Stoneview

An email from Tougas Farm yesterday morning reminded me that if I wanted strawberries this season I'd better high-tail it over there and get picking.  The siren call of fresh berries was strong enough to over-ride common sense and I managed to pick 9 pounds before my sore back forced me to stop. Most of them I sliced and mixed with a bit of sugar and lemon juice. They are now safely stowed in the freezer for a bit of summer in winter later this year.

In the afternoon I made a quick batch of lavender soap with some ground apricot kernel as exfoliant. I've never tried adding that before so I had to guess how much and when to add it but it worked out perfectly.

For dinner I pulled some of those veggie burgers out of the freezer. I let them thaw for a few hours and then heated them in the oven at 400F for 15 minutes, they were perfect. We had some fries and farmers market beets as accompaniment. For dessert I came up with a dish using puff pastry that we quite enjoyed.

Strawberry Mascarpone Pastry

2 sheets puff pastry, thawed
1/4 cup cinnamon sugar
2 tablespoons butter, softened
6 ounces mascarpone
3/4 cup heavy cream
pinch salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Grand marnier
3 cups ripe strawberries, hulled

Preheat the oven to 425F. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and lay out the puff pastry on these. Spread with butter and dock with a fork (poke holes all over so pastry will stay flat). Sprinkle with sugar and bake at 425F until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool on baking sheet. Mix together mascarpone, cream, salt, vanill and Grand marnier until smooth. Cut puff pastry into quarters and serve topped with mascarpone mixture and then strawberries. Serves 8.