Strawberry Smoothie
serves 2 

1 large ripe banana, cut into 1 inch chunks
1 1/2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved
3/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1. Place all ingredients in blender. Blend until smooth. Serve immediately.

This was inspired by one of Mike’s favorite summertime drinks – strawberry lemonade. I wanted a cupcake that echoed the taste of strawberry lemonade – sweet, but tart, and really refreshing.

I think this one really hit the spot. I found a recipe on  Annie’s Eats and modified it to suit my tastes. I love this! Be warned – the more strawberry and lemon you put in, the runnier the icing will be. I ended up with 5 teaspoons of lemon juice and the whole half cup of strawberries in my frosting. I wanted the flavor in there. I paid for it with runnier frosting. Worth it

Strawberry Lemonade Cupcakes
makes 12 cupcakes

For the cupcake:
1 cup and 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
3/4 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon lemon zest
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
¾ cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup milk
1 cup fresh strawberries, hulled and diced

For the syrup:
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons powdered sugar

For the frosting:
½ cup fresh strawberries
6 ounces cream cheese
9 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 2/3 cup powdered sugar
4 teaspoons lemon juice

1. Preheat oven to 325°F. Line cupcake pan with 12 paper liners.
2. In medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir together and set aside.
3. In large bowl, beat butter on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add sugar and beat until well combined. Beat in egg, scraping in sides, until well combined.
4. Add half the flour mixture and beat on low until just incorporated. Mix in milk until smooth. Add remaining flour mixture and mix until just combined. Fold in strawberries.
5. Divide batter evenly into paper lines, filling them about 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
6. Once cupcakes have cooled, whisk together lemon juice and powdered sugar for the syrup, until well combined.
7. Poke holes into cupcakes with a skewer (I used a chopstick) and pour the syrup over the cupcakes, allowing it to soak in.
8. To make frosting, puree strawberries in a food processor or blender and set aside. Beat cream cheese and butter on medium speed until smooth and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Add in powdered sugar until smooth. Add lemon juice and vanilla extract until incorporated. Mix in strawberry puree a little at a time until desired consistency and flavor is reached.
9. Frost cupcakes and serve immediately or keep refrigerated.

I kept waiting for a nice day so I could take good pictures, but Wisconsin decided to rain on my parade. Literally. Our sump pump has been running 24/7 and our yard is a lake. We now have water-front property, folks.

I love the simplicity of this recipe – it takes so little effort and time, and it’s so delicious!

Rhubarb Strawberry Crisp
makes 9 servings 

Filling:
4 cups chopped rhubarb
1 pound strawberries, hulled and halved
1/2 cup sugar

Topping:
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Mix filling ingredients together and let sit.
3. Meanwhile, mix dry ingredients of topping together. Pour in butter and stir until large crumbs form.
4. Pour filling into an 8.5″ square pan and top evenly with topping.
5. Bake 40 minutes, or until done.
6. Eat as soon as it’s cool enough to shovel into your mouth.

*Grass may or may not have made its way into this dish. I will neither deny nor confirm this. I kid. I think I picked most of it out from the rhubarb

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie
adapted from epicurious.com

For crust

3 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled solid vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces
10 tablespoons (about) ice water

For filling

3 1/2 cups 1/2-inch-thick slices trimmed rhubarb (1 1/2 pounds untrimmed)
1 16-ounce container strawberries, hulled, halved (about 3 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 large egg yolk beaten to blend with 1 teaspoon water (for glaze)

1. Make the crust: combine flour, sugar and salt in processor. Using on/off turns, cut in shortening and butter until coarse meal forms. Blend in enough ice water 2 tablespoons at a time to form moist clumps. Gather dough into ball; cut in half. Flatten each half into disk. Wrap separately in plastic; refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Let dough soften slightly at room temperature before rolling.)
2. Make filling: preheat oven to 400°F. Combine first 7 ingredients in large bowl. Toss gently to blend.
3. Roll out 1 dough disk on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter pie dish. Trim excess dough, leaving 3/4-inch overhang.Roll out second dough disk on lightly floured surface to 13-inch round. Cut into fourteen 1/2-inch-wide strips.
4. Spoon filling into crust. Arrange 7 dough strips atop filling, spacing evenly. Form lattice by placing remaining dough strips in opposite direction atop filling. Trim ends of dough strips even with overhang of bottom crust. Fold strip ends and overhang under, pressing to seal. Crimp edges decoratively.
5. Brush glaze over crust. transfer pie to baking sheet.
6. Bake 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350°F. Bake pie until golden and filling thickens, about 1 hour 25 minutes. Transfer pie to rack and cool completely.