Supposing you have one of these in the family...
pic: Fausten Tuyambaze on Unsplash
And you've been called upon to host an open house. What to serve?
Finding ourselves in exactly this situation,
...her sister and I have come up with the following menu:
- Crudite platter with green goddess dressing and hummus;
- Fresh fruit salad;
- Ye olde crackers, salami, and cheese tray;
- Homemade ham-and-cheese croissants and pain au chocolat;
- Lemon cheesecake bars.
We're expecting at least two vegans (hence the hummus and fruits and vegetables), and the last time I served Market sugar snap peas and the dip combo, everyone was quite happy. Why wheel out the supermarket carrots and celery, when you can offer sugar snap peas, snow peas, local carrots and cucumbers, and even hothouse cherry tomatoes from the Bellevue Farmers Market? And why serve those giant, tasteless strawberries in their clamshell container, when the Market is overrun with these:
We've been eating the strawberries plain, sliced in salads and morning cereal. I haven't gotten around to freezing any yet, but it has made me crave fresh strawberry pie. I don't know about you, but I still remember when Marie Callendar's was a tasty little restaurant chain of a few shops, and one of my favorite offerings there was the seasonal fresh strawberry pie. (I don't recommend you order it now because the crust is horrible and the strawberries are the awful clamshell kind, but back in the day...)
Anyhow, if, for your own graduation open house, you opt for fresh strawberry pie instead of lemon cheesecake bars, here's a recipe from a Texas church cookbook that I thought sounded like the pie I remember:
Fresh Strawberry Pie
1-1/4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp cornstarch
3 Tbsp strawberry Jell-O (probably for food coloring and consistency and sugar boost)
1 qt fresh strawberries
1 baked 9" pie shell (I recommend making your own)
Bring the first three ingredients to a boil until liquid is clear. While hot, add strawberry Jell-O. Add fresh strawberries to cooked mixture and pour into pie shell. When serving, topped with generous dollops of whipped cream.
The Market, of course, has all kinds of baked goods, if you don't want to make your own. It's just that my youngest and I happened to take a croissant-making class for her birthday at Whisk in Bellevue. I highly recommend it, and you come home with lots of your handiwork!
Needless to say, the picture doesn't do them justice
So skip the run to Costco this year, and treat friends and family to food worthy of the occasion!
pic: Baim Hanif on Unsplash
