Showing posts with label Sweet. Show all posts

Friday

Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust: Tutorial {SWEET}

Those beautiful locally grown strawberries sitting on your counter want to make you happy.

Here’s how they'll do it: Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust.

The strawberries you'll find in markets at this time of the year are different from the strawberries you ate a month ago. Why? Because now they taste like REAL strawberries. Sweet and seductively succulent.

Chocolate and strawberries are a natural combo, so I used chocolate wafer cookies to make the crust. You can also use graham crackers or shortbread if you prefer. I folded the strawberry puree into pillows of whipped egg white so the pie is light and airy. I've included a step-by-step tutorial after the main recipe.

Just make sure you buy locally grown strawberries. If the package says the strawberries were picked in another country, put them back and wait a few weeks longer. Fresh strawberries are in season... and you know the fresher they are, the happier you'll be.

Tutorial: Deep-Dish Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust
by Christina at Mama's High Strung blog!

1. Gather your ingredients: 1 package chocolate wafer cookies; 1⅓ cup sugar, divided; ⅓ cup melted butter; 1 lb. strawberries, divided; 1 envelope gelatin; ¾ cup cold water; 1 tablespoon lemon juice; ⅛ teaspoon salt; 2 egg whites.

Ingredients Strawberry Pie with Chocolate Crust

2. Place oven rack in center of oven. Preheat oven to 350°F.

3. Crush cookies and ⅓ cup sugar in a food processor.

4. Transfer crumb mixture to a large bowl and add the melted butter. I don’t add the butter to the food processor because it can get clumpy.

5. Press the crumb mixture into the deep-dish pie pan, including the sides (your crust will be thick). Bake 8 to 10 minutes; remove from oven and set aside to cool.

6. Remove the stems from the strawberries. Place 12 ounces of the strawberries (about ¾ of all the strawberries) and ½ cup sugar into a food processor and purée; set aside.

7. Pour water into a small saucepan and sprinkle on gelatin; soften for 5-minutes.

8. Add remaining ½ cup sugar, lemon juice, and salt to saucepan. Cook on medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often, until sugar dissolves (don’t boil!). Pour gelatin mixture into a large mixing bowl and let cool for 15 minutes.

9. Pour strawberry mixture from food processor into cooled gelatin; stir and set aside.

10. Beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.

11. Fold egg whites into strawberry mixture.

12. Keep folding until the egg whites are incorporated into the strawberry mixture. It will be liquidy.

13. Pour into baked chocolate piecrust. Use a spatula to remove all the eggs whites from the bowl.

14. Garnish with remaining 4 ounces of strawberries (you can slice them, or just put them on whole).

15. Chill pie for at least 3 hours.

Thank you, that was a yummy tutorial from Christina at Mama's High Strung blog.

Some of my favorite blog posts by her are:

Chocolate Dipping Tips

The Most Gorgeous Market in the Caribbean

Strawberry Flan (only 6 Ingredients)

Summer Corn and Black Bean Salad with Tequila Vinaigrette

How to Saute Fish

Summer Corn and Black Bean Salad with Tequila Vinaigrette - See more at: http://mamashighstrung.com/blog/2013/07/plated-served-summer-corn-and-black-bean-salad-with-tequila-vinaigrette/#sthash.S82PyjSu.dpuf

Be sure to stop by and visit her, leave a comment and check out all her recipes! Let her know you found her on SWEET HAUTE blog. Stayed tuned for more tutorials...

Enjoy!

~Be Sweet

Christina

Sweetest Haute

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Wednesday

Guest Bathroom Makeover Reveal- Ray O'Summer Sunshine

Guest Bathroom Makeover Reveal

Welcome to the guest bathroom in our home. I call this the Shot O'Summer Sunshine Guest Bathroom Makeover! Here I'm posting what I've gotten done so far, which was really easily accomplished by shopping my local retail shops and shopping in my own home (things already here)....and it looks so inviting and bright! Even though this is our guest bathroom, it is one of the main bathrooms that gets the most use so I wanted it to look beautiful every time our family uses it.

I used many things that I already had and combined them with new items I picked up during a spring sale.

Supplies:

White Towels- already had from Bed Bath Beyond

Solid Yellow Towels- Walmart $2.95

Chevron Towels grey/yellow/white- Walmart $3.95ea

Chevron Rug- Walmart $8

Cream Ralph Lauren Accessories- Home Goods $5ea

Toilet White seat cover- Walmart $7

Glass Vase- TjMaxx $2

Sticks Floral Arrangement- TjMaxx

Yellow Floral Arrangement- Garden Ridge $2 a sprig got (5)

Wrap your towels, beautiful and functional. It looks great and keeps the towels together with every use....kids and all!

This picture shows the 'before' and 'after' effect for the sink vanity area. We added a hand towel rack on the wall. I added the vanity accessories which were cream and textured with braid detail. Then the finishing touch was the flower arrangement which gives the room some interest and it actually 'works' because the ceilings are so HIGH in the particular bathroom. It brings your eye up, up, and away...

Clean and simple, yellow and grey. Cream vanity accents are closer you can see the detail....all gender neutral and just all around cheerful! The vanity toothbrush holder and liquid soap dispenser are very versatile and can be use with any design style in the future if change it up, it will fit in seamlessly. I took white ribbon and twine that I already had at the house and used it to secure the layers of plush towels. It is a nice but casual, shabby chic way to add some more accents.

