Posts Tagged With: summer adventures

In Season

Posted on June 18, 2023 by emjayandthem

Yesterday I bought these at a Centennial Farm near me. $42 for 8 quarts, amazing!

I can’t even tell you how good these strawberries are! How luscious, sweet and flavorful. My car smelled like a Strawberry Shortcake on wheels. As I washed the berries and removed tops, I ate 2 for every 6 washed. So. Good! I kept some sliced berries in the fridge to enjoy this week and the rest I froze for later desserts.

Speaking of desserts, this is a must try – I made it last year for our Fourth of July celebration with, you guessed it, fresh strawberries and it was a hit. Our daughter-in-law, between bites and and oohs and ahhs, pronounced it her all-time favorite ever dessert. “If you could make this every year for the rest of my life I’d be good with that.” Since we both have birthdays this week, and are celebrating with a family gathering next weekend, I’m making it again, and every year for the rest of my life, too. 😉

** Strawberry Dream-Cake **

1 box Vanilla Cake Mix
8 tbsp Butter melted
2 cans Strawberry Pie Filling
1 – 8 oz Whipped Cream Cheese ( I use 1 1/2 containers so 12 oz total)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350° and grease a 9×13 cake pan.
Spread both cans of pie filling in the bottom of the pan.
Add dollops of cream cheese on top of the pie filling.
In a mixing bowl, pour melted butter over cake mix and combine to make a crumble.
Sprinkle crumble over the strawberry/cream cheese layers.
Bake for 30 minutes ~ until the crumbs are golden brown.
Allow to cool – this dessert is best served cold.

I make this a day ahead, and serve with fresh Whipped Cream (beat whipping cream with sugar until peaks form) and fresh strawberries on top. (or partially frozen). Delicious – and in season!

Add to that – another thing in season is my annual week off for my birthday which starts today. I used to take at least the day off; as I’ve gotten older, I take the week. There’s something so decadent about a week off in summer. Ok, to be honest, anytime! I’ve resisted filling every day with “stuff” to do. So far a mostly blank calendar is giving me joy!

What’s in season where you are?

What do you feel overdue for?

Categories: Attitude, Blogging, Confidence at any age, Determination, Family, Food, Growth, Home, Joy, Life, Recipes, Seasons, Travel | Tags: Beach, Books, easy strawberry dessert, easy summer recipe, in-season, lake, Reading, seasons of life, strawberries, strawberry dream cake, summer, summer adventures, summer delights, time off, vacation mode | 7 Comments

Random 5 – Sisters, Books and Summer’s arrival

Posted on June 11, 2017 by emjayandthem

It’s Sunday! Back to work tomorrow ~Cooking, Laundry and random 5 today. Here goes!

1 ) My sister and I vacationed together last week ~ she lives in Canada, where we grew up, I live in the USA so – instead of traveling to each other’s homes – we met in the middle – something new for both of us. No cooking. No cleaning. No bed-making. No organizing. No wrangling. No Scheduling. We loosely followed the “no plan-plan.” Meeting in Minneapolis then flying to Kansas City together we laughed and we cried and we laughed again. Navigating the rental car through the city and down to the interstate to Branson, MO, we sang along and talked and talked. We had purchased a few show tickets ahead of time but left the week open to the possibilities. Lying by the pool. Shopping in cute little boutiques, artisan markets and outlet malls. Dining out, being waited on and, in some cases, sung to (the Singing Diner was so fun!) Our trip was glorious! Sister time – talking in the morning, talking at night, talking by the pool, talking in the dark. On our last night together, out of the dark a small voice whispered,”I’m sure going to miss you, you know.” “I know,” I said, “as will I miss you.” A knowing look – finishing each others sentences – laughing at our stupid jokes. For as much as we talked – sisters don’t need words.

Sisters! An Emjayandthem(C) photo

2 ) Heat – arriving back home I was surprised to find the weather much hotter here (northern) than where we’d been (southern). How did that happen? 80s up to 90s with little rain. It’s hot and dry. Birds flitter happily through the sprinkler.

3 ) Taking a (leave-your-house) vacation is an excellent reminder that all of the stuff stressing me out is just that … stuff. I work hard and do my best to stay on top of everything but every once in a while I need to step away from it and breathe. Live. Laugh. And re-connect.

and there it is

4) Books — Read one and bought another — one of my favorite things to do on a plane is to dive into a new story. This one was well worth the dive:

… great read .. right to the last page!

And I bought this on the recommendation of a fellow passenger – next up on my summer reading list.

5 ) Summer’s here and another favorite just arrived — the Farm Market is open again! I have to pace myself and remember that, for the most part, I’m the only one eating all these yummies. Ooh … deliciousness abounds!!

What’s on your summer reading list? Have you had any adventures lately? What are you grateful for? Are you a fan of toasted ‘mater sammiches, too? *(GF for me!)