Mom News
Mixed Berry Tartlets with Lemon Drizzle
CALLING ALL DADS!
Every Mother’s Day, I fantasize that my husband is losing sleep over the perfect meal to cook me with his 3 perfectly hair combed children in their best Sunday dresses and suit.
As he pours over countless cookbooks, he realizes that he has not yet vacuumed and dusted, which he quickly attends to. His children are making their beds and tidying up their rooms JUST BECAUSE they want to and JUST BECAUSE being clean feels SO good! (This is my fantasy, remember?)
Where am I, you ask?
Well, of course I’m at the Spa getting pampered by a crew of estheticians who want to make me feel good about my self JUST BECAUSE they care that much!
Then I stop dreaming………….. I wake up……………
to the sound of my 2 girls screaming and fighting and pulling eachother’s hair (that is not perfectly combed, by the way) JUST BECAUSE the other one took her pink furry pillow without asking. My son is throwing his little basketball everywhere but actually IN the basketball goal, which is followed up by a crashing sound. Not to mention the girls took it upon themselves to fix “breakfast” which may or may not have consisted of Nutella, Crackers, Half & Half, Cold Left Over White Rice, and Cheezits.
I know, Yummy.
All this, while my husband still sleeps soundly in his bed……. (Love ya Baby!) 😉
Well fellas, to help you out and make your #1 lady think you poured over cookbooks all day, I’m going to help you out with this Super Easy Dessert!
Why not try to make these Mixed Berry Tartlets. Heck, if you want to impress her even more than the fact that you made these to start with……. tell her they are Mixed Berry Tartlets with a Lemon Drizzle.
You only need 7 things and there is a chance that you may have a few of the ingredients already!
Here is what you need to do:
Cut up an 18 oz. package of Strawberries and add to a mixing bowl.
Throw in a couple of handfuls of fresh blueberries and sprinkle mixture with 1 Tablespoon of Sugar…… Toss to Combine. Set aside.
Take a package of Ready Crust Graham Cracker Tartlet minis.
Brush them with a little bit of egg white. (*You don’t have to, but it gives the crust a nice brown color when baking)
Put the tartlets on a cookie sheet and bake according to the package instructions for only 5 minutes. *I think it was 375 degrees, but might have been 350. Make sure you check!
While that is baking,
Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon into bowl and whisk in 1/2 cup of Powdered Sugar.
Your lemon drizzle should still be runny, but slightly thick like this. Set it aside.
Now take 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream. (*If you can’t find “Heavy”, regular Whipping Cream is fine) TIP for DAD: Creams like this have their own section next to the milk area in the Grocery Store. 😉
Find mom’s electric hand mixer and put the whisk attachment on. Beat on low at first unless you want to have the entire thing on your clothes. Add 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar and eventually go to highest setting and beat until cream becomes a thick whip with “stiff peaks” like this. BE CAREFUL! If you whisk too long, it could turn into butter! YIKES!
DAD: If making this whipped cream on your own proves to be too overwhelming, no one will judge you for buying Cool Whip! However, if you REALLY want to impress mom, go for the homemade stuff and earn those brownie points!
After the tartlets have baked and cooled, mound them up with the berry mixture. (You will probably have leftover berries)
Spoon the lemon drizzle over each tartlet to your liking. A couple spoonfuls each is fine.
Top each with whipped cream.
And garnish with fresh strawberries!
Mom will be SO SURPRISED and touched that you went the extra mile JUST BECAUSE you love her so much!
Recipe: Mixed Berry Tartlets
Ingredients:
– 18oz. package Fresh Strawberries
– Couple Handfuls of Fresh Blueberries
– 1 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
– 2 Tablespoons Granulated Sugar, Divided
– Juice of 1 Lemon
– 1/2 Cup Powdered Sugar
– 1 Package Ready Crust Graham Cracker Tartlet Minis
– 1 egg white (Optional)
Directions:
– Dice up Strawberries and add to a bowl. Add the Blueberries and Sprinkle with 1 Tablespoon of the Granulated Sugar. Set aside.
– Brush 1 eggwhite (optional) over the crusts and bake according to package instructions. Set aside to cool when finished.
– While crusts are baking, combine lemon juice and powdered sugar by whisking until smooth. Set aside.
– With the whisking attachment of an electric mixer, whisk remaining tablespoon of granulated sugar with the 1 cup of heavy whipping cream in a bowl. Whisk until mixture forms “stiff peaks”. Set aside.
– To assemble, take cooled tartlets, and mound each one with berry mixture.
– Add a couple of spoonfuls of lemon drizzle to each tartlet.
– Top with whipped cream.
– Garnish with fresh berries.
– Stick in the fridge for atleast 10 minutes. If making ahead, desserts will keep just fine in the fridge!
The Brentwood Restaurant
As you may know, it our my 11 year Anniversary a couple of weeks ago. I know what you are thinking, “Wow! 11 Years? How could someone who looks as young as you be married for 11 years?”
NO?
