Chipotle-Honey Pork & Strawberry Delight

Alright, I haven't posted in a LONG time. Thanks to my great sister for keeping up on this blog. She's truly a lifesaver. This recipe came from another one of those books I found while standing in line at the grocery store. It was absolutely amazing! I'm making it again this weekend. I cooked it for the exact time called for and it turned out perfect. The sauce added just the right spice to it.

Chipotle-Honey Pork
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup fresh lime juice
2 chipotle chiles in adobo sauce (from 7 oz can), drained, finely chopped
1 tsp adobo sauce (from can of chiles, these are the cheapest at Walmart)
2 pork tenderloins (3/4 lb each, I got mine at Costco)
¼ tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Cooking spray

Heat grill. In saucepan, mix honey, lime juice, chiles & adobo sauce. Sprinkle pork tenderloins with salt & pepper; lightly spray with cooking spray. Place pork on grill over medium heat; cover grill. Cook 15 to 20 minutes, turning occasionally & brushing with honey mixture during last 10 minutes of cooking time, until pork has slight blush of pink in center. Heat any remaining honey mixture to rolling boil; boil 1 minute. Cup pork into slices; serve with honey mixture.

I don't know what else to call this except for Strawberry Delight. Years ago we were at my grandparents house and this is what they served us for dessert. I couldn't imagine dipping strawberries in sour cream. It was so good and I can remember that we just couldn't stop eating them. I had forgotten about this until my sister brought it to Arches last month. Again, we couldn't stop eating it. It's so yummy and I hope that you'll all give it a try.

Strawberry Delight

Strawberries

Sour Cream

Brown Sugar

Dip strawberries in sour cream and then in brown sugar. Enjoy!

Tea Party Time with Chocolate Covered Strawberries and Strawberry Lemonade

Last night we had such a fun Tea Party (without the tea) at an annual celebration for the ladies in my church. Everyone showed up with a Tea Party hat that was decorated to spotlight themselves. We had a great time getting to know one another better, and of course enjoyed yummy food. We ate Chicken Salad Sandwiches, pastas, veggies, fruit salads, and of course dessert! I made these delicious Chocolate Covered Strawberries. They were amazing. They were so easy too! I am a lover of Symphony's Milk Chocolate, so I knew that it wouldn't let me down. I love the chocolate/strawberry combo. I love to bite into the smooth milk chocolate and the juicy strawberry. The Symphony Chocolate was perfect! I obviously was making these for a large group, but you can definitely adjust for a smaller batch.

Chocolate Covered Strawberries

60 Strawberries
7 King Size Symphony Milk Chocolate Bars
1 1/2 cups White Chocolate morsels (optional)

Wash and dry strawberries. Melt your chocolate either in the microwave stirring after 1 minute incriments, or in a double boiler. I did mine in the microwave and it was perfect. I also did 4 bars to start with. I didn't want to burn the chocolate by having too much, and I wanted to be sure to get my strawberries dipped before it set up. (If you do it in the double boiler, you won't have to worry about that, and you will be able to melt all of the chocolate at the same time). When your chocolate is melted hold your strawberry by the stem and dip in chocolate so it covers almost all of the red. I like a little bit of red showing. Twirl to get excess chocolate to roll off of the strawberry. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Dip remaining strawberries. When the chocolate has set, you can drizzle with white chocolate if you want your strawberries to look a little more fancy. Melt chocolate either in microwave or double boiler and spoon into ziploc bag. Release all the air and cut a small hole in one of the corners. Squeeze white chocolate and decorate strawberries as desired. I just did the lines strait across.

I was also in charge of the drink. We did Strawberry Lemonade, and wow, was it good. It was also really easy, and it turned out just beautiful! The juice from the strawberries gave it a perfect strawberry kick to the lemonade.

Strawberry Lemonade

2- 2 Liter bottles Lemonade (yellow)
1- 24 oz. tub sliced, with sugar Strawberries (found in the frozen dept.)
Ice

Allow your strawberries time to fully defrost. I placed mine in the fridge the night before. Combine lemonade, strawberries, and ice (to your liking). Serve!

