, sugar, buttermilk and vanilla.

4.  In a separate bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, walnuts, and pecans.

5.  Mix the wet and dry ingredients together JUST until combined.  DO NOT over-mix!

6.  Pour into greased or lined muffin tins and top with desired amount of streusel topping. Bake at 400ºF for 18-20 minutes.

Summer Cucumber Salad

Inspiration can sometimes come from unusual sources. Today my inspiration for lunch came from a bowl. Recently the store Anthropologie opened its first store in Canada. I have been to Anthropologie several times while vacationing in the U.S. and fell in love with their beautiful housewares! Until the Anthropologie opened at Don Mills Mall in Toronto, I was getting my Anthropologie fix through their online store, daydreaming over my fantasy kitchen filled with all of their exquisite goods! I finally got to visit the Toronto Anthropologie last week, and although I was tempted to buy out the entire contents of the store, I settled on buying a set of these vibrant lime green latte bowls.

The weather in Toronto has been looking pretty gloomy lately, but today was a gorgeous day that I felt could be represented perfectly by the vibrant colour of my new bowls! I had to find the perfect dish that could match the vibrance of the bowls and that's when I came across this recipe from CookingNook.com for cucumber salad. The bright green of the cucumbers, scallions, and herbs matched my bowl beautifully, and I felt that the brightness in flavour from the lemon juice and fresh herbs matched the feeling I got when I looked at my vivid.

Ingredients:

2 cucumbers, peeled and diced

1 large tomato, cored and chopped

3 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup sour cream of plain yogurt

4 scallions, chopped

1/2 cup fresh mint leaves, chopped fine

1/2 cup fresh parsley leaves, chopped fine

1 clove garlic, chopped fine

black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Combine the cucumbers and tomato in a bowl.

2. In another bowl, mix together lemon juice, sour cream or yogurt, scallions, mint, parsley, garlic and pepper. Pour over the cucumbers and tomatoes, gradually to ensure that you are not overdressing the salad, and mix. If you have leftover dressing, it also tastes great as a vegetable dip or lettuce salad dressing.

3. Serve garnished with mint leaves.

Rouxbe Online Cooking School

There is no doubt that I am a foodie with a great enthusiasm to cook and bake, but in terms of training, all I really have is years of watching my mother and grandmother cook as well as a whoooole lot of Food Network! Despite my lack of training, I think that I have learned quite a bit of food and culinary knowledge for someone my age, yet I am still very eager to learn new tips, techniques, and recipes anywhere I can. I came across this incredible website called Rouxbe full of delicious and beautiful recipes, and best of all, incredibly clear video tutorials! These tutorials include everything from knife skills, to properly heating a pan, to preparing a stock, the list goes on and ON! The tutorials are impressively clear, accurate, and super easy to follow! Who needs culinary school when there are incredible sites like Rouxbe aiming to inspire and educate the foodies of the world?