Mmmm Mmmm Monday- on Tuesday. Red White & Blueberry Pie

Better late than never, right? I was hoping to get this up before the 4th as it's the PERFECT dessert for those holiday bbq's, but my life has been a whirlwind lately. More on that in another post.
Anyway, this tasty dish is from Pampered Chef's Delightful Desserts cookbook. I got this book when we were stationed in England about 4 years ago so I don't know if it's even in print anymore. If you can find it somewhere GRAB IT! There are so many mouthwatering desserts in here that you'll forget about your diet!!

(Photo from PamperedChef.com)
Here's what you need:

1/2 pkg (15 oz) refridgerated pie crust (one crust)
1 qt fresh strawberries
4 squares (1 oz each) white baking chocolate
1 pkg (8 oz) reduced fat cream cheese, softenened
3/4 cup cold milk
1 pkg (3.3 oz) white chocolate instant pudding
1 and 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 cup frozen light whipped topping, thawed


~Preheat oven to 425*. Let pie crust stand at room temp for 15 minutes. Gently unfold onto a lightly foured surface. Roll to 11.5". Place crust into a deep dish pie plate, pressing the dough into the bottom and up the sides. Prick bottom & sides and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely.
~Rinse strawberries and pat dry. Select 8 strawberries as close to identical as possible and cut in half through the stem ends. Set aside for dipping in chocolate. Hull and slice the remaining strawberries using an eggs slicer.
~Melt white chocolate in microwave on HIGH for 1 minutes, stirring every 10 seconds until chocolate is melted and smooth. Do not overheat. Dip strawberry halves in melted chocolate and place on a sheet of parchment paper, cut side down. Refridgerate 15 minutes or until chocolate is set.
~Scrape the remaining chocolate over the bottom of the prepared pie crust, spreading evenly to coat the entire bottom & sides of the crust. Then layer on the sliced strawberries.
~ Beat cream cheese in a mixing bowl until smooth. Gradually whisk in milk until well blended. Add pudding mix, whisk until mixture begins to thicken. Spread mixture evenly over strawberries.
~Arrange blueberries evenly over the top of the pie filling. Using a pastry bag or decorating tool (with a star tip) filled with whipped topping, pipe topping evenly around the edge of the pie. Place dipped strawberry halves on whipped topping border. Refridgerate until ready to serve.

Mmmm Mmmm Monday: Strawberry Bread

Inspired by our trip to the Strawberry Festival and all of our yummy, fresh strawberries, I searched high and low for a quick & easy recipe to utilize some of our juicy red berries. There were so many to choose from, but being the instant-gratification loving momma that I am, I picked this bread so that it could bake while we were eating dinner. That, and I already had all the ingredients on hand.

Well, almost all.

Halfway through my preparations, I realized that I only had one egg, and none of our neighbors were home to borrow from, so Hubby ran to the store to grab some for me. Thanks Hubby- you're the best!

Anyway, on to the recipe! Hope you enjoy this bread as much as we did!

Yep...that loaf is history now.

Strawberry Bread
2 cups fresh strawberries, washed and hulled
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup butter (or shortening)
2 eggs
1/3 cup water
1/2 cup chopped walnuts *we excluded these because I'm not a big nut person*

Crush strawberries. Pour into a small saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Once boiling, cook for one minute, stirring constantly, then remove from heat and let cool.

Preheat oven to 350*. In a medium bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder. In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and butter together and then add the eggs and water, mixing until light and fluffy. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, mixing well to blend. Stir in the crushed strawberries and walnuts. Spoon the mixture into a greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove loaf and set on a wire rack to cool completely.

Cut into slices and serve topped with softened cream cheese and strawberry slices.

Strawberry Pickin'

Today, the kids & I met up with some good friends and headed out to Boone Hall Plantation for their annual Lowcountry Strawberry Festival. We picked strawberries, the kids went on some rides, and we all had some deee-licious freshly churned, homemade strawberry ice cream.

As you can see, the kids were pretty worn out by the end of the afternoon, and fell asleep only minutes after we got into the car.