Watermelon Lemonade Slushy

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Do you know what day today is?? Yes it's Martha Stewart's birthday, but do you know what else today is? National Watermelon Day! What perfect timing, 110+ degree heat advisories this week have left me with little desire to cook or eat much of anything. A watermelon lemonade slushy on the other hand, sounds like just the thing to beat the summer heatwave. So pull out your blenders and whip up a batch of slushies!

Watermelon Lemonade Slushy
Serves about 6
Ingredients:
4 cups watermelon, pureed and strained
4 cups  ice cubes
 2/3cup frozen lemonade concentrate
1 cup cold water

For an adult version: leave out the water and add 4oz. each of vodka and limoncello.  
 
Method:
Puree watermelon in a blender. Strain through a mesh strainer. (You can skip this step if you want, but it will be harder to sip through a straw if it's not strained.)
In blender on medium speed, blend together watermelon, ice, lemonade concentrate, and water until ice breaks down. Pour into glasses and enjoy!

Cheers Martha, but I'm celebrating watermelon today!

Blueberry Lime Pound Cake

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 I have a confession to make. I have a slight problem with hoarding. Well that's a bit of an exaggeration, I only hoard one thing, old cooking magazines. I keep a few Bon Appetit's and a Martha Stewart Living, here and there, but mostly it's limited to Fine Cooking magazines. For some reason, I can't stand to throw them away. I love every issue. They only publish a new magazine every other month, which is probably a good thing because with only six issues a year, it would take a long time for me to make it on to "Hoarders: Buried Alive!"
Actually, recently in a fit of spring cleaning, I did part with quite a few issues. I kept only the ones that with lots of recipes I want to make, or had really pretty pictures... Yes I know I can look up old recipes online, but it's way more fun to grab a cold drink and flip through a stack of magazines. Thank goodness I still had my Jun/July 2008 issue, because it was chock full of great blueberry recipes.  I remembered there were several recipes in that issue that I wanted to make. I had dogeared the page to this recipe a long time ago and I decided now was the time to put that hoarded issue to good use! 

Blueberry Lime Pound Cake
Source: Fine Cooking: by Nicole Rees (adapted)
Printable Recipe
Ingredients:
For the cake:
1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
2-1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 tsp. baking power
scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
2 tsp. finely grated lime zest
*6 oz. mascarpone or cream cheese, softened
4 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk, at room temperature
1 pint blueberries, room temperature, not cold from the refrigerator 
For the glaze:
4 oz. (1 cup) confectioners’ sugar
2 Tbs. fresh lime juice; more as needed
1/2 tsp. lime zest

*Note: I used mascarpone because I had it and didn't have any cream cheese on hand. It was delicious in this cake!

Method:
Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a 12-cup Bundt pan.
Make the cake: Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl. Stir the lime zest into the sifted flour mixture.
With a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or a hand mixer, beat the butter and mascarpone or cream cheese in a large bowl on medium speed until smooth, about 1 minute. Add the sugar mixture and beat on medium until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes. With the mixer still running, add the whole eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and stopping the mixer to scrape the bowl twice. Beat in the egg yolk. Reduce the mixer speed to low and slowly add the flour mixture. Stop the mixer one last time to scrape the bowl and then beat at medium speed until the batter is smooth and light, about 20 seconds. With a rubber spatula, gently fold the blueberries into the batter.
Pour the batter into the bundt pan, spreading it evenly with the spatula. Lightly tap the pan against the counter to eliminate any air pockets. Bake until a wooden skewer inserted in the center comes out clean, 50 to 55 minutes. Set the pan on a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes and then invert onto the rack, remove the pan, and let cool completely.

Glaze the cake: In a small bowl, whisk the confectioners’ sugar, lime zest, and lime juice together until smooth. The glaze should be thin enough to pour. If not, add more lime juice, 1 tsp. at a time. Put a baking sheet under the rack to catch drips and drizzle the glaze over the top and sides of the cake. Let the glaze set before transferring to a cake plate.

Or you can add the glaze right on the cake plate, like I did!

