Fresh Raspberry Cream Cakes

This recipe is adapted from Cottage Living magazine. This is a pretty simple recipe, and it never fails to impress guests. Great presentation. Saucy Sally prefers it with strawberries replacing the raspberries.

Rating: 4
Servings: 12 cupcakes
Prep: 20 minutes
Freeze: 3 hours
Stand: 15 minutes

1 cup graham cracker crumbs
3 tablespoons butter, melted
2 cups fresh raspberries, washed and drained
1 (8-ounce) package reduced-fat cream cheese, softened
1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
1 1/2 cups fresh whipping cream

1. Insert cupcake liners into 12 muffin cups; set aside.

2. Stir together graham cracker crumbs and butter in a medium bowl. Spoon about 1 tablespoon mixture into each liner, pressing down firmly with fingers to form crust.

3. Reserve 12 raspberries for garnish. Place remaining raspberries in food processor; pulse 10 seconds or until smooth. Reserve 1/2 cup for filling. Press remaining puree through a fine, wire-mesh sieve over a small glass bowl, using back of a spoon to squeeze out juice. Discard pulp and seeds. Cover and chill raspberry juice.

4. Pour whipping cream into a chilled bowl, and use clean beaters to beat at medium-high speed with an electric mixer for about 3 minutes or until soft peaks form.

5. Beat cream cheese at low speed with electric mixer until creamy. Add sweetened condensed milk, and reserved 1/2 cup pureed raspberries, beating until just combined. Fold in 1 1/2 cups whipped cream. (Save remaining cup of whipped cream for garnish.)

6. Top each crust with about 1/3 cup of mixture. Cover with plastic wrap, and freeze 3 hours or until firm.

7. Remove cakes from freezer; peel away cupcake liners, and place cakes on serving plates. Let stand 15 minutes before serving. To serve, dollop remaining whipped cream evenly onto each cake. Drizzle with reserved raspberry juice, and top with reserved raspberries. Store ungarnished, covered with plastic wrap, in freezer up to 2 weeks.

Farmer's Market Vegetable, Beef, and Brown Rice Salad

This recipe is one of our favorites. Saucy Sally and I make it fairly regularly. Some notes: We often forget to marinate in advance. It's not that much of a problem with this recipe. If you put the rice on to cook when you start prepping the veggies and move on from there, you should have plenty of time to get everything done (including letting the meat stand for 10 minutes) at about the same time.

Also, since we're normally having this as a week night meal and eating the additional two servings for leftovers, we've learned to only assemble half of the salad, so we don't have to heat the tomatoes and chick peas up for lunch the next day.

Rating: 4
Servings: 4
Total time: 40 minutes

Marinade
1/2 cup olive oil
4 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp minced garlic
2 tbsp honey
4 tsp fresh chopped thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper

1 lb beef top round steak (or flank steak), cut 3/4 inch thick 1 tsp olive oil
2 cups asparagus cut in 2-inch pieces
1 medium yellow squash, cut lengthwise in half, then crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick slices
3 cups hot cooked brown rice
1 cup diced, seeded tomatoes
1 cup canned garbanzo beans, rinsed, drained
1/4 cup fresh basil, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt

1. Combine marinade ingredients in small bowl. Place beef steak and 1/4 cup marinade in food-safe plastic bag; turn steak to coat. Close bag securely and marinate in refrigerator 6 hours or as long as overnight. Reserve remaining marinade in refrigerator for dressing.

2. Remove steak from marinade; discard marinade. Place steak on rack in broiler pan so surface of beef is 2-3 inches from heat. Broil 12-13 minutes for medium-rare doneness, turning once. Remove; keep warm. (Let beef stand for 10 minutes before slicing or serving to enhance flavor.)

3. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot. Add asparagus and squash; cook and stir 7-8 minutes or until tender. Toss with rice, tomatoes, beans, basil, salt, and reserved marinade in large bowl.

4. Carve steak into thin slices. Serve over rice salad.