Fourth of July treat: Three cheers for the red, white and blueberry

Burgers are a given at a Fourth of July cookout. But to really capture the patriotic spirit of the holiday, you'll also want to dish up something that's red, white and blue, like this luscious berry shortcake.

For the best flavor, refrigerate your strawberries immediately after purchasing them but don't wash them (under cool water, with the caps still on) until right before using.

Sugar sprinkled on top of the biscuits before baking makes them shine like sparklers. For even more flair, use star-shaped biscuit cutters.

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup sugar

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup buttermilk

4 teaspoons coarse sugar crystals

1 pint strawberries, hulled and sliced, divided

1/2 cup powdered sugar, divided

1 tablespoon lemon juice

6 ounces each blackberries, blueberries and raspberries

1 cup cold heavy cream

To make shortcakes: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine flour, sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and baking soda in a large bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk just until dry ingredients are moistened.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Knead gently 4 times. Pat or roll dough on lightly floured surface to 1/2-inch thickness.

Cut out 8 biscuits with a 3-inch floured biscuit cutter. Place on ungreased baking sheet. Brush tops with water and sprinkle each with 1/2 teaspoon sugar crystals. Bake 12 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

Make strawberry sauce by pureeing 1 cup strawberries, 1/4 cup powdered sugar and lemon juice until smooth. Make whipped cream by beating heavy cream and remaining 1/4 cup powdered sugar with electric mixer until thickened and soft peaks form.

To assemble, toss remaining sliced strawberries, blackberries, blueberries and raspberries until blended in a large bowl. Using a serrated knife, cut shortcakes in half horizontally. Place bottoms on individual dessert plates. Drizzle each shortcake with 1 tablespoon strawberry sauce. Top each with a dollop of whipped cream and about 1/2 cup berries. Place top of shortcake over berries. Serve with remaining strawberry sauce.

Serves 8.

-- Driscolls.com

(Email Gretchen McKay at gmckay(at)post-gazette.com.

QVC Genius Salad Chopper & Giveaway – Mommies with Cents

You’ve got a family reunion picnic to go to and you’ve been assigned to bring salad.  What do you do?  You could pick up a few bags of salad kits at the grocery store but why not impress everyone with your salad making skills?  The  Genius Salad Chopper will make it easy for you.  Chop, cut, and grate your ingredients right into the large bowl.  Then just snap the lid on and go!  It doubles as an attractive serving bowl.  Perfect for vegetables, cheeses and fruits, the multi-purpose prep station features two sizes of stainless steel cutting blades and two different sized graters.  The spacious 28 cup bowl eliminates the need for extra bowls or cutting boards while the tools eliminate the need for knives.  Save space, time, and effort with a Genius Salad Chopper.  It retails for around $40.

The Genius Salad Chopper is really cool.  It’s not just for salads.  You can chop apples, potatoes for fries and grate all sorts of things for soups, stews and more.  The lid has a self cleaning button that allows you to quickly remove food from the cutting blades.  The whole unit is easy to clean with the included cleaning brush but the cutting lid, bowl, and cutting inserts are all dishwasher safe as well.  I love how easy it is to use.  We do family get-togethers quite often and we have a rather large family.  I’m often assigned to salads and the Salad Chopper makes creating a large tasty salad super easy.  While I appreciate that I can make enough salad in one bowl for the whole crew, it’s also the only downside I could find to the Genius Salad Chopper.  It’s quite large and hard to store for those with small kitchen’s like mine.  I’ll just have to justify keeping it by making salads more often!

The Genius Salad Chopper Includes:

Mindy received a George Forman 20 Cup Healthy Kitchen Rice cooker .  Here’s the information from the QVC website:

Get all steamed up. Cook any variety of rice to perfection with this versatile rice cooker that serves 10 to 20 cups of rice at a time. It even performs double-duty as a steamer–the stainless steel tray is perfect for steaming veggies, fish, and more. The tempered glass lid with an adjustable steam vent allows for more precise cooking, and the appliance travels well from kitchen to table when it’s time for serving. From George Foreman.

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