JoyFoodly

Joyful 12

enter here

Dreaming of Italy–Orange Basil Strawberries with Yogurt

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

strawberry-medium1 (1)

About this time every year, I start daydreaming. There’s something about springtime that makes me yearn for new ideas. How can I work peas, artichokes, spinach, and strawberries into my everyday meals in new and exciting ways! This generally means I also reminisce about flavors I’ve discovered through travel.

strawberry-medium6

I can still smell the fragrance those macerated orange basil and mint strawberries gave off. We were traveling in Rome. It was the very end of spring, and we kept seeing strawberries on every menu. One of the things I most admire about Italians is that they are purists in their approach to cuisine. I adore the way they elevate everyday produce in the most simple ways.

strawberry-medium2

Imagine an American restaurant featuring macerated strawberries–by themselves–on their dessert menu. I’m talking no whipped cream, no ice cream! Our Italian waiter insisted we try them. He couldn’t leave it up to us to make a bad choice. This light and refreshing dessert was in our future. Out came a small bowl of sliced strawberries swimming in a simple syrup decorated by curled orange peels speckled with bits of mint and hints of fresh basil. With our spoons, we tried to slowly savor every last bite.

strawberry-medium7
I’ve never been able to replicate that exact experience, but I’ll promise you this interpretation is as close as you can come to a starlit night under Italian stars, sharing a meal with someone you love. I hope you’ll enjoy them as is, with yogurt, and whatever other way you find to be exciting and fresh this spring!

Dreaming of Italy--Orange Basil Strawberries with Yogurt
Serves 4
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
25 min
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
5 min
Total Time
25 min
Ingredients
  1. Strawberries (fresh), 16 oz container
  2. Orange, 1
  3. Basil (fresh), 1 small bunch
  4. Mint, 1 small bunch
  5. Sugar (organic turbinado), 1/2 cup
  6. Water, 1/2 cup
  7. Yogurt (plain full fat organic), 2 cups
Get Organized
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Cut off 2-3 big pieces of the orange peel by using a sharp pairing knife and running it closely along the orange’s skin. This will be used in the simple syrup.
  3. With the remaining skin of the orange, zest it and place zest into a bowl. Juice the orange and add it to the bowl. Set aside.
  4. Make the simple syrup by heating the water and sugar together at a simmer until the sugar melts. Add the orange peels to add flavor. Let cool before using.
  5. Wash strawberries, remove green tops, and cut into any shape you like (slice, quarters, etc.).
  6. Wash herbs and dry with a paper towel. To cut into thin ribbons, stack the leaves on top of each other, roll up like a cigar, and cut across the roll in thin strips.
To Cook
  1. Combine cut strawberries, simple syrup, orange juice and herbs in a bowl. You can use immediately or let sit 30 minutes to an hour before serving.
  2. We love to serve these over yogurt. They are also delicious over ice cream, with a rich chocolate dessert, or in your morning oatmeal!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Spiced Pumpkin and Pomegranate Chia Pudding

by 2 Comments

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

 

Chia pudding top shot option 2sized no mark In October, I joined Jennifer Tyler Lee’s 52 New Foods Challenge, and shared my Sweet Potato and Crunchy Kool Kohlrabi Fritters recipe, inspired by her new book, which helps families try one new food a week together 52 weeks of the year.

Part of this challenge is a giveaway of Jennifer’s new book, which you can enter by voting for your favorite recipes from the challenge. You don’t have to vote for my Sweet Potato and Crunchy Kool Kohlrabi fritters, but I do encourage you to enter the contest through voting, which you can do right here:

If the voting widget is taking a while to load, try refreshing the page. The voting period closes December 19th, so get cooking! Feel free to let us know what new foods you love in the comments below as well.

This week, I’m so happy to share a recipe that’s inspired by Jennifer’s no bake challenge and some yummy seasonal ingredients in our pantry: pomegranates and canned pumpkin!

