After an incredibly busy week, the weekend arrived and it was time to have fun. My children had a birthday party for me and we all had a wonderful time. All three of my daughters arrived at various times on Friday and spent the evening getting everything together for the party. It was carried out on a Hawaiian theme, as sometime in August, God willing, I will get to go to Hawaii for the first time in my life. The family all wore Hawaiian shirts or dresses, as did many of my guests. My daughters, granddaughters and I had flowers for our hair and leis to wear and the guys, well, they sort of decided not to wear flowers in their hair!
It wasn’t a surprise party, however, I had several very pleasant surprises as the guests began to arrive! One of my longest and dearest friends from Devine arrived with her daughter. My brother and his family arrived next and while I knew that his daughter was going to be with us, I had no idea her brother from Alabama was anywhere around! It was a wonderful surprise and then they told me that the other brother was on the way also to add to the fun. This nephew brought his teen-age daughter with him, so that was another pleasant surprise. Just about the time I had finally quit crying happy tears, I looked up and the young man who had lived next door to me all of his growing up years and his wife arrived, and the tears started all over. It was wonderful to have all of these surprises and of course other guests were arriving at the same time, and getting to move around and visit with as many as I could. Luckily, I was able to do that, and even more luckily, Mother Nature behaved herself and we had a gorgeous day. I am writing this on Sunday around noon, and it has been raining off and on since about 6:30 this morning!
Now, all the company is gone, the house is back in order, the beds are all changed and remade, the kitchen is clean and as soon as this is finished, I will go take a nap! This Sunday we had breakfast after Mass and I was one of the hostesses so I had to be at the church early. We had a good crowd, and when I got back to the house, I still had plenty of time to visit with the daughter, son-in-law and grandson who were still here. All I can say is “Thank you God for a totally wonderful weekend with family and friends”!
According to my neighbor’s son, who plays baseball for Cuero, they played in Poteet on Saturday and it sounds as if the Strawberry festival was in full swing. For many years my granddaughter took me to Poteet for the festival for my birthday and we always had a wonderful time. Some years it was just three or four of us who went and other years, we had half-dozen or more.
In case you got to go to the festival, here are a few recipes to use with the fresh strawberries you brought home!
Strawberry Pie
1 baked pie shell, or a vanilla ready-to-use crust
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup water
6 teaspoons cornstarch
7 teaspoons strawberry gelatin
1 pound, cleaned, hulled, fresh strawberries (divided usage)
Whipped topping
Bake pie shell according to directions on package and set aside to cool. Mix together, sugar, water and cornstarch in pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly until thick and clear. Add gelatin, stir well until it is thoroughly dissolves and set aside to cool.
Cut strawberries into quarters or slice (save 8 of the nicest strawberries and leave whole for garnish) and place into prepared pie shell. Pour cooled cooked mixture over berries and chill thoroughly. Serve slices with whipped topping; garnish each serving with a whole cleaned berry with the stem on. Makes 6 to 8 servings.
Strawberry Angel Food Cake
1 prepared Angel food cake
1 large box of sugar-free, vanilla instant pudding
1 can (20-oz) crushed pineapple
1 cup coconut
1 pound cleaned, hulled fresh strawberries
Slice Angel food cake cross-wise into three slices. Set aside. Mix together, instant pudding, crushed pineapple and coconut. Set aside. Clean strawberries and set aside. Place bottom slice of cake on serving plate, top with 1/3 of the pudding mixture, slice fresh strawberries on top of the mixture. Place center layer of cake on top of strawberries; top this with 1/3 of the pudding mixture and slice strawberries over it. Add remaining layer of cake and top with sliced strawberries OR use berries that you have cut in half, placing them around the edge of the cake, cut-side down.
Strawberry Jelly Roll
Prepare pan: Line a jelly roll pan (cookie sheet with sides), with waxed paper cut to size, set aside.
3 large eggs (2/3 cup)
1 cup granulated sugar
5 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sifted flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pint strawberries, cleaned, hulled and sliced
1 carton (8-oz), whipped topping
Preheat oven to 375ºF.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt and set aside. Beat eggs until thick and golden, gradually adding sugar, beating well after each addition. Beat in all at once the water and vanilla. Beat in all at once, the sifted dry ingredients. Beat just until smooth with no lumps remaining. Pour into prepared pan. Place pan in preheated oven and bake just until cake tests done. Usually takes about 12 to 15 minutes.
While the cake is baking, place a clean, cotton cup-towel on a table or your counter top. (If all of your cup-towels are terry cloth, use a clean 20-inch square from an old sheet). Lightly sprinkle with powdered sugar and when the cake comes out of the oven, immediately turn out onto prepared cloth. Peel waxed paper from back and roll the cake and cloth together, starting at a narrow end. Allow to cool wrapped in the cloth. Mix together the berries and whipped topping, unroll the cake and spread the mixture over the cake. Carefully re-roll, chill a couple of hours and when ready to serve, cut into slices. Makes 8 to 10 servings.
Strawberry Cream Cheese Cobbler
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) butter
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 quarts whole strawberries, capped and washed
4 ounces cream cheese, cut in small pieces
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and pour into a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. In a small bowl, mix together the egg, milk, flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pour directly over the butter in the baking dish, but do not stir.
Add the strawberries, arranging in a single layer as much as possible. Sprinkle cream cheese pieces over strawberries. Place in preheated oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until top is golden brown and edges are bubbling. (Crust rises up and around the fruit, but fruit will still peek out of top.) (I cut the cream cheese into very small pieces and then placed them neatly over the strawberries. You can’t actually ‘sprinkle’ cream cheese!).
Also: The strawberries that were available to me at HEB here in Yoakum were nearly the size of a golf ball, so I cut them into quarters or smaller, and the berries I had on hand were smaller, so I just cut them in half. This is really delicious and everyone loved it.