Dear Blog,

My my, it has been a long time.

If blog neglect were a crime then I would be guilty as charged.

Although I suspect you can’t really call it “neglect” as you have never been far from my mind.

I think about you all the time, little blog.

It’s just that sometimes there are so many other things that pull me here and there that there just isn’t enough time.

And it’s not that I haven’t been cooking and baking, I have. To be honest, though, activity in the baking department has been minimal thanks to the stunning heat wave we’ve been subjected to.

While it’s subsided somewhat, up until a few days ago Toronto was melting. Melting!

And in that state of unpleasant meltinginess (my new word), I found myself facing a dilemma:
How to make something sweet without turning on the oven?

Fortunately, this is very easy.

Take some roughly chopped Ontario strawberries and puree them with a bit of water and a bit of sugar and lemon. Swirl the puree into a massive bowl of freshly whipped cream (slightly sweetened with icing sugar).

This is called a “fool“. It’s a dessert of fruit puree mixed into wipped cream. How foolish of me that I never tried it before.

And if you happen to have some meringues lying around, you could crush them and add the bits to your “fool” and then you’d have an Eton Mess.

So this is what I did during the unpleasant meltinginess.

And you see blog, I made it through. And I’m back.

Ciao!

Simple Strawberry Fool
Serves 4

1 pint strawberries, washed, hulled and roughly chopped
1/4 cup water
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp lemon juice
2 cups heavy cream
1 tbsp. icing sugar

In a small pot, combine the strawberries, water, sugar, lemon zest and lemon juice. Bring to a boil and then cook until strawberries have broken down a bit and you have a slightly thick fruit sauce (about 10 minutes).

Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature and then refrigerate for at least an hour (it’s important the fruit puree be cold when added to the whipped cream - you could do this step the day before).

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the heavy cream and icing sugar. Whip on high speed until the cream is very stiff.

Gently add the strawberry sauce to the whipped cream and carefully mix a few times (you want to create a swirl effect). If serving immediately, spoon the strawberry fool into individual serving dishes. Otherwise, refrigerate until ready to serve. (Note: To make an “Eton Mess”, crumble up some meringues and gently mix those into the strawberry/cream mixture and then serve.)

Enjoy!

I hope everyone is enjoying a tremendous holiday season. I certainly had a great Canada Day and as often happens in life, my family got a reminder of what’s important: your loved ones.

This is a short Magazine Mondays post and it’s all about the simple and good things: pastry, hand-picked strawberries, pie and lots of family and friends to enjoy it with.

This particular pie is the Strawberry Pie from the June/July 2011 issue of Saveur.

As always, I’m joined by some folks who have tackled their magazine piles:

Tina of Life in the Slow Lane at Squirrel Head Manor made Tortellini Amatriciana from the October 2010 issue of Redbook.

Jan from Kitchen Heals Soul made a cookie tart with strawberries and basil yogurt from the magazine Ricardo.

Have a great week, everyone!

Ciao!

I want to wish all my fellow Canadians, wherever you are, the happiest of Canada Days!

I hope it’s full of good weather, smiles, pie and strawberries!

Ciao!