How are you going to use up that leftover, organic pureed pumpkin from Thanksgiving that’s filling up your pantry shelves? This is exactly the kind of food challenge kids adore. This week, the 52 New Foods Challenge continues in the JoyFoodly® kitchen as I get creative and make a sweet and festive treat out of something leftover and even manage to keep my oven turned off!

Making food fun happens in the most unexpected moments when you cook with kids. Take this canned pumpkin dilemma. An adult may shrug their shoulders and get stuck inside the mentality that it’s pie or nothing. But when you ask a child to get creative with a mystery ingredient like a can of pumpkin, you’ll discover their inner chef comes through in wild and wonderful flavor combinations. 2nd-Pomegranate chia pudding ingredient shot

With this canned pumpkin dilemma, I channeled my inner child and with the help of my husband who has a serious sweet tooth, we came up with a playful treat that can be enjoyed for breakfast or dessert. Here’s how you can take your kids on a fun food adventure with our Spiced Pumpkin and Pomegranate Chia Pudding exploring a new seasonal ingredient, pomegranates, and running your own science experiment with fabulously weird (and great for you), chia seeds.

Pomegranates!!!
Jennifer and I agree–this fall fruit is one to have on hand to try with your children. There is nothing more fun than digging those crunchy, tangy ruby red arils out of a pomegranate. Kids are fascinated with the treasure trove of seeds inside and by stories of this glorious fruit symbolizing a joyful and prosperous future when given as a gift at weddings in far away lands like Persia, Turkey and China.

In addition to Jennifer’s tried and true way for removing the seeds without total chaos in the kitchen, I have another fun method I learned from a friend that you may want to try with your child this fall: cut the pomegranate in half (not through its stem but around its center); then push out the center a bit with your hands; give your child a wooden spoon and a big bowl and let them start whacking the back of it with a wooden spoon. All the seeds should fall right out into the bowl! Inside a pomegranate

Chia Seeds (Cha-cha-cha-chia!)
What a weird and wonderful seed to use in cooking with kids. I always find that any science lesson or transformation of an ingredient really gets kids thinking about cooking. When we were growing up, we all had a chia pet at some point (you know you did!), but it turns out you can actually eat the chia seed which is full of omega three fatty acids and fiber, and an essential ingredient in our no-bake challenge. Ask your kids to be on top of watching the pudding transform as the hard seeds turn into gelatinous pods that firm up the pudding within the hour.

After you make this pudding with your children, why not extend the challenge on another day and have them try a popular Mexican drink, chia fresca, which is made by soaking chia seeds in water until they become gelatinous and then adding sugar and lemon or lime juice. 7th-Pom chia pudding mix with chia

Yogurt and Spices!
As with any challenge, I dove into my refrigerator to see what on earth I could combine with canned pumpkin to make a sweet treat. When I saw the plain Greek yogurt, I immediate thought, “Lassi!” This popular drink from India is made from blended fruit, yogurt, spices like cardamom, sugar and ice–and is so refreshing. In my lassi inspired pudding, I chose cinnamon and nutmeg, but you could let your children decide which spices from your pantry they may want to try: ginger, allspice, or cardamon? Once they learn this basic recipe, the next time they are hankering for a sweet treat, remind them to put their creative lassi making hats on, and maybe they’ll come up with another seasonal combo–why not pear and banana?!

Here’s to your family finding fun and easy ways to cook together and eat well this holiday season.

Join us! Our winter season of the Joyful 12 releases on December 5th! We’d love to have you join us for a year of learning how to eat in season. My online kitchen learning lab teaches parents my proven methods for engaging kids to love eating fresh produce and my simple cooking strategies for how to make vegetables and fruits taste delicious.