You weren’t thinking that?
Well, who asked you anyway?
Well, we like to call ourselves “foodies” around here. (*Not to be confused with the term “food snob”. Though, I have been called that a few times.)
I had been wanting to try out a local restaurant called The Brentwood Restaurant in Little River. It was a farmhouse that had been turned in to a restaurant and they concentrate on “farm to table” cuisine. Not to mention the Chef and Owner is French. Stir in a little Low Country with that and you have yourself one heck of a meal!
Here is a pic of the Restaurant. I love everything about it. It’s country home feel, the greenery,
the gazebo…………… We used to have one just like it when I was little. Everytime I see a gazebo, I think of my mom. I remember the house we lived in at the time and even though we were renting, my dad decided to buy her one. Then we moved to another house 30 minutes away and even though I don’t remember seeing my dad move it to the next location, I imagine he did it in True Redneck Style, perhaps hanging off the end of a small pick up truck going down a back road. (Love you Daddy!)
My parents were in town for the weekend, so they offered to keep the “babies” for us. SCORE!
Since I like to stay in hotel rooms that are close to where I plan on eating…. (More on that later),
we decided to get a room for the night at Prince Resort in Cherry Grove.
I was one Happy Momma! LOL!
The Restaurant was only a few miles away, so it was perfect!
We decided to do the Chef’s Tasting Menu, which was a seven course menu. They have 3 different ones you can choose from. There is the Silver, Gold, and Platinum Fork.
Since it was neither our Silver nor Golden Anniversary, we decided to go with the Platinum! Hey! You only live once! Right? 😀
I even brought my camera with me anticipating I might blog about it. (If Z was embarrassed, he hid it well). Some of the pics came out ok and some didn’t due to the light.
The first course was a Smoked Salmon dish. It was sooooo good! I’m just going to warn you. The Platinum had a few courses of Seafood, so if that isn’t your thing, you can always try another one.
They are very accommodating too. They were more than happy to substitute a few dishes for us as well if we didn’t like a particular item.
Next, we had White Sturgeon Caviar with Warm Blinis and Chive Cream. I originally turned my nose up to this because of a bad experience I had as a child with Caviar. I even told the Chef’s wife about it and after I finished the story, realized how much I SHOULDN’T have told ANYONE that story! Since I never learn my lesson, I’ll tell you too.
As a child, we met a family at the beach while camping at The Outer Banks. We decided to go to the Mountains and camp with the same family. (*First MISTAKE) Looking back on it, what were my parents thinking????
Then, the dad of the other family, decided to bust out a can of “Caviar”…………. with Saltine Crackers…………. did I mention we were camping in the Mountains?????? Oh yeah….. So, they asked me if I wanted to try it and being the daring 12 year old that I was said, “SURE!” ………. You might as well have poured Table Salt into my mouth because that is exactly what it tasted like………………………. AGAIN! Did I mention we were CAMPING IN THE MOUNTAINS?????????
Anyhoo, when I thought long and hard about whether or not I wanted to try the White Sturgeon Caviar at the Restaurant, I ultimately decided to give it another shot.
I’m so happy I did. It was so Fresh, it didn’t taste like Salt at all! It had arrived the day before and had been harvested the same week. White Sturgeon, ironically enough live in The Mountains! 😀
I’m not sure where the “other dad” got his, but it wasn’t from the same place! Haha!
Our next course would have been Seared Duck Foie Gras, which is basically Duck Liver. *Don’t you love it how the French make it sound that much nicer? I have had it before and I don’t really care for it, so they were sweet enough to let me choose whatever I wanted from the Appetizer Menu.
I chose Lobster Risotto and oh man, was it good. RidONculously good!
I love Lobster and I love Rice, so naturally this was a great choice! It was cooked perfectly and the risotto was so creamy!
This was our “Palette Cleanser”. It was a Fresh Mango & Spicy Rum Sorbet with a Hazelnut Wafer. Z kept trying to turn up his glass and proceeded to tap the bottom of it so he could get all the Rum out that was teasing him on the bottom………. I can’t take him anywhere! (*Love you Baby!)
This is where my camera started to act up so I had to resort to using my phone instead.
This was our Main Course, which was Lamb. It was AMAZING! Not sure if you can tell, but there are also Grapes and Spinach in there and it is over a Bordelaise Sauce. The sweetness from the Grapes complemented the Spinach so well. The sauce was rich and thick. It was very Yummy!
Our next course was Cheese.
My computer has acted up and lost my pic on this. It was a Roquefort Blue Cheese on a Toasted Baguette with Poached Pears and a Honey Candied Pecan. It was really good. It was a very Strong Blue Cheese and the Pears and Pecans all paired really well with it. I layered everything everytime I took a bite!
And last but surely not least, THIS WAS DESSERT! Another stinky picture taken by my phone, but oh my….. SO GOOD!
Up until now, I had never had a Caramel Cage! Sure, I had seen it on TV and even tried to be so ambitious as to try to do it myself with NO LUCK!
