Beat lemon, 1/2 cup sugar and eggs. In saucepan, combine 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch; stir in water. Cook and stir til thickened; remove from heat. Gradually beat in egg mixture.
Over low heat cook and stir until slightly thickened. Add vanilla. Cool. Fold in whipped cream.
1 ½ cups blueberries- fresh (if use frozen do not thaw)
3-4 teaspoons of flour- to toss the blueberries
12 oz. full-fat brick style cream cheese- softened
1 cup unsalted butter-softened
¼ teaspoon salt
3 ½ -4 ½ cups powdered sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
lemon wedges
fresh blueberries
DIRECTIONS
Blueberry Cheesecake::
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Lightly grease 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Wrap springform pan in double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil to prevent water from leaking in during the baking in a water bath.
To make the cheesecake pulse blueberries and cream cheese in a food processor, then transfer the mixture in a mixing bowl.
Add sugar and flour and beat until smooth and creamy. Mix in vanilla.
Add eggs, one at the time mixing after each addition just to combine, do not over mix.
Finally mix in sour cream and heavy cream. Pour the batter into springform pan and smooth the top, then place in a roasting pan. Pour boiling water in roasting pan halfway up the side of the springform pan and make sure no water drip on the batter and bake 40-45 minutes or until the center has set.
Remove springform pan from water bath, then run a thin knife around the cake and cool to a room temperature, then place in the fridge for a few hours or overnight to cool completely.
Lemon Blueberry Cake::
Preheat oven to 350 F, butter and lightly flour two 8-inches round cake pans and line the bottoms with parchment paper circles.
Sift together 2 cups flour, corn starch, baking powder and salt and set aside.
Stir together milk and lemon juice and set aside to curdle.
Beat butter and sugar on medium-high until pale and fluffy, about 4 minutes.
With the mixer running on low, add eggs one at a time and mix after each addition.
Add vanilla extract and lemon zest and mix to combine.
First add 1/3 of the flour mixture, then add half of the milk mixture, then 1/3 of the flour mixture, then remaining milk mixture milk, and finish with the flour mixture. Mix to combine after each addition, but do not over mix.
In a small bowl, gently toss blueberries with flour to coat, then gently fold blueberries into batter, being careful not to break the berries.
Divide batter evenly between pans, smooth the top and bake for 30-35 minutes, until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool the cakes in the pans for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove to wire rack to finish cooling.
Cream Cheese Frosting::
Mix the butter and cream cheese on medium speed until no lumps remain. Do not over beat before the sugar was added or may end up with a runny frosting.
Add vanilla, salt and lemon zest and mix until combined.
Gradually add powdered sugar until desired sweetness and thickness is reached. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and beat until smooth.
Assembling the Cake:
Place one layer of cake onto serving plate and top with thin layer of lemon cream cheese frosting. Place blueberry cheesecake layer and top with thin layer of frosting. Finally, top with second cake layer and frost cake with remaining frosting. Decorate with lemon wedges and fresh blueberries if desired. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes before cutting or else the cake may fall apart as you cut.
Store in the fridge.
NOTES
You can make the cake layers and cheesecake layer a day ahead. Cool completely to room temperature, then cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge overnight. The next day make the frosting and assemble the cake.
This is a packing for the beach/boat/weekend travel bag that ticks all my boxes. ☑️It’s canvas and leather. ☑️It has a doctor-bag like opening ☑️it’s sturdy and wears like iron. Oh, and it’s super cool 😎
Ingredients 3 ripe Dickey Farms peaches, peeled and diced 3/4 cup whole buttermilk 1/2 cup honey 1/4 cup heavy cream 1/4 teaspoon salt Method
Process buttermilk, honey, cream, salt, and 11/2 cups of the peaches in a blender until completely smooth, about 1 minute.
Finely chop remaining 1 cup of peaches; stir into buttermilk mixture. Divide peach mixture among plastic frozen pop molds, leaving some room at the top to allow for expansion. Cover with lids and insert wooden craft sticks.
Freeze until pops are completely firm and sticks are set, approximately 6-8 hours. To remove the pops, run outside of molds under hot water for a few seconds and remove lids. Exjoy!
I had a beautiful green ceramic strawberry pot, with 🍓plants that survived from year to year.
my 🍓decoy
I kept it on our front porch and invited guests to help themselves. There wasn’t much fruit as our summers can be brutally hot, but we thoroughly enjoyed its presence.
Well, it broke early last spring ?? and I hastily planted them into an already established raised garden bed. They took off nicely but I had a LOT of competition for the berries. I couldn’t begrudge the tiny bunnies or the squirrels, but the birds have feeders.
More plants, I thought. More plants and there will be enough strawberries to go around. The runners from the original plants obliged me and I have a nice little patch this year.
But then I saw the birds going after the berries that haven’t even begun to ripen. What to do?🤔
And THAT’s when I thought to paint some small pebbles red like strawberries 🍓. Birds don’t like pecking hard things with their beaks. They’ll peck the rocks and not like it very much and leave my soon-to-be ripe berries alone. Right? right??
My strawberry 🍓 patch WITH decoys 😂
Worth a try and if nothing else I had a good deal of fun doing it.
Like pale ghosts, a pack of white polar bears haunt a dilapidated, abandoned Soviet weather station on a small island in Russia’s Arctic far east.
This sleuth of spooky bears might have gone unnoticed on Kolyuchin Island had David Kokh, a 41-year-old Moscow-based photographer, not set sail on his long-awaited voyage to Wrangel Island last September. He shared how the remarkable encounter, and subsequent photoshoot of a lifetime, transpired.
