Strawberry Shortcake

It seemed like the perfect compliment to our grilled veggie burgers last night.  I don't know if I've ever had real strawberry shortcake before.  Growing up, my mom would buy lady fingers or sponge cake dessert shells in the bakery at the grocery store, and we'd fill them with strawberries and top them off with Cool Whip.  The old-fashioned version was also a wonderful treat.  The recipe came from Cooking Light, and definitely one I'll add to the line up.  I like how the shortcake was sweet...I expected it to taste more like a biscuit and was pleasantly surprised.  Not the most beautiful presentation, but trust me, it was very good! 

I can make a decent whipped cream from scratch, but I prefer to use Cool Whip.  There is such a huge difference in terms of calories and fat, and personally, I prefer the taste of Cool Whip.  For me the only downside is appearance...cool whip just doesn't look as light and fluffy as the real thing. 

Pumpkin Bread & My New Dowel

Since it's officially fall, I wanted to make a 'fall food'.  I've never made pumpkin bread before.  Actually, I've never even tried pumpkin bread before.  I like pumpkin pie, but I think that's probably the only food I've ever eaten with pumpkin in it.  So I manned up to the challenge and whipped up a batch.  


Obviously, pumpkin bread is a quick bread.  I found a recipe from Cooking Light for Spicy Pumpkin Bread.  It was a success (kind of).  

While there were no disasters, it was just kind of boring.  I was proud of myself because I included a vanilla glaze on top that was not included in the recipe.  Personally, I think the vanilla glaze was the best part.  The recipe made 2 loaves, but I only made one and froze the rest of the batter.  Today I plan to make the second loaf, but I'm going to add cranberries to make it a little sweeter, and I want to try to make a vanilla icing on top instead of just a glaze.  


I have been trying to avoid making too many cookies, since it is not really outside my comfort zone.  But I just got a new rolling pin, or dowel if you want to be fancy about it, so I had to try it out.  Here is the result:  

So cute, I know...  :)  
Stay tuned for my revised Spicy Cranberry Pumpkin Bread!