Other blueberry recipes you might like:
Low Fat Blueberry Oat Loaf Cake
Fresh Blueberry Pie
Orange Blueberry Muffins
Blueberry Ice Cream
Blueberry Barbecue Sauce

Brownie Cookie Sundae Bowls

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Hubs was out of town over the past week-end so I had a few girlfriends over for a girls night. Since the food is as important as the gossip, I wanted to make something fun for dessert. I came across Michael Ruhlman's chocolate chip cookie sundae bowls and thought they were perfect. How fun, we could all make our own sundaes and eat the bowl too! I made some caramel and chocolate sauce, toasted some coconut, and got out the sprinkles. What's more girlie than a than a bowl of sprinkles?

The cookie sundae bowls were a hit. We were so busy eating them, I never got a picture of the chocolate chip cookie bowls. While we were devouring our cookie sundaes, one of my friends asked if brownies could be used instead of cookies. Well of course I had to try it out to see if it would work.

Okay don't judge, but I had a brownie mix in the pantry that I thought would be perfect for this experiment. I used the brownie cookie recipe on the back of the box. It just cut back on the oil and liquid for a denser batter. I thought cookie dough would work better than the thinner brownie batter. I used the same process as I did when making the chocolate cookie bowl.

How to make brownie cookie sundae bowls:  
1 recipe of brownie cookie ( I used Hershey's brownies and followed the brownie cookie recipe)

 Oven proof bowls that nest inside one another. (one needs to be a little smaller than the other.)

Spray the inside of the larger bowl and the out side of the smaller bowl with cooking spray.

Lightly press 3-4 tablespoons of the brownie cookie dough into the bottom of the larger bowl. Press the smaller bowl into the dough so that it starts to come up around the sides. As it cooks the dough will expand to the top of the bowl. (If you put too much dough into the bottom of the large bowl it will cook over.)

Bake in a 350 degree  oven for 20 minutes. Remove the bowl(s) from the oven and carefully twist the small bowl to free them from the dough then remove it.  Return to the oven and continue to bake the cookie bowls for 5 minutes of so until the inner bottom of the cookie bowl finishes cooking.
When the bowls are cool enough to handle, cut off any dough that’s over flowed the edge and, very carefully, run a pairing knife along the sides, gently lifting up to free the bottom of the cookie bowl. Cool completely.

Fill the bowls with ice cream and the toppings of your choice!

I think almost any cookie would work as a cookie bowl. I can't wait to try all different kinds of cookie bowls. If you make cookie bowls, leave me a link to your post in the comments section. I'd love to see your bowls!

Caramel Sauce
Source: Simply Recipes (slightly adapted)
Ingredients:
1 cup of sugar
6 Tbsp butter
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
pinch of sea salt
1 Tbs bourbon (optional)
Method:
Have all your ingredients measured out and ready to go. The process goes very fast once the sugar starts melting. You have to work fast as the sugar burns quickly so all your ingredients must be ready to go.
Heat sugar on moderately high heat in a heavy-bottomed 3-quart pan. As the sugar begins to melt, stir vigorously with a whisk or wooden spoon. As soon as the sugar comes to a boil, stop stirring. Just swirl the pan a few times. As soon as all of the sugar crystals have melted (the liquid sugar should be dark amber in color), immediately add the butter to the pan. Whisk until the butter has melted.
Once the butter has melted, take the pan off the heat. Slowly add the cream to the pan and continue to whisk to incorporate. Be very careful with this step. When you add the butter and the cream, the mixture will foam up and sputter quite a bit. Add the sea salt and the bourbon. Whisk until caramel sauce is smooth. Let cool in the pan for a couple minutes, then pour into a glass jar or a small bowl. Let sit to cool to room temperature.  The caramel sauce can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Rewarm before serving.

Four years ago this week, I started this little blog. I totally started it on a whim, and for this reason I named my blog Half Baked. I didn't know what I was doing, whether or not I'd enjoy blogging, or if I'd even keep it up. The whole thing started with a half-baked idea and here I am at my four year blogiversary! My own birthday is just about a week away so lot of reasons to celebrate around here.
Thanks to all of you that have been with on this blog adventure over the last four years. An unexpected, but wonderful gift that has come with doing this blog is getting to "meet" so many wonderful people from all over the world. Hope to see you here again soon!

