Strawberry season is here!

It has been a long while since I last blogged. Baby J is no longer a baby, in fact, he is now a preschooler.   Haha .. time really flies, and another summer and strawberry season is here again!

We went to the Organics Family Farm to pick strawberries today (also with J's first bff and family). It started to pour heavily when we just started to pick, fortunately, K was smart, he brought his golf umbrella with us and we avoided to get ourselves wet while J and I picked the strawberries.

The crops were very nice this season and we were able to fill our 7L basket quickly in the rain.   J (and me too) had a lot of fun despite the rain.  I do not think it is cheap to pick our own strawberries as the 7L of strawberries was $23.50 + $2 for the wooden basket.  However, J enjoyed it both years that we have went so far and it really made the fruits so much more enjoyable that he knows he had picked them himself.  We will definitely go again next year. ^^

As soon as we washed them, J ate many already. However, we still had many left and I decided to make strawberries jam using my bread machine.  I really love my DeLonghi bread machine, it can do so much more than just making fresh and tasty bread.  The recipe I am using for the strawberry jam is one that came with the DeLonghi bread machine recipe book and I modified it a bit (changing apricot with strawberry and used less sugar).  Hope this recipe works for anyone who is not using a bread machine as well.  Enjoy! ^^

Strawberry jam made with the bread machine.

A small portion of our crops.

My lovely bread machine.

Strawberry Jam

ingredients

• 9 oz ripen strawberries
• 6 oz sugar
• 1 tbsp water
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1/2 oz pertin
• 1/2 oz butter

preparation

With my bread machine, it was simple. Place all ingredients into the pan, set the program to use, scrap off the sugar on the side occasionally at the beginning of the cycle. After the program is completed (about 1h25min), pour the jam into the jar.

Yields 1 300ml jar.

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Pumpkin Soup

Pumpkins were everywhere in October and I made my first pumpkin soup from a pumpkin that Baby J picked.

The recipe I followed was again super simple and worked.  Baby J loved it and cleared his bowl. ^^

Pumpkin Soup

ingredients

• 6 cups chicken stock (I used 4 cups of chicken stock and 2 cups of water)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 4 cups pumpkin puree
• 1 cup chopped onion
• I skipped the parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream (I used table cream instead to cut down the fat a little bit)
• 5 whole black peppercorns (I used 2 instead because of Baby J and took them out before I pureed the soup)

preparation

Heat stock, salt, pumpkin, onion, thyme, garlic, and peppercorns. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered.
Puree the soup in small batches (1 cup at a time) using a food processor or blender.
Return to pan, and bring to a boil again. Reduce heat to low, and simmer for another 30 minutes, uncovered. Stir in heavy cream. Pour into soup bowls and garnish with fresh parsley.


Yields 8 - 10 servings.

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Shrimp and Scallops Fusilli with Pesto Sauce

Last night, I made pesto sauce for the first time by following this simple recipe. I am using my Baby Bullet as my food processor more and more often now that Baby J doesn't need to eat pureed food anymore and I find it convenient to use because of its size and power. It is becoming one of the most used small kitchen appliances in my home now. ^^

Since the pesto sauce was for Baby J as well, I purposely blended it extra smooth just to ensure the nuts won't get stuck in his teeth. This Shrimp and Scallops Fusilli with Pesto Sauce turned out to be a success, both K and Baby J loved it. ^^

Pesto Sauce

ingredients

• 3 cups fresh basil leaves
• 1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

preparation

In a food processor, blend together basil leaves, nuts, garlic, and cheese. Pour in oil slowly while still mixing. Stir in salt and pepper.

Yields 16 servings.

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Avocado Coconut Pops

Avocado is one of my favourite fruits because of its smooth, buttery taste and of its many health benefits. As a result, I searched some recipes of using avocado in pops and found that some used it in combination with coconut. The sound of it tasted good already ... how can you resist avocado and coconut, right? However, I was too lazy to follow any recipes this time and just blended the two ingredients together to make the pops. The coconut water lessen the buttery taste of the avocado but at the same time made the pops more refreshing. I love this the most out of the three different flavours of pops that I made so far and will definitely make it again! ^^

Avocado Coconut Pops

ingredients

• 0.5 avocado
• 140ml coconut water/milk
• 1 tsp honey

preparation

Blend all ingredients in a blender until consistency is smooth.
Insert sticks into the moulds and pour in the avocado/coconut mixture to fill the moulds up to the fill line.
Wait until it freezes completely.
Remove the pops with the Super Tool.

Makes 3 Quick Pops.

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Strawberry Banana Smoothie

From the Zoku blog, I followed the Strawberry Banana Smoothie recipe today and made these healthy pops for yet another hot summer day. I modified the recipe by adding too much milk in the strawberry yogurt by accident.  As a result, the color of the strawberry portion was too pale and did not have the contrast that I looked for.  In addition, I added 2 tsp of honey instead of 3 tsp as in the original recipe and the taste turned out to be not too sweet which I liked.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

ingredients

• 1 small banana
• 140ml whole milk
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• 3 tsp honey
• 140 grams strawberry yogurt

preparation

Blend the banana, 110ml of the milk and 3 tsp of honey in a blender until consistency is smooth.
In a separate container, add the strawberry yogurt and 30ml of whole milk and blend well.
Insert sticks into the moulds and pour in the banana mixture to fill the moulds about half way. Wait for the banana mixture to freeze, and then pour the strawberry yogurt mixture up to the fill line.

Makes 6 Quick Pops.

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Strawberry Lime Pops

My new toy, Zoku Quick Pop Maker, had arrived!  I purchased it from the Indigo online store when they were 50% off and free shipping to an Indigo/Chapter store of your choice, not a bad deal.

For the first time, I followed exactly the recipe from the Zoku Blog -- Strawberry Lime Pops.  It was very simple to make and the pops popped right out of the maker at exactly the time suggested.  This recipe requires 0.5 tablespoon of sugar per pop plus the sugar in the limeade so we allowed Baby J to licked it only a few times. I would definitely decrease the amount of sugar if I make it again.

The taste was OK but Hubby still likes Häagen-Dazs more. ~.~

More photos on flickr.

Strawberry Lime Pops

ingredients

• 10 ounces fresh strawberries; stems removed, rinsed and drained
• 3 tablespoons sugar (*more if necessary)
• 1 teaspoon lime zest
• ½ cup water
• 3 ounces limeade; divided use

preparation

In a blender, puree strawberries, sugar, lime zest, and water, until smooth, set aside.
Remove Zoku Quick Pop Maker from the freezer. Insert sticks.
Pour 1 ounce strawberry puree into each Zoku Quick Pop cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Next pour ½ ounce limeade into each cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Finally pour another layer of the strawberry puree up to the fill line in each cavity. Allow this layer to freeze completely.
Remove the pops with the Super Tool. Repeat with remaining pops.

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