Spiced Pumpkin and Pomegranate Chia Pudding
Serves 4
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
15 min
Total Time
1 hr 30 min
Ingredients
  1. pomegranate, 1 (yields about 1 cup of seeds)
  2. orange, 1 medium
  3. yogurt, plain (Greek Style), 2 cups (19 oz)
  4. organic pureed pumpkin, 15 oz can
  5. maple syrup (can substitute honey or agave nectar), 1/4 cup
  6. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
  7. nutmeg (ground), 1/4 tsp
  8. chia seeds, 4 TBS
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce.
  3. Cut pomegranate open and remove seeds over a bowl of water. Drain water out and reserve seeds.
  4. Juice and zest orange. Place the juice into the blender. Set the zest aside.
Assemble
  1. Blend 1 cup of the pomegranate seeds and the juice of the orange together. Strain the juice, catching all the seeds.
  2. Place pomegranate and orange juice along with the pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, yogurt, maple syrup and orange zest into a blender and pulse until smooth.
  3. In each serving glass, put one tablespoon of raw chia seeds on the bottom. Fill the cup with the yogurt mixture and stir the chia seeds to incorporate. Cover and chill for at least one hour or overnight to set the pudding. This is a great make-ahead breakfast!
  4. Serve with a sprinkle of pomegranate seeds on top.
Note on substitutions
  1. To make this dessert dairy free, substitute a plain yogurt made from an almond or coconut milk. We are using a bpa free, canned organic pumpkin puree, but you can make your own by roasting some pumpkin or acorn squash and pureeing in the blender.
Culinary note
  1. We love this chia pudding for breakfast or dessert. We like to make it before we go to bed, so we can easily get in a healthy breakfast the next day when we’re in a hurry!
Cook Time
  1. The pudding takes an hour to set, so be patient!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Abundance of Apples with a Nutty Chocolate Dipping Sauce

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

10-23 Abundance of Apples 2 (1)sized

JoyFoodly is delighted to create recipes each month for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. Be sure to look for our recipe cards in your Northern California stores, and don’t forget to speak with your Whole Foods Market produce person when picking out your fall apples. They always have the best tips and easy recipes—and often offer tasty samples.

Apples are amazing. In our country alone, there are over 2,500 varieties grown from New York, to Washington, to California. They are at their absolute most sweet, crisp deliciousness during fall, when they are in season, and just in time for some of our favorite food centric holidays.

2nd-Apples with dip ingredient shot

I love helping kids discover the joy of exploring an abundance of apple varieties. Just because only fifteen varieties account for 90% of production, it doesn’t mean you and your child can’t go on an apple adventure–discovering local varieties like Gravenstein, Cameo, or Cinnamon Spice on your next trip to the market. Whether at the farmers market or my local Whole Foods Market in San Francisco, I always find new varieties that are local to my area that are the freshest, most flavorful, and often the most affordable to purchase.

One of the best ways to really taste the difference between apple varieties is by trying them raw, side-by-side. It’s a great way to teach kids taste vocabulary and make trying new foods fun. In this Huffington Post Cheat Sheet: Apple Variety Tasting Guide, they go through twenty-two varieties, using words like sweet, tart, perfectly crisp, bursting with juice, earthy, and great for baking to decipher all the delicious flavor profiles within this one fruit variety.

7th-Apples with dip final chocolate

This fall, I’m having fun with my favorite snack by taking it up to a whole new level, with my homemade nutty chocolate dip. Whether you’re exploring apples for a new fruit dessert or just an almond butter sandwich, I’ve got a few tips on how to prep those apples with ease.

How to Prep Apples from JoyFoodly on Vimeo.

So the next time you’re buying apples for your family, branch out and try a new variety and see how delicious and fun eating local, in-season, produce can be. Thomas Jefferson may have brought the Fuji apple variety to America, but I bet he’d gladly try the 2,400 other varieties grown across this great nation today–and maybe even have an apple cider to wash ‘em down!

