The Secret Ingredient

I found the perfect popsicle molds at World Market. They are the classic shape and they use regulation sticks, which make them better than the usual plastic handled set or even the Zoku Pop Maker in my book. I've had today's recipe in my head for a little while now.  By using coconut water you add some electrolytes to the treat (good on a hot day), plus it's sweet, but low in sugar.  I added a teensy bit of fresh ginger to the strawberries in the juicer to add a little kick.  The kids didn't seem to mind.  Here's the recipe:

Strawberry Popsicles

16 oz of fresh, sweet strawberries
4 limes (or meyer lemons, or tangerines)
2 cups coconut water 
1 tbsp sugar (optional)
1 tbsp fresh ginger (optional)

Push capped strawberries and ginger through a juicer*.  Juice limes and add to the strawberry puree, add coconut water and sugar if using.  Stir well and pour into popsicle molds.  Freeze for about 3 hours.  

* If you don't have a juicer (you should get one) you can also use a blender, omit ginger as it's will overpower the mix.  The strawberries will have seeds, but it will still be delicious!

Cuckoo for Coconuts

Ginger Spice has a new favorite treat.  Pretty much since last Halloween my kids have been sugar crazy and ask for dessert every night (not happening).  Yesterday, I had to stop in to Whole Foods and my bribe for good behavior was a treat.  I spotted the young coconuts in the section with the overpriced cut up strawberries and thought that drinking out of a coconut might just gimmicky enough to qualify as dessert. I chilled them in the freezer during dinner and put fancy straws inside. They loved it.  
Coconut water is low in sugar and hydrates. I've also read that it boosts immunity, is good for the kidneys and cleanses the digestive tract. Worlds perfect dessert?

Eat Me.

 

I will admit that I sometimes prefer brownie batter to actual brownies.  They can be so cakey, or too fudgey.  I prefer chewy with a crackly crust, a brownie that showcases the delicious flavor of the batter, with a toasty bite like a cookie.  When I read the description of this recipe, I had to give it a go, most especially because it involved sea salt. I found it yesterday on one of my favorite blogs The Daily Muse, which linked to the recipe posted on Eat.Live.Shop. which incidentally has some crazy Super Bowl food posted today...chocolate covered bacon? Yes please.  I digress. Here's today's recipe which we baked and tested this morning pregame:

Brownies with Sea Salt  

1 stick butter (8 tbsp)
1/2 c Brown Sugar
1 c White Sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 c flour
1/2 c unsweetened cocoa

Tbsp Vanilla
Generous Pinch sea salt

1. Preheat Oven to 390
2. Melt butter in pot over stove
3. Remove butter from heat, let cool about a minute, then add sugars (just use the pot as your bowl...it saves you more dishes). Mix well.
4. Add eggs, flour, cocoa, salt, and generous tablespoon-splash of vanilla, and mix well.
5. Line an 8"sq baking dish with parchment, pour in batter, and pop in oven.
6. Bake 20-25 minutes, test with a knife in the center and remove when only a few  little crumbs cling to the knife.
7. Cool one hour or overnight.

Cookie Monster

This weekend we get to go to two fun parties!  Unfortunately Jasper can't have dairy and the ubiquitous cupcake usually has lots of it. Most of the time we just get him one at Whole Foods and bring it with us, but today while at Trader Joe's we stumbled upon Cookie Butter.  For some reason, perhaps I have been good this year, it has no dairy. I grabbed a gingerbread cake mix and made mini cupcakes with the leftover fancy papers from the Anthropologist hack.  Warm the Cookie Butter just a bit and pipe onto a cooled cupcake.  Would be delicious with chocolate as well.