Cooking up a storm!

Strawberry Shortcake Puffs

Don’t you want to just come through the computer and eat them? Don’t worry, I posted the recipe below! 🙂

I have been on a bit of a cooking binge lately. My poor neglected son! I’ve been so busy sewing and cooking that I haven’t spent as much time with him as I should. He’ll thank me later though, when we can play extra long games of catch instead of me having to quit early to cook something for supper…right?

I’ve got the stuff I made the other day stashed away, and several other things since. Now my freezer has salisbury steaks, black bean chicken, stromboli, browned hamburger for cassroles or whatever, grilled chicken thighs, chicken cordon bleu, and sausage and corn muffins. Hopefully, I’ll be adding to it as we eat those things, in effort to keep up in this hectic time of year.

Yesterday we went grocery shopping, and I found the most beautiful box of organic strawberries that I just had to make into some sort of shortcake-type dessert. This is the first time I’ve ever seen anything from the organic section that looked bigger, juicier, and more delicious than their non-organic counterparts. Generally they seem kind of small and pathetic, so I’ve never splurged on them.

Cream Puffs
Recipe by: Pillsbury

1/2 C. hot water
1/4 C. margarine or butter
1/2 C. all purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs

Heat oven to 425°F. In medium saucepan, heat water and margarine to boiling. Stir in flour and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring vigorously until mixture leaves sides of pan in smooth compact ball, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Add eggs, one at a time, beating vigoriously after each until mixture is smooth and glossy. Spoon 6 mounds of dough about 3 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 425°F for 30 to 40 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Cool completely. Split; remove any filaments of soft dough. Fill with ice cream, whipped cream or pudding. If desired, top with chocolate sauce.

Serves 6.

It sounded a bit daunting, but honestly the recipe was easy peasy to make up. The hardest part was waiting until they were cooled! I only ended up with 5 puffs, so apparently an ice cream scoop is too big of a measuring device. Also, be sure to check them after 30 minutes, mine were perfect at that point (I used my convection oven). I didn’t remove any of the insides either, I just put some strawberries that I had sliced with sugar and a pinch of cinnamon and some whipped cream on top and added the “cap”. Delicious!