Berries |

Christmas Trifle

Posted on December 17, 2012 by Kaitlin

Each year, my mom makes a beautiful trifle for Christmas. I’m pretty sure at one point, she was only making one, but as the popularity of her trifle grew, she is now up to making 6+ for different holiday events, friends, and family. My sister and I grew up begrudgingly helping my mom make these trifles but we both have grown to love them and look forward to a bite of trifle every December. A trifle is just a layered dessert that is usually made with cake pieces, cream, pudding, and fruit. My mom tops her with a beautiful design of fruit: kiwi, peaches and raspberries. I wanted to make some trifle to share with this blog but a normal trifle can serve a whole family, so I made a mini version! To prepare a regular trifle, the process is just the same. I highlighted Driscoll’s Berries in my trifle. I absolutely love their raspberries and blackberries so I wanted to have a higher ratio of berries in my trifle than may normally be used. Driscoll’s also sells really beautiful Strawberries and Blueberries that I have used in many many of my previous posts. Berries always add such … Continue reading →

White Wine Sangria Pops from Poptails

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Kaitlin

I was at a restaurant on Long Island that had a drink they called a “lushee” which was basically a frozen sangria. And I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Pure brilliance. I told a friend about this and we knew we had to make our own, what could possibly be more refreshing on a hot summer day? I was recently sent a cookbook that actually one-upped the concept of the lushee: a White Wine Sangria Popsicle. The book, Poptails, by Erin Nichols of Erin Cooks, is filled with sixty pops inspired by your favorite alcoholic beverages. Recipes range from classics like a gin and tonic to fancy favorites like a cosmopolitan. There are even some awesome dessert pops like cherry cheesecake and banana split. I was in love with this book before I even received it. What an amazing idea! Who wouldn’t want their favorite drink in iced pop form? The recipes had me imagining all of the lovely get-togethers I could have: a brunch with iced coffee and bloody Mary pops, a pool party with strawberry basil martini pops, or Christmas in July with spiked eggnog, mulled wine, and Christmas cheer pops. Sigh. Anyways, I kept … Continue reading →

Berries and Cream in Vanilla Dessert Cups

Posted on May 1, 2012 by Kaitlin

This is the perfect quick dessert for guests, or just to fulfill a sweet tooth in a pinch. I found the vanilla dessert cups in Whole Foods and immediately knew I was going to fill them with fresh berries and homemade whipped cream. This recipe is easily adaptable to account for what is on sale or what looks freshest, any berry or fruit will do. Ingredients: 4 vanilla dessert cups 1/2 pint blackberries 1/2 pint raspberries 2 strawberries, halved 1/2 cup whipping cream/heavy cream The juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon sugar To make, add the cream to a bowl. Using a hand mixer, mix the cream on medium/high until frothy. Add the juice and zest of 1 lemon and 1 tablespoon sugar. Beat on medium/high until stiff peaks form, and the mixture resembles whipped cream. Scoop the whipped cream into a plastic bag. Close the bag and snip off one of the lower corners. Squeeze a few tablespoons of the mixture into each of the dessert cups. Top with blackberries and raspberries. Add a little more whipped cream and top with one half of a strawberry. If desired, top with additional zest. Easy and beautiful right? The … Continue reading →

Banana Berry Pecan Granola Bars

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Kaitlin

There are so many fantastic food bloggers out there. One food blog I regularly check is Cookin’ Canuck. Dara makes the most appealing looking recipes and her photos are always stunning. She has also cooked her way healthy and has a wonderful post about her journey. Dara has a great recipe for Low Fat Granola Bars with Bananas, Dried Cranberries, and Pecans that I just had to try. I switched it ever so slightly, but you can find the original recipe here. Ingredients: 3 1/2 cup rolled oats 3/4 cup pecan pieces 3 ripe bananas 2/3 cup unsweetened applesauce 2 tablespoons honey 3/4 cup dried berries (I used Trader Joe’s Golden Berry Blend) 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 3 tbsp whole flax seeds 1/2 tsp salt Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9×9 inch baking pan with parchment paper. You want the parchment paper to go up at least an inch on the sides of the pan. Spread the oats and pecans on a cookie sheet and bake in the oven for 10 minutes, stirring half way through. Add the flax seed to a food processor or a magic bullet to grind the seeds. Ground flax … Continue reading →

English Blackberry Pudding

Posted on January 12, 2012 by Kaitlin

Recipes can tell you a lot about the time period in which they were written. I have always been interested in how recipes change over time to meet tastes, availability and personal income. A few months ago, I went to an event at the Historical Society of Philadelphia about a Civil War era cookbook they found within their documents. The cookbook, written by Ellen Emlenwas written around 1865 and is really well organized, especially for the time. Mrs. Emlen, a Philadelphia housewife, put a lot of time into the cookbook, organizing it into thirteen categories including over 200 recipes. Some of the fun facts that I learned: If you think Americans have a sugar problem now, you should see some of the amounts of sugar that used to go into recipes! Most recipes would have to be altered to include less sugar to make palatable to us today. Despite their not so wallet-friendly prices now, oysters used to be “poor man’s food” in nineteenth century Philadelphia. The Delaware River used to be teeming with them! Because of that, there are some ridiculous-sounding recipes for things like “how to pickle 1,000 oysters” It’s quite amazing how some things haven’t really changed. … Continue reading →

