I have a major sweet tooth.  Unfortunately, my waistline doesn’t appreciate me keeping sweets all over the house, so I make myself work for it if I’m craving a little dessert.  After finding this recipe though, I realized you don’t have to work too hard to make something yummy!

Strawberry Mint Shortcakes

Recipe adapted from: Bite by Michelle

Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup cold butter, divided into eights
• 2/3 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 45o*F

Sift together flour, baking powder, salt and sugar and place in large mixing bowl.

Using a pastry blender (or two forks in my case) cut in butter until it resembles a coarse meal. Stir in chopped mint.

Add buttermilk and stir until combined.

Place dough on a floured board and knead 5 times.

Roll out to 1″ thickness (although mine turned closer to 1/2-3/4″ thickness and they turned out fine!)

Cut cakes out (I used a drinking glass because I didn’t have any cookie cutters) and place on a parchment/Silpat lined baking sheet.

Prepare an egg wash of 1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon whipping cream…brush tops of cakes with egg wash then sprinkle with sanding sugar (I didn’t have sanding sugar on hand, and it was fine without… but it would definitely amp up the sweetness and presentation).

Place in oven on bottom rack and bake for 12 minutes or until golden.

Top with sweetened strawberries and whipped cream.

Whipped Cream

I was too lazy to pull out our Kitchenaid mixer so I tried a new technique that I learned at the Gold Rush fair in 4th grade/also saw on Pintrest.  I wasn’t sure if it was going to work…. but low and behold it did!

Just pour Heavy Whipping Cream into a large mason jar, add some sugar, put the lid on (tightly) and shake 5-10 minutes. I assigned J this task while I prepared the strawberries.

After about 7 minutes it prepared a light and fluffy whipped cream and minimal clean-up was involved!

Strawberries

I just chopped strawberries into small bites and sprinkled with sugar.  Let them sit for as long as possible (they recommend up to 2 hours)… mine was for about 2 minutes (oh well!).

* So I didn’t really take many pictures, because I honestly didn’t think this was going to work out… but despite the corner cutting, missing tools, and adjusted ingredients this still turned out!!

If I had to eat one “genre” of food for the rest of my life, it would probably be Mexican.  If I had to list my top 5 favorite foods – 3 of them are staples in Mexican cuisine (ie. avocados, cilantro, limes)… so that may have something to do with it.  So in honor of Cinco de Mayo I wanted to share one of my favorite happy hour staples.

 Homemade Guacamole

*Smash 2 ripe avocados with a fork, then add in a handful of chopped cherry tomatoes, 1/2 jalapeno, 1/3 white onion,a handful of finely chopped cilantro and lime juice of one lime.  Season with salt.

Homemade Tortilla Chips

* Slice the tortillas into eighths and heat 2 cups of canola oil in a pan over medium heat (feel free to use a larger pot if you don’t want the oil to splash on your stove top).  Use tongs to scoop handfuls of tortilla slices into the hot oil.  Cook until golden brown and crispy (about 20 seconds on each side).  Remove tortilla strips from oil and place onto paper towel lined racks.  Sprinkle with salt.

Homemade Infused Tequila Shooters

I bought these awesome Shot Glass Ice Cube molds this week and filled them with homemade infused Pineapple Jalapeno tequila shots.  Can’t wait to have these in full force this summer… Bottoms up!

Yesterday we enjoyed a lazy Sunday at home and what better way to celebrate then through a fun menu!?  Unfortunately lazy Sundays usually result in me wanting to be – LAZY, so luckily this menu took about 20 minutes to whip up.  Muy bien!

We enjoyed Rachel Ray’s Beef Tostadas with Beans and Pickled Veggies (you really CAN count on her for 30 minute meals 🙂 with icy cold Coronas (salted rim and squeeze of lime!).  Tune in later today to see what we snacked on during the Sharks game!