From Scratch Baby Food

My third baby girl Gigi was just starting on baby food a few months back, when my kid sister Caley came to visit with her own baby girl.  She watched me pulling out the over-priced little jars of baby food and kindly told me that I needed to wise up and make my own. 

What?  Make my own? 

I vaguely recalled attempting it once before, yearrrrs ago.  I had saved a couple thousand of the little glass jars and for some reason thought that I needed to find a way to refill them. 

Disastrous results ensued.  It was tedious, slow, and extremely messy trying to spoon food back into the little jars.  Not fun.  Also all those jars took up way too much freezer space and were annoying to defrost.  

I never tried it again.  The convenience of the store-bought baby food prevailed.  Big time.  

Well my wise sister shared with me a much smarter approach to homemade baby food, and I love it so much that I now deeply regret not doing so with my two elder daughters.    

Balsamic Strawberry Shortcake Sugar Cookies



Perhaps using the word "shortcake" is being a bit liberal with the term, but it just felt right.

Aren't they lovely? 

Almost too darling to eat?  Maybe that's what I said before two or three disappeared. 

I'm still perplexed as to how that happened.  Ahem.

To be honest, the first time I laid eyes upon the marriage of balsamic vinegar and strawberries, I can't say that it seemed too appealing.

An initial eewww may have crossed my mind. 

But for some reason the idea lingered and kept nagging at me for a few weeks.  Weeks! 

So finally I grabbed a carton of berries and mustered up the gumption to give them a try.  I cringed a little as I poured the vinegar over the freshly sliced berries and with my P-Man casting more than a few unsubtle doubtful glances my way... The mood was tense.

And then I dusted on the black pepper.  And that's when P-Man had to just leave the room.

But there's a happy ending to this story.  When I spooned a dollop of lightly sweetened cream onto a perfectly soft melt-in-your-mouth sugar cookie and topped it all off with those marinated berries, the result was glorious. 

bite. moan. bite.

Continued in that order.

Instead of overpowering the natural flavor of the strawberries it only enhanced and brightened their flavor, and color too.  Oh the possibilities.  I'm already diabolically plotting for future mind-blowing balsamic/strawberry concoctions.  And I'm a dork.
      

Memorial Day is a comin' my friends, and these eye and mouth candy treats will impress your BBQ crowd.  Try them.  Love them.  And you're welcome.  



Balsamic Strawberry Shortcake Sugar Cookies

Recipe by Bliss From Scratch  | Printable Version

• 2 dozen sugar cookies, recipe here.  (You may not need this many, it just depends upon how much topping that you pile on 'em.)
• 4 cups whipped cream, lightly sweetened

For the berries:

• 16 oz. fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and gently stir.  Cover, and allow to marinate for about an hour. 

Spoon the fresh whipped cream onto the sugar cookies and top with the marinated strawberries.  Serve immediately.  Enjoy.

Soft melt-in-your-mouth Sugar Cookies

Everyone needs a killer sugar cookie recipe in their dessert arsenal.   

Here's mine. 

The oooper doooper secret for fabulous sugar cookies?  Sour cream.  That's right.  They're soft, moist and perfect for use with cookie cutters.  You'll never need another recipe, trrrust me.

Creamy Spinach, Feta and Bacon Quiche Cups

What happened and where have I been for the last month?  Or two. 

You may have noticed that I've been doing some dramatic remodeling.  New blog name being a major change, new logo, layout... and I'm far from being done. 

Big changes to come and I'm rawwwther excited about it. 

I'm taking myself pretty seriously these days.