Rose-Scented Berry Prosecco

Posted on December 30, 2011 by Kaitlin

New Years Eve is a great time to add a little bit of glitz and glamor to your life. I, naturally, feel the need to do that to my drink. This is actually a take on a local restaurant’s delicious champagne option. I hope I remember it correctly, but when I first had this drink at Farmicia in Old City Philadelphia I fell in love. It’s such a girly drink so I had to save it for a special occasion. Ingredients: Rosewater Blueberries Prosecco Add about 1/2 teaspoon rosewater to the bottom of a fluted glass. I apparently do not own any champagne glasses (who knew?) so I actually made mine in the martini glass with a bit more rosewater. Add blueberries or any berry of your choice to the glass. If you’re using a traditional glass, three should be plenty. Open your sparkling wine and pour into the glass, filling to the top. Enjoy I absolutely love the smell of rosewater. The taste can only be described as what you’d expect a rose to taste like (sorry). The berries add a nice little touch too; I love saving them for last! I’d suggest adding rosewater to taste. I … Continue reading →

Lemon Pound Cake with Mint Berries and Cream

Posted on November 19, 2011 by Kaitlin

I thought I’d step away from cookies and cupcakes for the moment to make… pound cake. I don’t know why I am on such a baking kick, but at least I have the chance to try a bunch of different new recipes! I found this recipe through MyRecipes.com, originally from Southern Living. The recipe sounded absolutely fantastic so I stuck to it for the most part, but I added blueberries because, well, I like blueberries! Ingredients: 1/4 cup sugar 1/4 cup loosely packed mint leaves 3/4 cup butter, softened 3 cups powdered sugar, divided 3 large eggs 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 1/2 cups whipping cream, divided 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 1 (12-ounce) jar lemon curd 1 quart fresh strawberries, sliced 1 pint fresh blueberries Add the granulated sugar and mint leaves to a food processor. Blend until combined. (It ends up looking like green sugar). You will use this mixture a couple times so it will be divided. Add the butter to a large bowl and beat with a mixer for 2 minutes or until creamy. Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of the mint mixture and 2 1/2 cups powered sugar to the … Continue reading →

Greek Yogurt with Warm Berry Sauce

Posted on July 19, 2011 by Kaitlin

I have a serious sweet tooth. To such an extreme, that I cannot have ice cream in my house or I will eat it in one sitting. It doesn’t matter if I buy a pint or a gallon. Sigh. It’s quite an issue I have. So I tend to try to avoid making dessert all together if I’m cooking, but this recipe seemed too good to pass up. Once again, this came from Cooking Light’s Quick & Healthy Menu Maker App to go with the Mango Shrimp Kebabs and the Grilled Corn with Chipotle Lime Butter. I adapted the recipe to work with a bag of mixed frozen berries I had in my freezer. Ingredients: 1 cup frozen blueberry, blackberry and raspberry mix 1/2 cup water 1/4 cup sugar The juice and zest of 1 lemon 1 tablespoon butter 2 cups plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt Fresh blackberries, blueberries, and/or raspberries, optional Combine the frozen berry mixture, water, sugar, zest and lemon in a small pan. Bring to a boil and reduce the heat to medium low. Let simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in butter. Meanwhile, divide the Greek yogurt among 4 bowls. Spoon the berry sauce over the yogurt … Continue reading →

Sauteed Salmon with Blackberry-Raspberry Butter Sauce and Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes

Posted on June 7, 2011 by Kaitlin

There was a restaurant near my college that served Sauteed Salmon with a Blackberry Butter Sauce and Red Bliss Potatoes. I loved this dish so much, I’m pretty sure I went once a week to eat it while they offered this dinner. I had a bunch of raspberries and blackberries left over from the Berry Sangria and Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup, so I thought I’d attempt to recreate the recipe. Ingredients for Salmon 2 eight ounce salmon fillets, with the skin still on 1 tablespoon olive oil Salt and pepper, to taste Ingredients for Blackberry-Raspberry Butter Sauce 1/4 cup raspberries 1/4 cup blackberries Juice from 1 lemon 1 teaspoon sugar 1/3 cup white wine 1 garlic clove, minced 1 shallot, minced Salt and Pepper, to taste 1 stick unsalted butter, cut into chunks Ingredients for Roasted Red Bliss Potatoes 2 cups Red Bliss potatoes, quartered 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 garlic cloves, minced Salt and Pepper, to taste Cooking Spray Begin by preparing the potatoes. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Wash the potatoes and cut into quarters. Arrange on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Mince the garlic and add on top of … Continue reading →

Berry Sangria

Posted on June 5, 2011 by Kaitlin

I have a bunch of fruit left over from my Berries with Lemon Mint Syrup. It’s a lovely warm weekend in Philadelphia which immediately made me think of sangria. What a perfect way to use more of these berries! Ingredients: A bowl full of mixed berries (strawberries, hulled, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, cherries) 1 1/2 cups of triple sec 1 1/2 cups cranberry juice (I used cran-raspberry juice) 1/2 cup simple syrup (left over from my Mojitos) 1 bottle of white wine 1-2 cups ginger ale or club soda, to taste Ice cubes Mint, optional Simple syrup is just equal parts sugar and water, boiled, and allowed to cool. If you need to make this, give yourself about an hour for the simple syrup to cool. You can save the unused amount for a later time, just refrigerate it. I also decided to make fun ice cubes to go along with this. Normal ice cubes are just fine, but this was an easy way to make the drink a little more snazzy. Place some mint leaves and some of the smaller berries (raspberries, blueberries) into an ice cube tray. Mix and match to your taste. I did a little of everything– … Continue reading →