Abundance of Apples with a Nutty Chocolate Dip
Serves 4
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
25 min
Prep Time
5 min
Cook Time
20 min
Total Time
25 min
Ingredients
  1. apple, 3 (try a variety)
  2. almonds (raw unsalted), 1 cup
  3. chocolate chips (semisweet), 1 cup
  4. sea salt (or finishing salt), 1 tsp
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce.
  3. Preheat oven to 375F.
Cook
  1. Place nuts on a baking sheet. Roast nuts for 10 minutes in the oven. You can check around 8 minutes to make sure they are roasting (they will have a nice aroma) but not burning, as some ovens vary in heat strength.
  2. Place roasted almonds in a blender. Pulse nuts, stopping periodically to scrape down the sides, until they are creamy. This will take up to five minutes. You’ll notice the nuts going from dry to creamy.
  3. Add chocolate chips and pulse until combined, with a creamy consistency.
  4. Add salt and pulse to combine.
  5. Cut apples just before ready to eat and serve with a side of this amazingly rich and good for you homemade chocolate nutty dip.
Notes
  1. Note on substitutions: any type of apple works for this yummy snack or dessert. Mix up different varieties and have fun with your kids to see which one is their favorite dipped in the chocolate dip. I am using a Maldon Salt I always have on hand, but a regular sea salt or whatever salt you have in your home will work! It really brings out the flavors in the dip and does not make it salty.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/
learning-lab-ad

Buttery Baked Pears

by 1 Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

Pear post 9-4 top blog image withtextsized JoyFoodly is delighted to create recipes each month for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. Be sure to look for our recipe cards in your Northern California stores, and don’t forget to speak with your Whole Foods Market produce person when picking out your fall pears. They always have the best tips and easy recipes—and often offer tasty samples.

I adore Fall. My kitchen starts to smell of cinnamon and winter squash roasting, and pears. I put pears in everything I can, from a quick relish for a seared pork chop, to my morning smoothies, and they are the stars of my favorite dessert recipes. If you know me well, you know I’m not a baker. So when it comes to dessert, I keep it simple. The amazing thing about my Buttery Baked Pears is that they taste like I’ve worked harder than I actually did. Now you can, too.

Have you ever picked up an underripe pear in the market and scratched your head wondering how to pick a great pear? Here are a few tips to help your next trip to the store a breeze!

How to pick a perfect pear:

  • Pears ripen from the inside out, so the best spot to check for ripeness is the area just next to the pear’s stem, which is the most narrow. Just give that area a gentle press, and if it gives, your pear is already ripe.
  • If you can not find pears you feel are ripe already, have no fear! They will continue to ripen. Just put them in a room temperature spot in your kitchen and wait a few days patiently until they soften up.
  • Or if you’re like me and truly don’t have time to wait, make my Buttery Baked Pears recipe which is kind to the underripe pear! The firm pear will cook through in the oven and turn out perfectly. That’s my kind of cooking.

In this recipe, I indicate a Bosc pear. That just happens to be what was in season and available at my local Whole Foods Market now. When you make this recipe at home, explore whatever variety is local and in season in your home town. When I work with kids in the kitchen, one of my favorite food adventures is to taste and compare different types of the same produce item. Why not let your child help you pair their favorite pear for your next kitchen adventure!

  Pear post 9-4 overhead shot sized

Buttery Baked Pears Drizzled with Honey Cinnamon Yogurt
Serves 4
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
40 min
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
25 min
Total Time
40 min
Ingredients
  1. bosc pears, 4
  2. butter, 3 TBS
  3. yogurt, 1 cup
  4. honey, ⅓ cup
  5. cinnamon, ½ tsp
  6. pistachios, ½ cup (optional)
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce.
  3. Preheat oven to 400F.
  4. Melt butter over low heat or in the microwave and set aside.
  5. Peel pears, cut into halves, and remove core.
  6. Brush pears with butter and place them, cut-side down, on a parchment-line baking sheet. Sprinkle with cinnamon.
Cook
  1. Bake pears until they are caramelized and tender, about 25-30 minutes.
  2. While pears are baking, in a saute pan, dry toast pistachios over medium low heat, for about 5-7 minutes.
  3. Transfer the pears onto a platter, cut-side up, and let cool. Fill each pear half with a spoonful of yogurt, drizzle with honey, and sprinkle toasted pistachios on top to serve.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

