I just had to share this turtle dove watching me as I write this post. His mate is sitting on the roof!…This turtle dove comes every day about this time to watch me. He now sits on that pergola while I type. You can see him looking in at me.
Love it!
Saturday, I went to one of our Farmers Markets and honestly, the big, juicy, red strawberries were calling my name. They were huge! And I looked at them beside the carrots and smiled because I thought they sorta looked like fatter red carrots….but shorter. OK, they did not really resemble carrots…exactly, but I couldn’t resist buying them.
After, I got home with my purchases from the Farmers Market….(If you haven’t tasted the huge Florida Sweets onions…, you need to do so! yummy!)… I put everything away and put on my “paint clothes” to continue my quest of making over our home, starting with paint. There are sooooooo many walls and doors and woodwork…but I am taking it slowly and it gives me plenty of time to think while I paint. To think about recipes and food and more food.
Very soon, my thoughts drifted towards those huge berries sitting on the shelf in the fridge. My first thought was I should make strawberry shortcake. However, I vetoed that idea because I didn’t want to cut up those nice strawberries. I mean, they were so pretty. So with each stroke of my paint brush…ideas were whirling through my head.
I thought about Spring and fresh fruit trailing on the vine and new potatoes and slender green beans. My thoughts drifted to previous vegetable gardens and how much I enjoyed working in the rich, dark soil ….really getting my fingers dirty (altho, now I use gloves when potting plants)….none-the-less….I enjoyed working with dirt and growing our own beef steak tomatoes, carrots and green cabbages. And of course I have always had strawberry plants.
I miss that part of growing veggies….but I have found that here in Florida, I almost get as much satisfaction going to the Farmers Markets to purchase beautiful fruits and veggies…and lets face it, I don’t have to pull any weeds.
Chocolate!!!! Yep, those huge berries were perfect for chocolate dipping! I was on a roll now…I knew the best scenario for chocolate dipping was in using strawberries that were at least 1 1/2 inches in diameter and these certainly topped that.
Of course I knew the Captain would certainly love strawberries dipped in semi sweet chocolate…and who doesn’t have several packages of semi sweet chocolate chips in their freezer? Or is that just me?…And I also keep white chocolate bark and dark chocolate bark in my freezer so all I needed to do was get everything assembled and start dipping strawberries. You can use a double boiler to melt the chocolate or use a heat safe bowl over the top of a sauce pan of boiling water or you can use the microwave. Just watch the chocolate closely so it does not seize up…if you use 50 % power, you should be ok.
Now here comes the fun part….I have seen kids projects in the past using crushed oreo cookies for dirt and planting candy flowers or sprinkling crumbled cookies on top of cupcakes and the list goes on.
But, how about making a parfait out of layered whipped cream and chocolate pudding and crushed cookies and then “planting” strawberry carrots? Uh huh, now we are talking!
The process is easy…
To make the strawberry -carrots look like they are growing in the dirt…make up home made chocolate pudding or you can save time and use chocolate pudding in pudding cups! Crush up a few chocolate cookies (oreos would work fine) grab the cool whip and use clear glasses or little mason jelly jars. You want to see all the levels of the “dirt”, pudding and whipped cream.
Dip the strawberry carrots in orange tinted white chocolate….recipe below and put a few squiggles on them and place in the “dirt”…serve then well chilled.
If you leave the strawberry tops on, I do believe they look like the carrots at the Farmers Market.
Ok, you might have to use your imagination a little bit! :).
Got to get back to painting….sigh!
Hugs always ……
- 1 pint of large chilled strawberries (about 9 large strawberries)
- *4 ounces of semisweet chocolate (use white chocolate if tinting orange)
- 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon of shortening (divided)
- 1 ounce of white baking chocolate
- 4 drops of red or pink food coloring AND if making the carrots, use orange food coloring to desired color
- Wash strawberries and gently pat with paper towels until completely dry. (leave tops on)
- In a microwave safe bowl (or a double boiler) melt semisweet chocolate and 1 tablespoon of the shortning at 50 % power, stir until smooth
- Dip strawberries and place on a parchment paper or waxed paper lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for about 5 minutes to set the chocolate
- While the dipped strawberries are in the freezer (temporarily) microwave the white chocolate and remaining shortening at 30 % power until melted, stirring until smooth at intervals
- Add the food coloring and drizzle over the strawberries.
- Place in the fridge and serve
- *The white chocolate can be tinted any color...if making orange carrot looking strawberries, eliminate the semisweet chocolate and use all white chocolate and tint orange. for continuity, drizzle orange tinted white chocolate over the "carrots" to give a more carrot-y look.
Unbelievable!
But Ohhhhhh sooooo good! thanks for stopping by Skylark
Kari, it looks delicious, but I’m glad I don’t like to cook anymore, or I would be as fat as a watermelon. lol
LOL Sandy….I hear ya….so you do go out to eat or order in? So many people are not cooking these days and eat out 3 X a day. They say it is cheaper and no clean up. I’m all for no clean up that is for sure. thanks for stopping by