Summer Fruit Salad with Lemon and Mint

It’s hot this week.  Like 100 degrees hot.  Which means spending time in water (if you can handle the heat then), or spending in in air conditioning (if you can’t).  Either way, this salad needs to be on your menu.  Maybe even twice every day, it is simply that good.  The mint and lemon simple syrup adds an amazingly refreshing quality, and I am considering making it for every fruit salad I ever make in the future. 

You can definitely stray from the recipe here.  Add any fruit you want, although I think the watermelon needs to stay.  I also found that the syrup (for me) was enough for two salads.  You can decide what is enough for you!

 I liked the strength of the mint, but if you aren’t too sure, only steep one or two mint sprigs in the syrup, and skip the mint garnish.  My husband thought it was a bit strong, so I will skip the garnish next time I make it.

Which will probably be tonight.

Summer Fruit Salad with Lemon and Mint
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¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
3 sprigs fresh mint
1 lemon, zested
Juice of 1 lemon
Dash of salt
3 cup cubed watermelon
2 cups fresh blueberries
Chopped mint (optional), for garnish

Bring water and sugar to a simmer in small sauce pan.  Remove from heat, and add mint sprigs.  Cover and steep for 10 minutes.  Add lemon zest, juice, and dash of salt.  Toss with fruit, and let stand 15 minutes (I refrigerated it at this point). Top with chopped mint and serve.

Source: Food Network Magazine

I'm Back...

I apologize for being gone so long!  We were camping for two weeks, and while I had planned to post during that time, my photos were not uploading properly, and, really, who wants a recipe without a photo??  I will have new recipes later this week, but for now, this is some of what we cooked while camping.

Cherry Cream Cheese Hobo Pies (at least that's what we always called them--is that offensive???)

Classic Pizza, probably my favorite.

Marshmallow and Reeses.  That was pretty good too!

Grilled Chicken & Avocado Pizza--there's a recipe coming for this one, it is one of my favorites!

 Of course we had LOTS of these...

Shortcakes

I was able to go pick strawberries with my mom, sister-in-law, and cousin this past week.  We had three 3-year-olds with us, and we were able to fill our baskets surprisingly quick with very little distractions!  We also had very little help from the three-year-olds, but at least they didn't keep us from picking  :)

I know I've already said this, but I just love summer and all of the fresh produce and berries that it brings.  You could use any fruit (or even a combination of your favorites) with these shortcakes, and not go wrong.  Try blueberries, raspberries, or peaches!  When you make a batch of shortcakes and freeze some, you can simply reheat however many you want, and serve it up with whatever fruit you have on hand.  What a great, quick and easy summer dessert!

Shortcakes
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2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for dusting tops
4 tsp baking powder
12 Tbs cold butter, cut into squares
2 eggs, lightly beaten
8 oz light sour cream
1 tsp vanilla

Berries and ice cream or freshly whipped cream to serve.

Preheat oven to 425*F. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
Combine flour, sugar, and baking powder in a medium bowl.  Using pastry blender, cut in butter until mixture resembles large peas.  Stir in eggs, sour cream, and vanilla, just until mixture is moistened.  If it still seems dry, add a little bit of milk, 1 Tbs at a time, until combined.

Scoop 1/4 cup of batter for each shortcake, spacing 2 inches apart on baking sheet.  Sprinkle each shortcake with some sugar.  Bake 12-14 minutes, until deeply golden on top, rotating pan halfway through.  Let cool slightly, then cut in half horizontally to serve.

Store extras in the freezer, then thaw and toast (sliced in half) in toaster to reheat/crisp.

Lemon-Garlic Roasted Chicken