Strawberry Fields

 

Bright red, bursting with glorious flavor. The summer strawberry fields line the way along the Wapsi river. It's a beautiful site to see and even better to bite into them fresh off of the vines. We test the strength of our knees and backs by hand picking them from the vines and then buying them by the multiple pounds that are painstakingly picked. We reap the rewards though with me making Strawberry jam, Syrup, Shortcake, Pies, Smoothies, eating them with sugar and I usually still have bags left over to freeze. Last summer, Katie picked 12 pounds by herself and beat us all.

Everything that I make with the strawberries, nothing Lamar loves more is Strawberry Shortcake. Last year for Lamar's big 50th birthday bash, Lindsay found a great recipe for shortcake and her and Kevin spoiled us with 9x13's full of mouth watering Strawberry Shortcake. I ended up swiping the recipe from Lindsay that she had originally found at Betty Crocker's website and I've been making it for the family ever since. www.bettycrocker.com

I can promise you this amazing recipe is a keeper!!
Make the cake:
3 cups Bisquick
1 cup Sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup whole milk
2 t. Vanilla
2 Eggs
1. Heat the oven to 350 degrees and grease a 9x13 pan
2. In a large bowl, beat the cake ingredients with a mixer on low speed until blended.
3. Pour into the pan and bake 30-35 minutes
4. Set the cake aside and decide how you want to top it. You can do this anyway you choose. The cake is sweet and you can eat it with just strawberries. Add cool whip or make the sweet cream recipe to put on top of the cake with strawberries. I myself never want to eat it without the wonderful sweet cream so I always make the cream and use it with fresh strawberries.
Here's how to make the sweet cream if you decide it's what you want.
Mix up: 1 cup thawed cool whip, 1 8oz package of softened cream cheese, 1/3 cup powdered sugar and 1 t. Vanilla.

The second recipe that I love to make for my family is Strawberry Pretzel Icebox Pie.
When we lived in Louisiana one of Lamar's favorite things was to go to Strawn's Eat Shop

and get their famous Strawberry Icebox pie and Dr. Pepper. I found this recipe in my summer 2012 southern living magazine and it has quickly become  a summertime favorite here in the Otwell house!






Strawberry Pretzel Icebox Pie
From Southern Living Magazine 2012 Summer Issue

2 cups finely crushed pretzel sticks
3/4 cup butter, melted
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups fresh sliced strawberries
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
4 oz package cream cheese, softened
4 T and 1 t strawberry gelatin
2 cups whipping cream, divided
1/3 cup sugar

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir together pretzels, butter and brown sugar. Firmly press into a greased pie plate. Bake 10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and cool 30 minutes.
2. Process strawberries in a food processor
3. Beat condensed milk, cream cheese, and gelatin with an electric mixer until smooth. Add strawberries. Beat low just until blended. Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Beat 3/4 Cup whipping Cream at high speed. Gently fold whipped cream into strawberry mixture. Spoon into crust. Cover with saran wrap and freeze 8-12 hours.
5. Beat remaining 1 1/4 Cup whipping cream at high speed. Add sugar, beating until soft peaks form. Spread over pie and freeze for 1 more hour before serving.

 

Enjoy summer and everything sweet that it has to offer!