Sunday, February 07, 2010

Strawberry Tiramisu

Every year Jamey, Laura and I do our version of Iron Chef Alabama and fix a fabulous dinner to celebrate my parents' anniversary. 46 years and she hasn't killed him yet! Go Mom!

Anyway, this year, I ended up in charge of the desert. Bored with chocolate, we went hunting for inspiration and found a recipe by Giada de Whatsherface for raspberry tiramisu. Sounded yummy. Except that I hate raspberries. Bleck. But, one of the advantages to living in the South is that Florida is just a hop, skip and a jump away, and strawberries are coming into season in early February. Good strawberries just might be better than sex.
















So, strawberry tiramisu.

First, slice up about 16oz of strawberries. I quartered three-fourths of them and then halved the rest. The halves went on the top to look pretty. Sprinkle them with a couple of tablespoons of sugar and let them get happy while you work on the other stuff.
















Next, you're going to mix 1 cup of strawberry jam and 4 tblsp of orange liqueur. Something like Grand Marnier, only we used a knock off that Martin brought back from Puerto Rico because GM is $40 for the small bottle. Yikes.

















Mix 16 oz of marscopone cheese and 2 more tblsp orange liqueur.
















Then add 1/4 c of sugar and 1 tblsp of vanilla to 1 cup of heavy cream.














Whip until soft peaks form. Fold the whipped cream a little at a time into the marscapone.

Now put a layer of ladyfingers in the bottom of your dish. A trifle bowl works best, but we were too lazy to walk to Nanny's and get one, so we just used a pretty bowl.
Dab those ladyfingers with some more of that orange liqueur.
















Top with a layer of the jam...















then a layer of the whipped cream and marscapone...
















then a layer of those luscious strawberries. Try not to eat too many.
















Continue for two more layers.
Arrange some whole strawberries on top and sift on some powdered sugar to make it all pretty and.....Voila!
















Chill for a couple of hours or overnight before serving.

Just lovely.

















Yum!




















Aren't you jealous?

Friday, January 01, 2010

Reflections on a decade

On this first day of 2010, I've been thinking about how much has happened in my life in the last decade and hoping that the next ten years are just as wonderful. Ten years ago, I was newly engaged and trying to finish graduate school and plan a wedding. The wedding was lovely, the master's degree didn't get finished. That's my only real regret in life. But still, I've accomplished so much in the last ten years.

I have gotten married. Bought a house. Given birth to three gorgeous children. Written two books, even if they will never see the light of day again. Adopted pets. Buried pets. Buried a grandparent in law. Made new friends. Celebrated with old friends. Had fights. Made apologies. Gone on vacations. Sunk into depression. Lived life to the fullest.

In other words, I've lived and loved and mostly had a wonderful time doing it. I cherish every memory and hope the next ten years is packed just as full of laughter and life as the last ten years.

Happy 2010 everyone!