If you’re looking for more ways to cook simple, yet nourishing meals for your family, join my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab. It’s a members only course for busy parents and adults. We cook nine veggies and three fruits together each season with other families that are looking for time saving ways to cook great food for their loved ones. Join the Joyful 12.

learning-lab-ad

Cherry Lemon Yogurt Cake

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

cherry-lemon-yogurt-cake

JoyFoodly is delighted to create recipes each month for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. Be sure to look for our recipe cards in your Northern California stores, and don’t forget to speak with your Whole Foods Market produce person when picking out your summer cherries. They always have the best tips and easy recipes—and often offer tasty samples.

Whenever I see a swirled pound cake recipe in one of my favorite food magazines, I start to let out little oohs and ahhs. I personally don’t love baking, but I always imagine that someone has made that special dessert with love and a great deal of effort. Which is why I’m so excited to share this extremely simple yet fancy summer dessert with you.

Here’s a secret. Swirling doesn’t require a pastry degree.

When French kids learn to bake, there is a basic yogurt cake recipe their parents teach them using only the yogurt container to measure out ingredients. The idea is to help their children understand not just about the principles of baking and correct measurements, but to instill a simple truth. Food, including dessert, can be simple. You just need to have the essential ingredients and a little know-how.

Being that I’m truly not a baker, this is my confession. As a chef, people think I love cooking everything, but we all have our limits. What I do enjoy, however, is the feeling of making food that gives others pleasure. So my way of overcoming my dislike for baking is to find those three to four go-to recipes I can use again and again, adjusting ingredients slightly to fit each season. This cake is one of those recipes. In winter, I use oranges, and in summer, it’s cherries. Believe me when I say, it’s so easy you may feel guilty when your loved ones rant and rave about all the trouble you went to in making it! We’ll keep that secret between you and me.

cake steps

Cherry Lemon Yogurt Cake With Fresh Cherries
Serves 4
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
1 hr 10 min
Prep Time
25 min
Cook Time
1 hr 10 min
Ingredients
  1. cherries, 1 lb, divided (about 3 cups whole)
  2. yogurt (plain), not greek style, 6 oz
  3. lemon, 1
  4. sugar, 1 1/8 cups (divided)
  5. eggs, 3
  6. vanilla, 1/2 tsp
  7. all purpose gluten free flour, 1 1/2 cups
  8. salt, 1/2 tsp
  9. baking powder, 2 tsp
  10. olive oil, 1/2 cup
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Preheat oven to 350F.
  3. Wash cherries and lemon.
  4. Toss 1 cup pitted cherries into a blender with ⅛ cup sugar. Puree until smooth and set aside. You will use this to swirl into the batter once it has been mixed.
  5. Zest lemon.
  6. In a medium sized bowl, rub zest of the lemon into the remaining 1 cup sugar with your hands until incorporated well and set aside. This is your dry ingredients bowl.
  7. Juice lemon in a separate medium sized bowl. This is your wet ingredients bowl.
Cook
  1. Mix the remaining dry ingredients and lemon sugar together and set aside.
  2. Mix the wet ingredients together (except the olive oil and the cherry puree).
  3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients into one bowl, slowly adding the dry ingredients to the wet ones. Mix until combined.
  4. Fold the olive oil into this mixture gradually, not all at once, and use light, long turns of your spatula to fully mix in the oil each time you add a little more.
  5. The batter should have a nice sheen.
  6. Rub a little olive oil all over the inside of your baking pan. We like to rub the oil on the sides of the pan in an upward motion. We think this will help the cake rise just a little more!
  7. Pour one-half of the batter into the 5x10 greased loaf pan. Dollop 8 heaping spoonfuls of the pureed cherries over the batter, and swirl with wooden skewer or a butter knife. Then pour the remaining batter on top. Repeat with 8 more heaping spoonfuls of pureed cherries on top and swirl.
  8. Bake uncovered at 350F for 50 to 55 minutes. Check at 50 minutes.
  9. How will I know when this cake is done? Use a toothpick in the center. If sticky dough comes off on your toothpick, your cake needs more time. Keep checking every 10 minutes until the toothpick comes out clean. This is a moist cake and once you remove it from the oven, it will continue to firm up from carry over cooking while it's cooling. Let cool at least 10-15 minutes before serving. This is a very simple but delicious cake. It does not rise a great deal, but it should be moist and tender on the inside. We even like to drizzle a little honey on top when we don't have powdered sugar and berries.
  10. Serve with the remaining whole cherries on the side!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