“We sailed along the coast and covered more than 1,200 miles of untouched landscapes, villages lost in time, spots with various fauna, and seas full of life,” Kokh told The Epoch Times. “One day, bad weather was expected, so our captain approached a small island, Kolyuchin, to take shelter from the storm.”
That Arctic island, located off Russia’s northeastern coast, northwest of the Bering Strait between Alaska and Russia, is known for its polar weather station that operated during Soviet times, the photographer said. It was finally closed in 1992, but an abandoned village still stands on the island today.
Kokh described feeling a “childlike sense of excitement” upon discovering the family of polar bears huddled amidst the dismal, depressing dwellings. “The stormy wind, rain, and neglected buildings on the rocky shores all made everything appear super surreal,” he said. “Suddenly, we noticed movement in the windows of the houses. Someone took out some binoculars and we saw the heads of polar bears!”
The bears appeared like wraiths amidst eerie fog on the long-deserted island. “It was the perfect setting,” he added.
Kokh was able to capture the wildlife on camera without disturbing them or exposing himself to danger by using his Mavic 2 Pro drone camera. The drone was equipped with low-noise propellers so as to not startle the enormous bears. He employed clever tricks and maneuvers with his drone to minimize the disturbance. “I was nowhere near them so was not in any danger,” he said.
There were polar bears standing guard like sentinels; peering through windows, alone or in pairs; loitering on porches; and lounging on the lawns outside—making for a wildlife shoot of a lifetime. “The bears walked around the houses, there was about twenty animals in sight at the same time, mostly males,” Kokh said. “The females kept to the side with their cubs, closer to the shores of the island.”
Besides the thrill of the encounter and satisfaction of capturing a rare and unique moment, Kokh was able to share the polar bear photoshoot with the world on his Instagram, where it went viral. “The moment when I encountered the polar bears at the abandoned meteorological station in the Northern Chukotka was very special for me, pretty sure I will never forget it,” he said. “I’m incredibly grateful I can share this moment with people from all around the world.”
Kokh believes that a photographer’s job is to “tell a story”—His story, he adds, is one of the relationship between ourselves, wildlife, and nature.
Lots of steps to this so you’ll need an afternoon, but OH so WORTH IT.
The chicken will be falling off the bone tender.
Buffet Chicken Cacciatore
About half way done …
Goes back into the oven until sauce comes to a boil. Remove from oven. Remove the chicken, stir and place back into pan. Cover with foil and bake another hour.
★★★★★
Italian, Poultry
Servings: 4-6 servings
INGREDIENTS
Olive Oil
2 large onions — chopped
1 clove garlic
1 frying chicken, cut up
salt and pepper
2 28 oz. cans Italian plum tomatoes
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon basil
½ tablespoon thyme
⅛ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon sugar
1 bay leaf
1 green pepper — cut into strips
DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350
Cover bottom of roasting pan with olive oil. Add onions and garlic. Brown lightly. Salt & pepper chicken parts and lightly brown.
Break up tomatoes, add sugar, red pepper flakes. salt, pepper, oregano, basil, thyme, & bay leaf. Mix well. Add green pepper . Pour over chicken and let come to a boil.
Remove chicken pieces, stir sauce and pour over chicken. Cover with foil and bake one hour.
Remove foil, increase oven to 450 & bake until chicken is delicately brown. Baste with sauce, and serve with small pasta.
I’m not sure why @chefsymon, the originator of this recipe, makes it outside on his grill BUT it made me want to try it.
Homemade Cream Cheese
Looks easy enough!
Prep Time: 15 min Cook Time: 20 hr 15 min Difficulty: EasyServings: Yield: 1 cup Source: foodnetwork.com
INGREDIENTS
1 quart (4 cups) cream or whole milk (or a mix of both)
One .05-ounce packet cream cheese starter
Kosher salt
DIRECTIONS
Set up your grill for low, even heat. If using a charcoal grill, distribute the coals evenly. If using a gas grill, heat both sides.
Slowly heat the milk/cream over low heat to 86 degrees F. Remove from the heat. Mix in the starter packet, mixing for no more than 15 seconds. Allow to sit at room temperature for at least 12 hours.
The next day: Ladle the solids into a cheesecloth-lined strainer set over a mixing bowl. Gather up the cheesecloth to cover the surface and refrigerate overnight, allowing the cheese to drain and firm up.
The next day, pick up the cheesecloth and pour the cream cheese into a mixing bowl. Season with salt and stir to combine. (If you’d like a firmer cheese, continue to press.)
This one’s from an old community cookbook. I’d made it years ago but had forgotten how good it was.
I’ve tried French Onion Soup recipes from Alton Brown, from the Barefoot Contessa and (gasp) the disgraced Frugal Gourmet, among many others. I wouldn’t have looked any further had I recalled making this version. Kick it up a notch by using bone broth if you’ve got it.
SO good. So EASY. So, what are ya waiting for, make it! 😎
Prior to adding the Parmesan…
French Onion Supper Soup
★★★★★
Soups & Stews, TRIED & TRUE
Difficulty: Easy Servings: 4
INGREDIENTS
3 large onions, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup butter
4 cups beef or vegetable stock (I used beef bone broth)
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 thick slices of French bread
4 ounces Gruyère cheese, sliced
grated Parmesan cheese
DESCRIPTION
A delicious QUICK and EASY full flavored onion soup
DIRECTIONS
In a covered saucepan cook onions and garlic in butter over low heat 20 minutes or until tender; stir occasionally. Add stock and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer 15 minutes. Meanwhile, toast bread. Top each with sliced cheese; sprinkle with Parmesan. Broil 2 to 3 minutes or until cheese melts. Ladle soup into 4 bowls. Top with a toast slice and serve.
Talk2USoon 