Sugared Seckel Pears

from Martha Stewart

Ingredients:
1/2 cup pasteurized egg whites
1/4 cup fine sanding sugar
6 firm but ripe Seckel pears


Directions:
Beat egg whites in a small bowl. Place sugar in another small bowl.
Dip bottom half of each pear in egg whites. Roll in sugar, and place pears upright on parchment paper. Let stand until dry, about 1 hour. Sugared pears are best the day they are made.

Strawberry Shortcake Kabobs

from Pillsbury

Ingredients:
12 fresh medium strawberries, stems removed if desired
12 doughnut holes
6  (8-inch) wooden skewers
1/4  cup semisweet chocolate chips 
2  tablespoons margarine or butter


Directions: 
Line cookie sheet with waxed paper. Alternately thread 2 strawberries and 2 doughnut holes on each skewer.  In small saucepan, combine chocolate chips and margarine; melt over low heat, stirring until smooth and well blended. Drizzle chocolate mixture over kabobs. Refrigerate 10 minutes or until set. 



Tips & Tricks:
Assemble the kabobs up to four hours ahead and keep them refrigerated until serving time.
Sprinkle the kabobs with multi-colored sprinkles before the chocolate sets.
For a spectacular centerpiece, insert the sharp end of the kabobs into an overturned melon or grapefruit half.

Strawberry Shortcake Sushi

Ingredients:
Cake:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs + 2 more egg whites
1 t vanilla
2 T powdered sugar, for the towel when wrapping the cake




Filling: 
2 cups whipping cream
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 t vanilla or 1/2 a vanilla bean
1 cup diced strawberries + more for topping


Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400º. Coat a 15 x 10-inch jelly roll cookie sheet with cooking spray; line the bottom with parchment paper, and coat with cooking spray. Set aside.


In a small bowl whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In a medium bowl using an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer beat together the eggs and sugar at high speed until pale and fluffy (about 5 minutes). Stir in vanilla. Add the flour mixture half at a time mixing on low until each portion is mixed in completely. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until cake springs back when touched. 


While the cake is baking sprinkle a clean dish towel with powdered sugar. Remove the cake from the oven. Cut the cake in half long ways so that you have 2 long rectangles. Invert onto the powdered sugared towel. Peel off the parchment and on each side of the towel roll the cakes from the long side toward the center. Flip the towel wrapped cakes over seem-side down on the counter for 30 minutes to an hour to cool. 


Make filling. Beat together the whipping cream, powdered sugar and vanilla until fluffy and thick. Stir in the strawberries. Unroll the cakes from the towel and either pipe or spread the filling into the center. Roll up so the ends touch and wrap tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for a couple hours or over night. 


Slice, using a serrated knife into sushi-sized pieces. I ended up with about 18 pieces. Top with a strawberry slice and serve with strawberry coulis (recipe below).


Strawberry Coulis (The "Soy" Sauce)
2 cups quartered and hulled strawberries, mashed
1/4 cup water
3 T granulated sugar
1 T lemon juice


Directions:

1. Combine strawberries, water, sugar and lemon juice in a blender. Blend until very smooth. Press through a fine mesh strainer to remove seeds. Cover and refrigerate until cool. Place in a small dish for sushi dipping!

Fruit Salsa with Baked Cinnamon Chips

Recipe from The Girl who ate Everything Blog

Ingredients:
2 kiwis, peeled & diced
2 Golden Delicious apples - peeled, cored & diced
8 oz raspberries
1 (16 oz) carton of strawberries, diced
2 tablespoons white sugar (to taste - I'll use Splenda)
1 tablespoon brown sugar (to taste)
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor (I'll use sugar free strawberry)

10 (10") flour tortillas
melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray

Cinnamon sugar:
1 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons cinnamon


Directions:

1. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3.Coat one side of each flour tortilla with melted butter or butter flavored cooking spray. Sprinkle tortillas with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Spray again with cooking spray (not necessary if using melted butter).

4.Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture. This salsa can also be serve with cinnamon graham grackers or cinnamon pita chips. Best when made and eaten the same day otherwise the fruit gives off so too much juice and it gets runny.

Peanut Butter & Jelly French Toast

Ingredients: (per sandwich)
2 slices bread
1 to 2 tablespoons your favorite peanut butter
1 tablespoon jelly or jam

French Toast Mixture 
2 eggs
splash of milk,
1 teaspoon vanilla
Cinnamon to taste
Butter
Handful of fresh fruit

Directions:
This is a super easy recipe and the variations are endless. Consider this more of a guideline.  There are two ways that you can prepare the sandwiches.  You can prepare the french toast as usual and then  spread peanut butter, jelly and some fresh fruit between the slices, or you can spread the peanut butter & jelly on the bread and then dip the entire sandwich in the french toast batter.  Fry the toast or sandwich in a buttered pan over medium heat until golden brown. Top with fresh fruit.  Pour over maple syrup, but be careful because the jam is already really sweet.

Blackberry Iced Tea

Ingredients:
3 cups fresh or frozen blackberries, thawed
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint (optional)
Pinch of baking soda
4 cups boiling water
2 family-size tea bags
2 1/2 cups cold water

Garnishes: fresh blackberries, fresh mint sprigs





Directions:

1. Combine blackberries and sugar in large container. Crush blackberries with wooden spoon. Add mint and baking soda. Set aside.
2. Pour 4 cups boiling water over tea bags; cover and let stand 3 minutes. Discard tea bags.
3. Pour tea over blackberry mixture; let stand at room temperature 1 hour. Pour tea through a wire-mesh strainer into a large pitcher, discarding solids. Add 2 1/2 cups cold water, stirring until sugar dissolves. Cover and chill until ready to serve. Garnish, if desired.

Frozen Blueberry Pops

These are perfect for your next spring or summer get-together.  The beauty of this easy recipe is you can choose how much or how little sugar you and your family are getting by choosing all natural or no sugar added juice.  The recipe was originally written with an Ocean Spray recommendation.  This would be a very easy recipe to alter.  I would love to use strawberry or pineapple too.






Ingredients:
2 cups Blueberry Juice
1 1/4 cups blueberries (about 120 blueberries or 12 per mold)
1/2 cup strained Greek Yogurt

Directions:

1. Fill a 10-pop freezer-pop maker halfway with 1 1/4 cups blueberry juice (about 2 1/2 tablespoons per mold); add 6 blueberries to each mold. Place tops on molds and insert sticks; freeze until completely solid, about 4 hours.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together remaining 3/4 cup blueberry juice and yogurt until smooth.
3. Remove pops from freezer and carefully remove tops. Fill molds evenly with blueberry-yogurt mixture, leaving about a 3/4-inch space from top. Add 6 more blueberries to each mold; cover with tops. Freeze until completely frozen, about 4 hours. 

Rainbow Fruit Skewers

Ingredients:
Red Grapes
Blueberries
Kiwis
Pineapple Chunks
Mandarin Orange Slices
Raspberries

Directions:
No recipe needed for this; just layer your fruit until it forms a similar pattern.  These will look so lovely at your next gathering.  I just love it!