This was our lovely display of desserts. I love these tiered racks. They are perfect for entertaining. I don't have one of my own, but my mother-in-law has been kind to let me borrow hers for a few occasions. They really make a beautiful setting. We also had some mini sugar cookies and cream puffs drizzled with chocolate syrup. Perfect Tea Party foods!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

For my first time making homemade ice cream, I picked a great recipe to try out! This is absolutely delish! I have memories of homemade ice cream in the month of july and decided to finally try it myself. My sister-in-law gave us an ice cream maker for Christmas one year, and I have waited til now to break it out. I think I was a little nervous. What was I thinking...it was so easy! My family has a tradition of watching Fireworks and eating homemade ice cream and cookies to celebrate Pioneer Day. We all love this tradition and I am looking forward to it. I am especially excited for my boys to see the fireworks. There is something about being a parent and watching your child experience things for the first time that I just love. No more rambling...onto this yummy ice cream!
I think that some of the best recipes are found in your instruction book. At least this one was a winner! The only thing that I will do different next time is leave my graham crackers more chunky and not complete crumbs. I also used fresh strawberries. I used my handy dandy egg slicer to get them cut into small pieces running the strawberry through one way, then turning it a quarter turn and running through the other way to make small squares. It worked for me! I cut them up the day before and put them in the fridge until I was ready to use them. Look out...here come the calories! Now you will know why it tasted soooo good!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

1 8-ounce pkg cream cheese (softened)

2 cups frozen strawberries (slightly thawed)

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy whipping cream

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

Directions:

Allow cream cheese to soften and the strawberries to become slightly thawed. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Gradually add condensed milk until smooth, (I used my hand mixer...you could use a blender). Mix in heavy whipping cream and vanilla. Chop strawberries into small peices and stir into mixture. Stir in graham cracker crumbs. Mix well. Pour into canister. Plug in your machine, add your ice and salt, and let it churn, churn, churn!

When I was young we always wanted to be around when the ice cream was done, because Grandma & Grandpa would let us have the best taste... right off the dasher spatula. If we were lucky they would leave a lot of ice cream on it. I enjoyed licking it all by myself this time! Enjoy!

My favorite way to eat this yummy treat is in a nice sugar cone. It is a cool treat for a hot summer day! Happy Pioneer Day! I will be spending the rest of the week with family, in fact I get to go to my sister's kitchen and see what she has been up to. I'm excited to try out her yummy donuts on Pioneer Day!

Super Simple Strawberry Freezer Jam

Last week I ran out of jam, and I my little boy every morning lately has wanted toast with jam. Strawberries were on for a good price, so I got all the stuff to make this yummy NO COOK Freezer Jam. We love this stuff at my house. It is like candy, and its always a treat to lick the spoon when you are done with the spreading! All you need are strawberries, 1 pkg of Ball's No Cook Freezer Jam Fruit Pectin, 1 1/2 cups sugar and freezer jars or 1/2 pint jars. Ball makes these wonderful plastic freezer jars that make stacking a sinch. The lids screw on and make my jam packing a lot easier. Just follow the directions on the Ball package for the jam.
For each package you need 4 cups of crushed strawberries. This package can be used with raspberries and peaches too! I have tried all of them. We loved the raspberry and strawberry the best. Crushing the fruit is the hardest part. It is best to have your fruit a little over ripe so it is easier to crush. Then you add your pectin and sugar and bam...you've got freezer jam!!!
Next you pack your jam in your jars giving them a 1/2 inch head space, screw on your lids and let them sit for 30 minutes before loading them into the freezer. I like to pack some in the 1/2 pint jars because they make pretty gifts when I need one. There's nothin' like homemade jam. It makes store bought jam look very sad! I love this jam because it is Super Simple!

Summer Strawberry Dessert

This is such a yummy, refreshing dessert. I got this recipe from a friend that used to live near me. She brought it to a potluck and I loved it. I have since made it for birthdays, book group & just for fun. Last night, I added the blueberries to make it a little patriotic and I loved it. It's perfect since this week is the 4th of July. ENJOY!

Strawberry Frost
Crust:
2 packages graham crackers crushed
2 Tbsp butter, melted (I use at least double that to hold it together better)
1 tsp sugar
Mix and press into 9x13 baking dish.

1/2 pint heavy whipping cream - whip and set aside.

Mix until fluffy (5 minutes)
2 egg whites
1 cup sugar
2 cups frozen strawberries
2 Tbsp lemon juice

Gently fold in whip cream and spread mixture evenly over crust. Top with additional graham cracker crumbs. Freeze for 4 hours. Top with fresh strawberries or blueberries.

To simplify this already simple recipe, you could buy the ready made graham cracker pie crusts. I think this recipe would make at least 3, probably 4 pies. I love to use my Kitchen-aid when I make this. It works great breaking up the frozen strawberries. I'm not sure how well it would work with a hand mixer. If any of you try it, let me know. I think I'll try this with raspberries next.