cherry-cake

If you’re looking for more ways to cook simple, yet nourishing meals for your family, join my Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab. It’s a members only course for busy parents and adults. We cook nine veggies and three fruits together each season with other families that are looking for time saving ways to cook great food for their loved ones. Join the Joyful 12.

Learning Lab

Sign Up for the Joyful 12!

Happy 4th of July! Red, White, and Blue Fools

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

red-white-blue

On this Independence Day, we’ve got an easy recipe that will free you from baking in a hot kitchen just to create that patriotic dessert for your family’s BBQ.

My go-to dessert every summer is a simple berry fool. Even Mark Bittman adores this oldie but goodie. For me, the best part about this dessert is that it can be whipped up in less than 15 minutes and requires the help of at least one child to do the heavy whipping of the cream in a fun mason jar.

It’s also very versatile, can be made in advance, and here’s the real celebratory element – you can stuff it in a jar and carry it to your 4th BBQ picnic, as long as you keep it chilled for the ride. I recently demoed just how patriot this dessert can be, using the freshest summer berries available.

In honor of the 4th, I talked about the berry fools and a great Blueberry Bacon BBQ sauce in Sacramento last weekend:

So, check off that worry list about what amazing dessert you’ll be making for this 4th of July. We’ve got you covered. Just follow our Dreamy Creamy Strawberry Fools recipe and adapt according to which berry you want to ‘fool’ in this red, white, and blue dessert!

recipes-4th
Dreamy Creamy Whipped Fools | Blueberry Bacon BBQ Sauce

redwhiteblue-fools

Blueberry Peach Crumble

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

blueberry-peach-crumble

JoyFoodly is delighted to create recipes each month for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. Be sure to look for our recipe cards in your Northern California stores, and don’t forget to speak with your Whole Foods Market produce person when picking out your summer blueberries. They always have the best tips and easy recipes—and often offer tasty samples.

blueberries

Do you ever skip making a fresh dessert because it’s just too much trouble? Me, too. The one time of year that I truly look forward to making dessert is summer. The berries, stone fruits, and melons are so sweet as they are, that it really doesn’t take much to turn them into a satisfying dessert.

In June, blueberries are at their peak of deliciousness. That’s why we created this recipe for our Joyful 12 course and for Whole Foods Market’s ‘Now in Season’ program. I normally pop fresh summer berries straight into my mouth before they can ever make it to a dessert. But this fun, summery crumble is one you’ll want to save your blueberries and ripe summer peaches for.

What I love about crumbles is their humble origin. They emerged in Great Britain during the Second World War as a preferred dish to pies due to rations of pastry ingredients. They were also some of the first desserts our ancestors made when they came to America. They couldn’t always find the ingredients that were familiar to them back home, so they’d use what was in season with a simple crust topping. That’s my kind of cooking–easy, simple, and satisfying!