Add a new plush Rug and some cozy Towels.
The muted purple rug that was there in the before picture, we already had that from our college years in a bathroom we didn't really use. The size of it was way to large for this space, the door would often get caught on it when opening and closing. This chevron Rug is fitting much more wonderfully now!

I added the toilet seat cover, which I normally do not do (this is first one ever) yet my kids tend to drop the seat and it is very noisy sometimes. This remedies that problem wonderfully.
The rug also serves a dual purpose here, it is an anchor for the toilet, and a landing rug for getting in and out of the guest shower.

Here you can see more of the entire picture than on the top image, you can see the rug peaking up from the bottom corner.

Added a tie to the towel stack over the toilet so that we didn't have a mishaps and have it fall in or just the kids taking off with them in general.

I hope you enjoyed this Ray of Sunshine redo.
Leave a comment if you have any questions or would like to share something with me about any re-do you've done on a bathroom.

What we hope to accomplish in this space in the next few months:

DIY Curtain Window Treatment
Organize Cabinet

Enjoy!

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~Be Sweet

Christina

Sweetest Haute

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Tuesday

Pink Diced Pineapple Cocktail Recipe Tutorial

Here is a wonderfully refreshing drink recipe that can be made as a mock-tail or a cocktail for your next special occasion...or for fun! I had 2 very ripe pineapple left over from a celebration that I had to make something with quick! I thought I want to make a version of the 'Diced Pineapple' drink....by popular demand. It can be made with your favorite alcohol like Orange Vodka, Malibu Rum, or Ciroc. So round up your mixologist supplies and let's get started.

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Supplies:

Pink Grapefruit Juice Italian Soda

- or Fruit Juice (citrus)

Glasses

Ice

Alcohol

- light Malibu Rum

Pineapple
Turbinado 'Raw' Sugar
Straws

Ingredients:

Pineapple: chilled and DICED

Turbinado Sugar

Pink Grapefruit Italian Soda

Malibu Rum

Step 1:

Rub rim of each glass one by one, not all at once. Dip into turbinado sugar or finishing salt or sugar of choice. Set aside.

Turbinado natural raw sugar can be found in your baking section, sometime you need to go to a grocer that has more of the specialty items in stock, rather than just the necessities.

TIP: Remember to rub pineapple on rim one by one, and dip each one in between to avoid the pineapple juice drying while you are rubbing/dipping the rest of the glasses. Raw Sugar will not stick to rim.

Step 2:

Fill each glass with as much or as little chilled pineapple that you wish. Make sure pineapple is chilled.

Step 3:

Pour alcohol to 1/4 full to 1/3 of the glass with pineapple in it. Malibu Rum, coconut flavored alcohol was used for this recipe.

Step 4:

Add the rest of the glass full with citrus juice of your choice. Pink Grapefruit Italian Soda was used in this particular recipe.

Here's what the Italian Soda looks like up close, I found it at Whole Foods Market. It says it is a sharp, tangy, and delightfully sweet authentic Italian Soda. {SWEET}

This drink can be tailored to be either a traditional cocktail or a modern mock-tail!!

You can change the choice of citrus juice to your preference, as well as the alcohol choice. Experiment with different flavors and combinations, have fun;)
Let me know if you have any questions, pleas comment below.
Enjoy!

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~Be Sweet

Christina

Sweetest Haute

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Friday

Italian Cream Soda Recipe

Cherry Vanilla Italian Cream Soda Recipe

Italian Sodas are among some of my favorite items to order when I go to an Italian Restaurant with my family and friends. Cherry Vanilla Italian Cream Soda Recipe Tutorial. It isn't too sweet like soda yet it is still refreshing and delicious to enjoy with your Italian meal to make it a little more authentic. The recipe I am sharing today is going to be one that you can make with things you might already have at home in your refrigerator or pantry. My husband and kids really liked this recipe and I hope you like it too. This recipe is also a great idea to share at a romantic Valentine's dinner, dinner party, social event, or birthday party....the flavor possibilities are endless!

Supplies:

Italian Sparkling Soda Water

Grenadine Cherry

Vanilla Syrup

Half and Half

Whipped Cream

Maraschino Cherries

Ice

Tall Glasses

Look at the example of the ingredients I used below.

Flavor choices can be switched out to create a combination that is unique to you. We already had cherry and vanilla syrup at home so I made a classic cherry vanilla flavor for this Italian soda. Other great flavors you might experiment with is mocha, raspberry, orange cream, etc....that would be amazing as an orange creamsicle flavor.

Step 1:

Place ice cubes into your glass up to about 3/4 of the way.

Step 2:

Add 1/2 cup of Italian Soda mineral sparkling water, next add 2 tablespoons of cherry grenadine, then add 1 tablespoon of vanilla syrup, finally add 1 tablespoon of half and half cream.

Here you can see the layers before it get mixed together, it has an ombre effect. You and serve it with, or without the whipped cream and cherry...at the restaurants I don't think they serve with whipped cream, I just did it because we serve these for dessert as well.

You can make a small one for the kids too!

Step 3:

Top with whipped cream, and garnish with a cherry.

These sodas were great to make your own at home because they can get a little pricey if you get everyone their individual soda at the restaurant. I made a large size for the adults, and mini size for the children. They said....it tastes like a 'tingling milkshake mom!'

Enjoy! Let me know if you have questions.