strawberry vanilla summer cake

it's day three of strawberry week! be sure to check out the other recipes using one of my favorite fruits.

this cake is great after a nice, light, summer dinner, with a side of lightly whipped cream. and it's even better the next morning for breakfast. the strawberries turn super sweet, and almost jam-like, creating a perfect layer of strawberry goodness over a moist vanilla cake.

strawberry sorbet

i bought my ice cream machine soon after we moved into our house in late may 2009. the very first thing i made was a basic vanilla ice cream made with milk and heavy cream (it took me a while to work up to custard based ice cream) and topped with fresh strawberries. soon after, i made this strawberry sorbet.

sorbet is the easiest frozen dessert you could ever make. juice some fruit, add some sugar and a splash of vodka, and freeze in your ice cream machine. super easy. and the flavor is incredible. i made mine from a quart of super ripe berries i got at the public market for a steal. apparently most people think ripe, super red strawberries are past their prime, rather than in it.

strawberry mojitos: the kickoff to strawberry week!

for as long as i can remember, my grandpa has grown strawberries and every summer makes a batch of strawberry jam. this year, when i visited my mom for her birthday, she had a few quarts of berries grandpa picked for me to take home. by a few, she meant three. 

so just as i had a week of blackberries last year (i have a feeling it will be back again this year), i'm kicking off strawberry week with a variation of my all time favorite drink: the mojito! so stay tuned this week, as i'll have a new strawberry recipe every day for the next seven days! (miss a day? check out the strawberry week link on the right side of the page.)

mexican baked eggs

i'm starting to think that eggs really are the perfect meal. they're great for breakfast, lunch or dinner. they cook fast and can be cooked a number of different ways. these eggs get a bonus: make the beans and tomatoes once for a weekend breakfast and a weeknight dinner.

i saw this recipe last christmas, amidst a flurry of sugar and chocolate, and bookmarked it for later. needless to say, the recipe and thought got lost in the back of the bin, with other layer cakes and elaborate dishes. until last sunday. when i wanted something more substantial than a bowl of cereal for breakfast. these eggs were just the thing i was looking for. the only thing missing was a thin slice of avocado to top it off.

crunchy croutons

got some day old bread lying around? maybe the heel of an italian loaf? or a few slices of a skinny baguette leftover from a summer barbecue? turn (thanks for spying the typo amanda!) old bread into croutons. easy, quick, and light years better than any you can buy in a package. and they are great on top of a nice crisp, cold, summer salad.

[are you as excited for strawberries as i am?! hang on, i've got quite a week coming up...]