Strawberry Salsa

Well, we are still slowly transitioning into the Paleo diet. Mr.Surly is following it stricter than I am. I'm finding it a bit stressful to think of various meals that fit the criteria. Mr.Surly has already lost some of his winter weight (a pant size) from the diet and exercise. I think I'm down about 5 lbs, I'm trying to gain that back; I can't lose any weight. I'm still trying to maintain my weight and even gain 5 lbs to be at a healthy weight for my height. Mr.Surly wants to lose weight and get back in shape. Mr.Surly noticed an immediate positive effect from the diet. He feels fuller, needs less snacks during the day, and no longer needs his usual afternoon coffee.

The diet is also supposed said to be good for autoimmune diseases . I can't vouch for how it affects my GI issues because I'm still using dairy and eating wheat.

Fresh Strawberry Cake

I’m still slowing getting back into the swing of things. It took me 2 days to recover from the drive up north for my uncle’s memorial. Then, we get back and I discover I’m out of one of my medications. I spent that day going through horrible withdrawal; shaking, headaches, rocking back and forth. Not fun. The pharmacy, God bless them, expedited my refill when I explained the situation.

Needless to say, during all this food was the last thing on my mind. But now I’m finally forcing myself to get some of my posts together.

I made this strawberry cake awhile ago, I just never got around to posting about it. I strayed a bit from the original recipe and I made the cake a few times before I got it right.

The crumb and texture is divine. You could use just about any fruit. I might try it with some peaches from the farmer's market.

Fresh whipped cream tends to get runny if it sits too long. I found by using powdered sugar and a bit of cornstarch I could get a whipped cream that would last the 2 days this cake lasted in our fridge.

Vegan Berry Cobbler

My wonderful sister has once again rescued me this week with a guest post. I'm still recovering from my minor surgery last Friday. It really made my week horrible. I woke up each morning with puffy lips, it hurt to talk because the knots/stitches rub against my bottom teeth and gums. My energy is so low, I'm barely able to make dinner for Mr.Surly. And I have to rinse my mouth out with this nasty prescription rinse to keep infection from setting in. I can't wait to get the stitches out tomorrow and return to the kitchen to bake up some yummy treats; perhaps even this delectable looking berry cobbler.

There was a special on berries at my grocery store, so I didn’t have to resort using any frozen. The berries this year (especially the strawberries) have been very sweet, which made this cobbler a delectable treat.

This cobbler is nice because it is neither complicated nor time consuming. I did have some problems keeping the whipped “cream” from being too runny, but it did turn out to be a nice dairy-free alternative. We did top some of them with vanilla ice cream (not vegan) and that was good too.

Strawberry Meringue Tartelettes

The end of the local strawberry season is almost here, so I’m trying to think of all the strawberry recipes I can make while they are still at their peak. My mom used to make strawberry meringue pie in the summer that I always liked. I didn’t want to make a whole pie for just two people, I thought individual tartelettes would be better. If I had more than I thought we could eat, I figured I could freeze a few of the tartelettes. However, we had no problem polishing these off in a matter of days. A perfect recipe for summer; the better the strawberries, the better the taste. The local berries I bought were so sweet that I only needed to add 1 Tbl sugar to the berries. My favorite part of this dessert is the layer of meringue, I don’t know why, I just love it. If you want to make a 9" pie instead of tartelettes, simply double the filling ingredients.