a story on strawberries and strawberry cake

There is something quite nice about being raised a country gal. 

While there are many reasons as to why I adore local cities, and quite possibly, why I should relocate to within Philadelphia, I can't bring myself to actually pack up from the 'burbs. There is something reassuring about passing many, many local pastures and farmlands day after day, being close to my homegrown producers who provide exceptional lineups of fresh vegetables, fruits, honey, grass-fed beef, raw milk and much more.


This bring me to my initial reason of publishing this post: gardening. My family always had a large plot of land, which boasted with a hefty planting space packed with sweet corn, tomatoes, zucchinis, carrots, green beans, potatoes, etc. Excitingly for me, a strip of our summer-time garden was dedicated to planting strawberries, making the act of strawberry picking my favorite past time of the year.


Of course, I rarely made it inside with these speckled rubies and instead, sat dirtying my behind, as I sat cozily within the garden gorging on every ripe strawberry I laid my eyes on. Really, I had little to do with the garden other than the strawberry-associated aspects of it, and the rest of my family (I think?) was okay with this.


Sadly, I can't say that now I have my own strawberry picking plot, but each late May/early June, I still horde my fair share of this gem of a fruit, trying to craft the newest baked good that best highlights this seasonal favorite.


This year? I decided to opt for a simple, sophisticated strawberry cake, prepared in a shallow springform pan and adapted from Martha Stewart, as seen on Two Peas and Their Pod.

Strawberry Cake
Cook Time: 50-55 minutes

6 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temp.

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced
2 tablespoons turbinado sugar, for sprinkling on top of cake

How-To:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease springform pan. Sift flour, baking powder and salt together into a medium bow; set aside. 

Cream butter and 1 cup sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add in egg, buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until well-combined.

Gradually mix in flour mixture. Transfer batter to prepared pan. Arrange strawberry slices on top of batter. Sprinkle raw sugar over berries.

Bake cake 10 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees and bake until cake is golden brown and firm to the touch, about 50-55 minutes. Let cool in pan. 

Serve. If storing, keep cake at room temperature, for up to two days.

happy holidays & pumpkin pie pockets galore

 (photos by Jennifer Hetrick)

As I have been bogged down slaving away over my laptop's keys, for this and that publication, my lil' food-loving blog has taken brief breaths of fresh air, but that doesn't mean I was just writing! As baking is in my blood, I couldn't bare to dismiss this time of year, embracing the best pumpkin recipes I could grasp my hands on.

From milk chocolate chunk pumpkin fluffs and brown butter iced pumpkin cookies, to my personal pumpkin pie pockets sprinkled with raw cinna-sugar dustings (all of which are seen above), I could live forever on feasts of pumpkin-infused platters, and just because Thanksgiving has just passed, I will not conclude my compulsive pumpkin puree-splashed baking sessions any time soon.

support saturday's national bake sale at a full plate

This weekend a bunch of fabulous area food bloggers are banning together to host their gorgeous goodies in bake sale, all to benefit Share Our Strength.

It's Philly's first year participating with the Great American Bake Sale and we'll alluringly set up shop in front of A Full Plate Cafe on Liberties Walk in No'Libs on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Appropriately, I will be vivaciously crafting whole grain apple pie pockets for the sale (similar to what you see below), some pumped with the deliciousness of toasted almonds and some without.

For an overview of what other online scribers are trotting, swing over to Foodaphilia's recent post.

Love to see y'all come out and support the lil' ones in need of good-for-you foods! Those who can't make it, but would love to donate, may visit here.


A Full Plate, 1009 N. Bodine St., Philadelphia, PA 19123

Naomi Strauss & chocolate chip cookies

As if I can't say it enough, my grandmother, Naomi Strauss, meant the world to me. This, of course, is why when filling out the question-and-answer from City Paper's Meal Ticket for their weekly feature, The Good Word, it was inevitable that I'd take the first opportunity I could to blab 'bout my lovely heroine.

As published a fews weeks back, I wrote:

If ever there was a baker’s hall of fame, my grandmother, Naomi Strauss, would be the star. As a Mennonite and a Pennsylvania Dutchwoman (same as myself), she crafted killer traditional sweet treats that were mixed, mashed and pinched to perfection, and I am forever grateful to her for passing on to me all that she could. With a childhood flooded with rounds of funny, shoo-fly and apeas cakes, mountains of fluffy Dutch doughnuts and delectable sweet buns and rolls, I never questioned whether I should skip a night’s dessert.


To continue reading, click here.

There was something comforting and exceptionally special about visiting my dear grandmother regularly, and without question, having fresh baked cookies always available to nibble on. It is of the norm, that a gigantic Tupperware container would be filled with her recipe of chocolate chip cookies, usually also pumped with oatmeal.

No one has ever made cookies like her, and this is not a bias opinion. However, I recommend you all, see for yourself.

Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 5 dozen

1 1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
3 eggs
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3 1/2 cups flour (I use whole grain/wheat.)
1 package (12 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup nuts, oatmeal, etc. (I use toasted almonds.)

Cream butter, sugar, eggs and vanilla until light and fluffy. Sift flour, soda and salt. Add to wet mixture. Fold in chips and nuts. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes.