Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

I finally caved in and bought a new bike. I'd been riding around on the Quiet Man's bike. He's a good 7 inches taller than I am so I was straining to reach the handlebars and the pedals. Plus his seat would flip up in the middle of a ride...um, try not to think about it, but know that it wasn't comfortable. Why do men's bicycle seats have to have such an um, uncomfortable shape anyway? Yowch. Yet another reason to be glad I'm a girl. Being a girl, and a very sensible one at that, I went to Wal-mart and bought the prettiest bike I could find. Isn't she loverly? I'm calling her Betty. My new bike makes me so happy, and the seat is plump and comfy and not once has it flipped up. I bought a little basket for the front, so the charges and I are going to ride all over town and run our errands until it get's too hot that we can't bear it anymore. That might be tomorrow. The weather man is saying 96 degrees. Ooh wee. Maybe I should stay home and ride Betty around the living room. Or maybe I should just stay in and bake. I did have an assigment for Tuesdays with Dorie this week-white chocolate brownies. They didn't sound too grand to me, so I decided to make something that sounded better with white chocolate: Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars. I made a brown sugar-cookie base, topped with a white chocolate cheesecake layer and a slick of my own homemade strawberry freezer jam. They are divine. You will swoon. Make some soon. In the month of June. I will go before I get carried away. A new bike, a sweet treat, and the month of June can do that to a girl.

Strawberry White Chocolate Cheesecake Bars

Estimated Cost: $4.50 for 12 servings

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

pinch of salt

3 tablespoons butter

1 package cream cheese, softened (8 ounces)

1/3 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 ounces melted white chocolate

1/2 cup strawberry jam

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a medium bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture has coarse crumbs. Press mixture into bottom of 8 inch square baking pan. Bake for five minutes. Meanwhile, combine cream cheese and sugar until velvety smooth. Stir in eggs and vanilla. Gently mix in white chocolate. Bake for 20 minutes, or until edges are set and center jiggles slightly when you tap the pan. Let cool for 15 minutes. Pour jam over the top and smooth gently. Let cool completely in refrigerator for at least two hours. Slice into squares and serve.

Sailor made her own little itty bitty version. So cute.

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San Antonio Chicken Fajitas

Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

Once a year, the boys head out for a Father-Son's campout with the other gents from our church. You'd think they would revel in roughing it, but instead they stay at a cabin, project sporting events on to a sheet, and eat prime rib, shrimp, dutch oven potatoes, and chocolate cream puffs. I'm not making this up. Cream puffs, people, cream puffs. It sounds so cush, I'm tempted to throw on a baseball cap, draw in a sharpie handlebar mustache and sneak in. Except that I always have a wonderful time at home with my little girl having our Mother Daughter weekend. I'm sorry to be so 1870's, but we made jam this year. OK-that isn't all we did-we also went out to dinner and spent hours and hours in Barnes and Noble. We didn't wear bonnets or churn butter, but we did make jam while the men folk were away. Truthfully, we would have made it if they were here, too. They would have helped us, since we are a liberated modern family, daggum it. Besides, this jam's a huge family favorite. The recipe hails from the Quiet Man's South Dakota Grandma Darland. I never cared much about jam, until we stopped on our cross country honeymoon road trip for a day or two on the farm. Grandma set out a jar of the bright red sticky stuff with breakfast. One smear later I was hooked. It shouldn't really be called jam-no, it's more like candy. I've made Grandma Darland's jam for many people with the same addictive results. It's got three ingredients-just rhubarb, sugar, and strawberry jello. The chopped rhubarb stands all night, soaking in syrup. After a quick boil, the strawberry jello thickens the jam without having to use pectin or Sure-Jell. You don't have to heat process it if you don't want to. Simply freeze it in pint jars until ready to use. But don't count on it lasting too long. Hurry up now, before spring rhubarb gets replaced with summer veggies.

Rhubarb Strawberry Jam

Estimated Cost: $5.00 for 3 pints

Tips: Look for rhubarb at the Farmer's Market for the best prices. I'm buying a rhubarb plant to make it even cheaper for next year.

3 cups sugar

5 cups chopped rhubarb

1 (3 ounce) box strawberry jello

Combine sugar and rhubarb in medium pot. Let stand overnight. Bring rhubarb mixture to a boil. Boil 12 minutes. Stir in jello. Process in jam jars, or freeze. Try a little stirred into plain Greek yogurt. Yum!

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Ice Cream Tart

Simple Strawberry Tart

If I was wishing for my kids to stay babies in my last post, I just may have gotten my wish. In a round-about way. This week, I'm borrowing a ticket to Babyland. My sister Mary Kate and her husband are off to the Cayman Islands, and I'm watching their five children- their five children plus my two charges, so seven total. Here are the ages of my new brood: 10, 9, 8, 7, 5, 3, .75. We will have great fun, I think. But the truth is, I'm a little bit scared. I don't know if I have what it takes to mother a big group of kids. I don't wake up in the middle of the night, change diapers, keep my eye on run away toddlers, or clean high chairs. I'm hoping it'll be just like riding a bike, and I"ll be able to hop right on and get into beach cruising mode. Or at least mountain biking mode, with few bumps but clear, majestic views. Wish me luck and I'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, here is my Tuesdays with Dorie assignment for a Simple Classic French Tart.

I couldn't find my tart pan (Do you have it, Mom?), so it isn't exactly a tart. If you haven't got tart pan, your pie plate will work splendidly.

I used only strawberries, since they are the cheapest berry for this time of year. The pie was positively scrumptious, a perfect combination of creamy pastry cream, shortbread crust, and jam-glazed berries. I can't wait to make it again.

But I'm not certain I can take that on while I'm babysitting. I'll keep you posted on all my (mis)adventures this week.

Click here for the Recipe for Simple Classic French Tart

Scroll down to the right post.

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Asian Steak Salad with Carrot Ginger Dressing

Mother's Day Chicken-Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing

This is the Quiet Man. My name is not really the Quiet Man. I'm called Shane, which starts with SH. Shhh! I've been hearing this all my life "Sh....ane" Perhaps this is why I have become so quiet. I doubt it though. My name is not really Shane either, but that is another story for another Mother's day.

Once a year I feel obligated to at least try to make a special Mother's Day meal. Not the breakfast in bed meal, but a Sunday afternoon sit down meal. Usually, I pass my ideas along to Prudence Pennywise and we get a revision or two. My meal ideas tend to be like a rusted out Pontiac station wagon, and then after a short discussion with Prudence Pennywise, we have a Cadillac version, at the same price. In recent Mother's Days, I have teamed up with Prudy's Father, who also feels obligated to make a marvelous meal for Mother's Day. Truthfully, despite our attempts to go it alone, there is always a kind word of encouragement or suggestion from Prudy and Prudy's mother. They say things like: "Well kid, you did your best." Anyway, the fathers end up doing a bang up job of cleaning the dishes, the kitchen and the mess. Here we have this year's attempt at a special Mother's Day meal. Isn't it the thought that counts? Not around here, it's more like making the attempt that counts. Here goes:

Popeye would be proud of our garden and we've got more spinach than I care to eat in a whole year. With that pleasant thought, I decided dinner had to be a salad. A lady kind of salad-the kind ladies think is a whole meal. (They do that with soup, too.)

I planned to grill the chicken, but it got a little windy, as it tends to do, so I moved it inside and broiled it in the oven, with just a little bit of S&P, red wine vinegar and olive oil. Yeah you heard me say it: "broiled it in the oven", where do you think I learned that?If you have some cornbread lying around, or if you feel inclined to make some, it makes very good croutons. By the way, cornbread has been on the mind recently. You can also use plain bread. In either case, cut them into cubes and put them in the oven to toast. I had the broiler on and I turned my back for a minute. Do you think Prudy will notice?

Well fellas, have a go at it. I'm going to have to take a brief hiatus from blog posting now, as I don't have anything left to say. That's why they call me the Quiet Man. I'll be back before long with dessert-chocolate covered strawberries.

Mother's Day Spring Chicken and Spinach Salad with Strawberry Dressing

For the dressing:

Equal parts strawberry jam

olive oil

red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

For the Salad:

spinach

sliced strawberries

sliced red onion

day old cornbread, cut into croutons and dried in the oven

grilled (or broiled) chicken strips

walnuts

feta cheese

Next Up:

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries for Mother's Day Dessert

Strawberry Cream Cheese Danish Braid and Blackberry Danish Pinwheels

I'm just putting the finishing touches on my 4th of July Menu.... I'll post it by 8 EST tonight. It's going to be good.... As a Daring Young Baker, I've risen to the challenge of preparing Sherry Yard's fresh danish dough. From scratch. That's right. From scratch. The mountain was there, and now I have climbed it.

I saw Martha Stewart make puff pastry years ago, and I've since then had a lingering desire to make a folded butter dough. But apparently, it takes a baking assignment to get me crackin'. I loved working with the beautiful dough, but be forewarned: It's quite a bit of work and you'd better be sitting home with a stopwatch for a necklace. Let me show you what I'm talking about.

First you make a beautiful yeast and egg dough.

Next you knead together lots of butter with a bit of flour.Roll out the dough and spread 2/3s with the butter mixture.Fold over both sides, like an envelope. Chill for 30 minutes. Repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat. Four times, so don't paint your nails or try to wash your car. Roll the dough into a rectangle and cut the edges into even strips.Add a filling to the center and tuck the strips over the top, interlocking to form a braid. (My filling is 8 ounces cream cheese, 1/4 cup sugar, and 1 tablespoons flour, with 1/3 cup homemade strawberry freezer jam on top.)Bake.Cut into small delectable sections and eat. Oozing filling is considered a huge plus around here.Since you've only used half your dough, cut the rest into little 3 inch squares.Place a teaspoon of jam in the center, cut diagonal slats from each corner and fold up.Sprinkle with coarse sugar and bake.

Now get crackin' on those dishes. For a full and complete recipe, check out Sass and Veracity. Best of luck and I'll see you again tonight.

Coming tonight by 8PM EST

Fourth of July Menu and Shopping List

Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Bars

My last suggestion for your Homemade Strawberry Jam....Ina Garten, "The Barefoot Contessa," is responsible for this sensational homemade bar cookie that will encase your homemade strawberry jam. She gets all the credit.
I'm jealous of Ina. I'm jealous of her talent, her beauty, her smarts, her house, her life. I'm even jealous of her sultry nickname. But mostly I'm jealous of her culinary courage. Her cookbooks are shimmering with butter, encased in cream, and resplendent with egg yolks. I wish I was brave enough to eat like that every day. But I'm afraid. I'm afraid of clogged arteries, high blood pressure, death and big fat jeans. So, when I do make some of Ina's spectacularly delicious recipes, I make a few little changes. Like the addition of oatmeal and wheat flour. I'm hoping that a bit of insoluble fiber will counteract the effects of saturated fat, refined sugar, and unabashed envy. You may want to make a double batch.

Sweet and Salty Peanut Butter and Strawberry Jam Bars

Estimated Cost: $3.50

Notes: I added a generous pinch more salt than is called for. I also used peanuts on only half the bars (picky kids); but I happened to photograph the nutless ones.

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 egg

1 cup creamy peanut butter

1 cup flour (I used whole wheat)

1 cup old fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup homemade strawberry jam or purchased jam-any flavor

1/3 cup roasted salted peanuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease an 8 inch square baking dish. In a medium bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Add vanilla, egg, and peanut butter, stirring until smooth. In a separate small bowl, combine flour, oatmeal, powder, and salt. Stir into peanut butter mixture. Layer 2/3 of peanut butter mixture in prepared baking dish. Cover with jam and top with remaining peanut butter mixture, by spoonful. Sprinkle with nuts if desired. Bake for 45 minutes, or until golden brown. Notice the perfect dress for enjoying all things strawberry.