The version I’m sharing with you is not only easy, but when you see those blueberries start to bubble and ooze over the sides of your ramekins, you’ll have to hold yourself back from diving spoon first into that bubbling, sweet and crunchy dessert! Kids love crumbles, too, because it involves an element of getting your hands dirty. I highly recommend having your kids help you with this recipe. They can even lick their fingers after they are done!

mixing

oven

topping

final-crumble

Blueberry Peach Crumble
Yields 6
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
50 min
Ingredients
  1. peaches, small to medium sized, 4
  2. blueberries, 12 oz
  3. lemon, 1
  4. sugar, 1/2 cup
  5. all purpose gluten free flour, 1/4 cup
Crumble ingredients
  1. oats, gluten free, 2 cups
  2. sugar, 1/3 cup
  3. light brown sugar, 1/4 cup (lightly packed)
  4. salt, 1/2 tsp
  5. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp
  6. unsalted organic butter, 1 stick
Instructions
  1. Note on substitutions: if you are making this dish in the height of summer with very sweet fruit, you can reduce the sugar that is mixed with the fruit to ¼ cup.
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash all produce
  3. Preheat the oven to 375F.
  4. Cut the peaches into medium dice, skin on.
  5. Zest and juice the lemon.
Cook
  1. To macerate the fruit: add the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and flour to the diced peaches and blueberries. Toss well. Allow the mixture to sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Spoon the mixture into 6 small buttered ramekins, or an 8x8 buttered baking dish.
  3. Make the crumble: combine the oats, sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, and cubed stick of cold butter in a bowl. Rub the mixture together with your hands. When the butter has incorporated into the oat mixture and it is the size of peas, stop mixing.
  4. Sprinkle evenly over the fruit.
  5. Place the ramekins on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and bake uncovered for 35 minutes at 375F, until the tops are browned and crisp and the juices are bubbly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

This recipe is included in Chef Hollie’s Joyful 12 Kitchen Learning Lab, which just went live! Sign up now to join other families in a year of seasonal eating.

Learning Lab

Sign Up for the Joyful 12!

Dreamy Creamy Strawberry Whipped Fools

by 2 Comments

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

strawberry fools

JoyFoodly has recently partnered with Whole Foods Market in Northern California to help get families cooking together each season. The new Now in Season program at Whole Foods will feature one seasonal produce pick every month, and JoyFoodly is creating fun family recipes with those fruits and veggies. This month is strawberries, and we’re starting out with an easy strawberry recipe that’s full of fun and kitchen science lessons!

Have you ever seen the joy on a child’s face when they make homemade whipped cream? They shake and shake and shake. You can see how focused they are trying to get that thick liquid cream to turn into a solid, yet fluffy, whipped cream. It’s magical.

strawberries
whipped-cream

And there is nothing better than berries dipped in homemade whipped cream, is there? Right now, my favorite berries for dipping are strawberries. These bright red juicy berries are perfectly sweet and tangy when they are in season. To pick the best berries when you’re in the store or at a farmer’s market, you can look for a few indicators:

  • Look for shiny, plump, red berries with fresh looking green caps.
  • Try to avoid strawberries that have partly white areas, as they will not continue to ripen after picked.
  • Smell the strawberries! They should smell very fragrant and sweet.

did you know

Remember: you can always talk to the produce person in the grocery store if you aren’t sure about something. I know the produce people at Whole Foods Market by name, since I’m always asking for their inside tips and suggestions! We also made a little video to give you some tips on prepping strawberries:

One of the simplest ways to dress up this glorious berry for a special treat is to pair it with a little homemade whipped cream. Making whipped cream with kids is one of my all-time favorite ways to teach science in the kitchen. What makes all that shaking turn a liquid into a solid? Here are a few things I love to share with kids, and so can you:

  • You need full fat whipped cream. It’s the fat molecule that we need to bind to the air that we are whipping into the liquid.
  • Brrrr….make sure the cream is cold, the jar is cold, or the bowl and whisk are cold when you start. A cold fat molecule is more stable and will bind to the air quicker once you start beating.
  • If you shake long enough, you’ll get butter! At some point, if you keep shaking you’ll make butter, so it’s important to pause every now and then and check for soft peaks in your whipped cream. What happens is the air molecules and fat molecules create a structure that’s too much to support. When that happens, the butterfat liquid will separate and you’ll get clumps of a solid and a little liquid…the beginnings of butter!