Mint Infused Watermelon Sorbet

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It's July, in lower Alabama, so long hot days are pretty much a given. However this summer has been a particularly hot one, even for those us that find temps in the mid-60's somewhat nippy.

 

 On days like these, a tall glass of sweet tea packed with so much ice that the tea just fills the spaces is almost all that I want. Ice cold, super sweet, running down your arms juicy slices of watermelon, is about the only other thing I can work up the motivation to eat. I got a really large watermelon from the framers market last week-end. Later that same day, a neighbor dropped by and gave me another watermelon. What to do with so much melon? Sure we could just slice it, pop it in the fridge, and stuff ourselves with watermelon till our bellies sloshed around from all the liquid. As fun as that sounds, I opted to use some of the watermelon to make a sorbet. I decided to infuse the watermelon with some fresh mint. What could be more refreshing on hot day than a big bowl of mint infused watermelon sorbet? Let me just tell you, this stuff is seriously addictive!

Mint Infused Watermelon Sorbet

(printable recipe)
Ingredients:
5 cups seeded or seedless watermelon cut into chunks
3 limes, juiced (about 6 tablespoons)
4 sprigs of mint
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. honey
1/8 tsp. salt
1-2 Tablespoons vodka (*optional)

Method:
In a food processor or blender, combine melon with half the citrus juice; process or blend until smooth. (You should end up with about 5 cups of liquid.)
Transfer to a bowl and set aside. In a small saucepan combine fresh herbs, sugar, 1 cup of the watermelon puree, remaining citrus juice, honey, and salt. Bring to boiling over medium heat. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool. Strain herb mixture into melon puree. Stir in the vodka if using. *(The vodka is just added to keep the sorbet from freezing too hard. A trick I learned when making David Lebovitz's strawberry frozen yogurt.) Cover and refrigerate 2 to 4 hours or in the freezer for about an hour.

Transfer chilled mixture to 1- to 2-quart ice cream freezer; freeze according to manufacturer's instructions. Remove sorbet from ice cream maker and place in a freezer safe container. Freeze the sorbet for about 2 hours.

Don't you want to dive in head first?

Oh Fig!

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I've been faithfully checking the huge fig tree on my parents farm for several weeks now. I know the figs are never ready to pick before July but I can't help looking, just in case...

Well the wait is finally over! The first of the ripe figs were ready for picking this week. I plan on making some of them into the chutney I made last year but I wanted to make a few jars of just plain fig preserves with some of these figs. Yes, these preserves taste great slathered on toast or a biscuit but they can be used is so many ways that I'm thinking I'm going to make another batch before fig season ends. Figs and cheese are a natural pair, imagine topping a round of brie with the preserves and baking it until the brie is warm and melty...drool! Spread the preserves in a pre-baked tart shell to make the base of a great fresh fig tart. Add some to some balsamic vinegar and olive oil to make a killer fig vinaigrette. Use the preserves to fill thumb print cookies or homemade fig newtons. I could go on and on. This recipe is so easy that making several batches of preserves will be almost as easy as making them disappear!

Fig Preserves 
Source: The Joy of Jams, Jellies, and other Preserves; Linda Ziedrich (slightly adapted)
(Printable Recipe)

Ingredients:

2 pounds figs, quartered

2 cups sugar

2 teaspoons lemon zest

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice, strained

Method:

In a large pot, layer the figs with the sugar and the lemon zest. Pour the lemon juice over the figs and sugar. Let the pot stand for 8-12 hours at room temperature, until most of the sugar is dissolved.

Next place the pot over medium-low heat. Cook the figs, stirring gently only a few times. Cook the preserves until the figs are partially translucent and the syrup has begun to thicken. About 30-40 minutes.

Ladle the preserves into sterilized pint or half pint mason jars. Add lids and rings and process the jars for 10 minutes in a boiling water bath.

Go here for a guide for home processing fruit.
*The recipe says it yields 2 1/2 pints. I got 3 half pints of preserves.

