Strawberry Shortcake

Strawberry Shortcake

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Found this recipe on allrecipes.com when I picked up my bountiful basket and found 2 flats of strawberries.  My kids will eat an entire flat in about 10 min. when I bring them home and if we don't eat them the day we bring them home they always spoil.  This time I wanted to find a strawberry sweet treat.  This recipe is for SHORTCAKE, not sponge cake, pound cake or angelfood cake.  It is more like a cookie than a soft cake. When you handle shortcake, treat it like a pie crust.  Keep it cold, mix as little as possible, only what's necessary to blend.  At high-altitude I did not make any adjustments and it turned out perfect.

INGREDIENTS:

1 quart strawberries, sliced

1 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 dash ground nutmeg

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1/2 cup milk

2 eggs, separated

2 cups sweetened whipped cream (I used cool whip)

DIRECTIONS:

1. In a bowl, gently stir strawberries and 1/2 cup sugar; chill.
2. Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine flour, 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and nutmeg; cut in butter until crumbly.  (I put this bowl in the fridge for a little bit before working with it.)
3. Combine milk and egg yolks; mix well. Add to crumb mixture, stirring just until moistened.
4. Divide and pat into two greased 9-in. round cake pans.  (Touch as little as possible, using a greased cold spoon to pat down as your hands will melt the butter.)
5. In a small mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form; spread over dough.
6. Sprinkle with remaining sugar.
7. Bake at 300 degrees. F for 40-45 minutes or until golden. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. (Layer will be thin.) Cool completely.
8. Place one cake layer on a large serving plate; spread with half of the whipped cream. Spoon half of the strawberries over cream. Repeat layers.

Kielbasa Pasta in Cream Sauce

Kielbasa Pasta in Cream Sauce
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So I haven't been blogging for a long time. And this summer I took a hiatus... although it's been pretty difficult without a working camera! So you'll have to excuse the pictures (courtesy of my iPhone) until I get a replacement. So I've been on a couponing kick lately. (Me with a new fascination?? REaLLy!??!) Anyway so I found a coupon for a new product (well new to me), Philadephia's Cooking Creme. And the deal was too good to pass up so I purchased one hesitantly not quite sure what I'd use it for.

One night I pulled this out and it has a yummy looking recipe on the back for Chicken Bruschetta Pasta. Sounded delicious (I LOVE Bruschetta!) But I had already thawed some Kielbasa sausage. So I decided I'd use that instead of chicken. And there were a few alternatives to the ingredients, but basically the same idea. Since I used kielbasa this didn't have that Bruschetta flavor, (the Kielbasa was overwhelming) but it was delicious just the same. This recipe is for the kielbasa lovers, if you want more of a bruschetta or cream flavored pasta I'd stick with the original recipe from Philadelphia. So here's what's I came up with:

INGREDIENTS:

1 package Kielbasa or smoked sausage, sliced

1/3 c. reduced-sodium chicken broth

1 clove garlic

1 tub (10oz.) Philadephia Original Cooking Creme

2 roma tomatoes chopped

2+ c. hot pasta

dried basil (I used about 1/2 - 3/4 tsp.)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat sausage in a little olive oil in large nonstick skillet on medium heat until heated through. Add chicken broth, garlic and basil. Cook approximately 3 min.

2. Add cooking creme and tomateos; cook and stir 3 min.

3. Stir in pasta and serve.

This is best served that day as the sauce thickens and becomes less creamy.

**This recipe can be gluten free as long as you use a gluten-free pasta and make sure you're chicken broth is gluten-free**