Berries

A Berry Berry Pineapple Shake

Berries, Cold Drink, Drink, Snack

Hi Matirulis,

Shakes are something spectacular.  I mean just think about it for a moment, what can be better than mixing all your favorite fruits together with some yogurt and ice and drink it on a hot sunny day? Well, I can think of a few things that are better than that. But, it is amazing the creations you can come up with and how things taste when you combine such different and similar flavors.  A few weeks ago I had bought some frozen strawberries, blueberries, and coconut.  The coconut I tried to use in a very failed attempt to make coconut brownies that I spared you from hearing about, but I still had the berries and some fresh pineapple.

You do not need to follow any specific recipe for a fresh fruit shake. All you need is a blender, some  yogurt or water (if you want it ‘healthier’), and ice. You might or might not want to add any sugar.  “A” says that fruits already have so much natural sugar that there is no need to add any more. I like to add a pinch to bring out the flavors even more.

So what did we do?

We added a little yogurt that we had, it was about 1 tbsp.  We would have added more but we just did not have so instead we added the leftover pineapple juice.  We added about 8 strawberries, a handful of blueberries, and the pineapple.  The you blend it and drink!

It is a healthy snack that can be put together in no time.

Even better, you can make your own ‘healthy’ mixed drinks if you want to have this at night by adding some rum or vodka to the mixture if you are in a party mood.

Hope you are having as beautiful and sunny days as we are!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

SocialTwist Tell-a-Friend

Domestic Goddesses make Pavlovas

Berries, Dessert, Gluten-free

Hi Franneroo!

First of all I have to tell you that I love “Just beet it”, it made me laugh really hard when I read it!! hahahaha I love beets! Actually up until REALLY recently, I used to hate them, something about them was off for me. But, is it just me, or do beet kind of taste like corn? At any rate, they are yummy and I cannot wait to try them out.

So this week, a lot of things happened in terms of cooking. First of all, we had a potluck to go to, for which I had promised to bring a dessert, preferably a pie… Of course, the best pies are always the ones that come straight out of the oven. But, no luck for this Tuesday night, for a 6:30pm potluck dinner. So I had 2 choices:

  1. Buy a ready-made pie (… there goes the credibility of my cooking abilities… since last potluck, I brought one of my EPIC fails to the table)
  2. Whip up something quickly that would delight…(seems like the only choice)

I mean seriously, who has time to make an intricate dessert, right after work, in the middle of the week? No one. Thus was born… Berry Pavlova

INGREDIENTS:

  • 30cm (12 in) Meringue disk (enough smaller meringues to fill the space of the disc)
  • 300ml (1 cup) whipping cream
  • 2 tbsp powdered sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1 1/2 cups blue berries
  • 1 cup raspberries
  • 1/3 cup white chocolate curls (medium piece of white chocolate)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Set meringue in the middle of a nice serving dish. { If it is for a buffet situation, I prefer to break up the meringues to make serving easier. }
  2. In a large bowl, whip the cream, sugar, vanilla, lemon juice and 7 crushed raspberries, until it has turned into the light fluffy, cloudy whipped cream we all know and love. (The reason for the raspberries, is that they lend the cream a subtle pink color that is irresistible.)
  3. Spread the cream over the meringue. { The beauty of the pavlova is that you can make it as dainty or rustic as you like. It always looks delicious. }
  4. Sprinkle the berries all over the whipped cream. { In reality they are piled on, but doesn’t sound as appetizing. }
  5. Grate (on widest grating side) the white chocolate directly on to the berries. { You will damage the delicate, beautiful curls if you do it in another dish first and then transfer them onto the cake. }

DONE! Domestic Goddess status achieved! You have created an irresistible dessert, it took you 10 minutes to put together, and you had extra time to powder your nose!

(Note: You could substitute the whipped cream for Coolwhip, and have a heavenly guilt-free dessert. Unfortunately, we do not have such things in the UK.)

This recipe can be altered a million and one ways, please share your thoughts if you have a favorite!