Strawberries Galore!

My new obsession has become strawberries- bad for Dave since he's allergic but good for me and the neighbors cause there is more for us! :) Sorry honey! Last week I went to Aldi though and got a pint of strawberries for $1 each!!!! WHOA NELLY! Since they go bad pretty quickly I have frozen them and I thaw them out as needed.

The strawberry shortcake cookies were AWESOME! I used some fresh strawberries from the grocery store cause the thawed ones turn to mush and juice when they thaw, you need firm strawberries for the recipe. Also, I used the coarse salt as instructed but I think when I make them again I will use regular salt since one of my bites I took had a large chunk of salt and it tasted kinda strange. If you like your cookies super sweet, this might not be the best choice because they do have some tartness because of the berries. They are a great summer treat! Can't wait to make them again!

Another thing I made for Monday was Strawberry Lemonade. This was a HUGE hit, and a lot easier than I thought it would be. Since I had the mushy strawberries I thought I would put them to good use! I found the following recipe online and it was pretty good once I made a few adjustments.

Strawberry Lemonade
2 cups lemon juice (if you do all fresh lemons it takes about 16- I used 2 fresh lemons and used lemon juice for the rest)
1-1 1/2 cups strawberries
1 3/4 cups sugar
Zest of 2 lemons (zested before I juiced them)
5 cups cold water

In a medium saucepan make a simple syrup by putting sugar, lemon zest and 1/2 cup water in the pan and heat on medium- simmer 5 minutes until sugar dissolves. Cool completely.

Squeeze the lemons juice and put all lemon juice into a gallon pitcher-set aside. Place berries (best used is the mushy thawed ones!) and 1 cup water in a blender. Process on high for several seconds until all strawberries are pureed. Be careful not to do what I did and make it frothy!

Sieve the strawberry puree through a mesh strainer or cheese cloth (didn't do this and wished I had) and add it to the lemon juice. Then add the simple syrup mix and stir. Here is where you can adjust your taste. I added a little more water to dillute it because it was pretty thick. Just add water to your taste. :)

Hope you get a change to try either the lemonade or the cookies. Let me know how they work for you!