You, too, can turn any ordinary day into a magical experience with your kids in the kitchen with just a little shaking, some delicious strawberries, and a sense of adventure! See our technique timeout for how to make whipped cream, and learn how to make Strawberry Fools with the recipe below!

tto-cream

click to see our technique timeout and learn how to make whipped cream!

fools

Dreamy Creamy Strawberry Whipped Fools
Serves 4
What’s a Fool? It’s a traditional British dessert that’s a dream to eat in spring or summer. To make a fool you mash, or “fouler”, fresh fruit and then gently blend it with airy whipped cream.
Save Recipe
Print
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Prep Time
10 min
Cook Time
10 min
Ingredients
  1. Strawberries, fresh, 12 ounce basket
  2. Orange, fresh, 1 (approximately 3 tablespoons juice from the orange)
  3. Heavy cream, ¾ cup
  4. Vanilla, 1 teaspoon
  5. Powdered sugar, 1 teaspoon
  6. Mint, a few sprigs
Prep
  1. Take 5 minutes to get out all your ingredients, measuring and cooking equipment needed, and place them on a cookie sheet within easy reach.
  2. Wash and hull strawberries. Cut strawberries into large dice by first slicing them down the middle, then cutting strips and dicing the strips. Place in a medium sized bowl.
  3. Zest orange and place zest on top of diced strawberries. Juice orange and add it to strawberries. The acid from the citrus will help macerate the strawberries.
Cook
  1. With a fork, mash the strawberries until most are smashed but some pieces are left whole.
  2. Make the whipped cream (see step-by-step images here): place the heavy cream, vanilla, and sugar into a mason jar and close the lid. Ask a child or family member to shake the jar until the cream forms stiff peaks. It will take between 3-5 minutes of vigorous shaking to turn that liquid into whipped cream gold.
  3. Be sure to check your jar periodically as you are shaking, so that you don't over whip the cream. An over whipped cream is very grainy and on its way to becoming butter.
  4. In the bowl that contains the strawberries, gently fold 1/3 of the whipped cream into the strawberries. To fold: slowly and lightly use a spatula to make long, delicate turns with the spatula when blending in the whipped cream. This will keep the dish light (not deflating the air bubbles you’ve just trapped into the whipped cream). Then, gently fold the remaining cream into the strawberries.
  5. Have your kids help you put the “fool” into individual fancy glasses and chill in the refrigerator until you are ready to have dessert. You can garnish with a sprig of mint. Enjoy!
JoyFoodly http://www.joyfoodly.com/

Technique Timeout: Homemade Whipped Cream

by 1 Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

whipped cream

Making your own whipped cream sometimes feels like a well-kept kitchen secret: no one thinks of doing it, but it’s so easy and tastes so much better than the store bought version! I love making whipped cream with kids because they love to see thick cream become fluffy right before their eyes. All they have to do is shake!

To make your own whipped cream, place 3/4 cup heavy cream, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and 1 teaspoon powdered sugar into a mason jar and close the lid. Ask a child or family member to shake the jar until the cream forms stiff peaks. It will take between 3 to 5 minutes of vigorous shaking to turn that liquid into whipped cream gold.

Here’s a handy step-by-step guide to help you start making the best whipped cream you’ve ever had:

whipped cream

Chocolate Pecan Pie

by Leave a Comment

Facebooktwittergoogle_pluspinterestmail

pecanpie

If you’re not a pumpkin pie fan, raise your hand. I grew up in the South where pecan pie was a staple at any family gathering.

We take this familiar and loved dessert to a whole new level with a layer of rich dark chocolate. For your Thanksgiving meal, make this unbelievably easy and delicious pie. Your family will be thankful you did. 

And for an extra special touch, make these beautiful Sparkling Cranberries from Yummy Mummy Kitchen. They were featured in this month’s Southern Living Magazine, ya’ll.View Recipe