Other people from other tables were asking what we had gotten. It is very impressive in person.
Our dessert was a Belgium Chocolate Cake with Raspberry Ice Cream, the Caramel Cage, and was garnished with Fresh Mint.
Enough Said! 🙂
We had a Wonderful Anniversary! One that we will never forget thanks to Chef Eric and his staff!
Here is a link to The Brentwood Restaurant’s website.
Next time you are in town or in Little River, give them a try! You will not be sorry!
But be careful, it is know to have a few extra ghostly guests from time to time as well. So, you may not be “entirely” alone at your table.
XOXO,
Esther
Galvanized Bucket Planters
I love Galvanized Buckets, don’t you? They are perfect for so many uses and they just scream “Southern” to me.
The first thing that comes to mind when I think of them are Bobbing for Apples. In fact, when I went to the hardware store to buy them, that is exactly what the old man said to me. “Somebody’s gonna be bobbin for some apples, aren’t they?” he said.
“Actually…………… no,” I replied.
“Whatcha gonna use em for?”
“Well, I’m gonna make some holes in them and make em into planters.” (Yup! My grammar is just as good as his)
Then he said…….
“Alright now. Don’tcha be plantin any of dat there MARIJUANA, now!”
WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?
“Ummmmm, NO SIR! Don’t you worry about that, now!” (Yes, this is a true story and it happened yesterday! LOL!)
So, like I said folks.
I bought a couple of the galvanized buckets.
Flipped them over and made my “Brawny Man” poke some holes in the bottom for drainage. We used a nail and hammer.
They weren’t big enough, so I made him go back and make them bigger. 🙂
Then, I poured some drainage rocks into the bottom of the buckets.
About 2 or 3 inches high.
I filled it up with the same type of soil that I put in my vegetable beds and planted some herbs and a regular annual in them. (From back and going clockwise: Rosemary, Chocolate Mint, Annual, and Sweet Mint)
Em, my chocolate lover is very happy with me and cannot wait to help me with recipes using the chocolate mint.
I’m so happy with the way they turned out.
I did the same thing to the second one, except I planted some diffent things in there. You can’t really see it from the pic, but starting in the back and moving clockwise again is: Onion Chives, Citronella Plant (also known as a Mosquito Plant), Annual, and another Citronella Plant. The worst thing ever in the summer is trying to work in your vegetable garden and getting eaten up by Mosquitos. Let’s hope this helps a little. If it does, you might just see these EVERYWHERE in my backyard!
Since the Vegetable Bed post, which you can see here, we made another bed and used it for our Cucumbers. We also made it big enough to allow me to plant some more herbs in there as well. I planted Flat Leaf Parsley, Oregano, Sweet Basil, German Thyme, Dill, and one Okra Plant (I ran out of room in the other bed).
I am SOOOOO happy with the way everything turned out!
I personally think it is Beautiful and I cannot wait to do updated posts as the vegetables get bigger. We already have small clusters of tomatoes and I am proud to announce………..
NOT ONE SINGLE MARIJUANA PLANT in sight. 😉
HAPPY SATURDAY Y’ALL!
Go play in your yard!
XOXO,
ESTHER
Happy Anniversary, Love Sugarbear
So, eleven years ago today, it happened. On a Hot, Sunny Southern Day in April….. (Which shouldn’t have been 90 degrees, by the way) a young girl married her Good Ole Southern Boy.
As she walked down the isle, she suddenly had a flash back that took her to the smoke filled pool room where they first met. (I know, romantic) I mention that here and how proud my parents were.
She remembered asking a guy if his friend was interested in her sister. When she turned to walk away, that same guy stopped her and started to engage her in a conversation. She remembered that first butterfly she instantly felt and how she laughed more that night than she had ever remembered doing before.
She remembered their first date at the dirty little Mexican Restaurant they loved and how their favorite song was “God Only Knows” by the Beach Boys………
(And how they grossed people out when they would kiss……???)
She thought about all their hopes and dreams and if they would one day come true……..
She thought about her wedding dress and how her daddy would give her away. She thought about how one day she would KILL to be able to get into that wedding dress again……… (just sayin)
Then she started to pray…….
She prayed that he wouldn’t stuff cake in her face and mess up her makeup……
She prayed that he would find her to be the most beautiful woman in the world that day……
That he would love her forever………
Even if she was an ugly crier……..
Looked like a Swollen Oompa Loompa when pregnant with all 3 of their babies…….
Picked on her when she ate a plate FULL of biscuits. (What? I love biscuits!)
And when she got cranky in the morning……
And she prayed he would NEVER stop making her laugh. (Whether it was at herself or at him.)
Well, sweetheart…….. Thank you being the yin to my yang, an awesome husband, friend, companion, competitor (we take no prisoners in Wii Snowball Fight!), and father to our children……
and my Knight in Shining Armor,
And thank you for ALWAYS continuing to make me laugh……
Happy Anniversary Sweetheart.
Love,
Sugarbear
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