Star Spangled Cookie Centerpiece

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Need a simple but cute dessert/centerpiece for your 4th of July celebration? Make these red, white, and blue sugar cookies! They are so easy but look really impressive. I made mine into a cookie bouquet to use as a centerpiece, but they are just as cute without the stick. This is a great project to get the kids cooking as well!
Star Spangled Cookie Centerpiece
What you need:
1 recipe of sugar cookie dough (or you could cheat and buy sugar cookie dough)
red and blue food coloring, gel colors work better than regular food coloring.
3 star cookie cutters that fit inside one another, small, medium, and large.
candy/cookies sticks (if making cookie pops)

Method:
Divide cookie dough into three equal parts. Knead red food coloring to one piece, blue food coloring to one piece and leave the third piece plain. Add enough food coloring to make the dough a very bright red and blue. How much you need will depend on the amount of cookie dough you are coloring. Wear plastic gloves or put the dough into a small ziplock baggie to knead in the food coloring or you'll have festive colored hands as well! Yes I speak for experience...
Roll each piece of the cookie dough out to about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch thickness and refrigerate until firm. I usually pop mine in the freezer for about 30 minutes. It's easier to work with the cookie dough when it's very cold.

First cut out your largest star.

Cut the center of the large star out with the medium sized star.

 

Next cut out a medium sized star out and insert it into the cut out in the center of the large star.

Finally, cut out the center of the medium star with the smallest star cutter. Cut a small star out and put it in the center of the medium star.

At this point you can either bake the cookies on a parchment lined baking sheet, in a preheated 375 degree oven until just set, about 7 minutes, or before baking add lollypop sticks to make cookie pops. Bake the cookie pops at 375 degrees for about 7 minutes, as well. Allow the cookies to cool completely before picking up the cookie pops.

Place the pop stick on the backside of the cookie gently pressing it slightly into the cookie.

Take a small piece of cookie dough and cover the pop stick, pressing it gently into the cookie. Carefully turn the cookie over to bake. You have to work fast. If your dough is too warm to flip the cookie over, place the cookies into the freezer for a couple of minutes to let the cookie dough stiffen up a bit. I made all different sizes and color combos and baked them on the pop sticks.

 I wanted to create a centerpiece with the cookies so I fit a piece of flower arranging oasis into a small galvanized bucket. Then I arranged the cookie pops into the oasis and stuck a couple of festive napkins around the sides to hide the oasis. What a cute center piece for your Fourth of July table!

Strawberry Honey Butter

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Last Sunday I called my dad to wish him a happy Father's Day. I couldn't help thinking that now that all five of his daughters are happily married, this may be his best Father's Day ever. Although none of us have lived at home in a long time, as long as one of us was single, Dad always got the distress calls. He can breath a sigh of relief. Now he has son-in-laws. No more calls about cars that aren't running right or flat tires or appliances that don't work, those are all someone else's problems now. No more, "Hey Dad I need you to help me move...again." This too, no longer his worry. There are countless other things, both minor and important that we'd call on dad to fix. We all still call and ask for advice from time to time, but it's no longer his sole responsibility to come to our rescue every time something goes wrong for one of us girls. Now when the washing machine runs over or the air conditioner quits working, we call our husbands. That fact alone may have made this his best Father's Day ever.

I hadn't meant for this to be a belated Father's Day post but I can't help thinking of my dad anytime I make something with strawberries. He has a long standing love affair with strawberries. In fact, when asked recently why he started a hydroponic strawberry farm, he jokingly replied, "So I can eat all the strawberries I want." I suspect there was more than a little truth in that statement.
Enjoy your freedom Dad, but don't be surprised if the phone rings!

Strawberry Honey Butter
source: Gourmet/May 1990
(Printable recipe)
Ingredients:
1 pint strawberries, hulled
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice, or to taste
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, softened

Method:
In a food processor purée the strawberries and force the purée through a fine sieve into a saucepan. Add the honey and the lemon juice and boil the mixture, stirring, for 3 minutes, or until it is thickened. Let the strawberry mixture cool to room temperature. In a bowl cream together the butter and the strawberry mixture. Let the butter stand, covered, in a cool place for 1 hour to allow the flavors to develop.

This butter is delicious, especially on whole grain bagels!

Add some rick-rack and you've got a great hostess gift!