Favorite Children's Books - Part 3

Our book for today is Jamberry  by Bruce Degan.  This book is my husband's all time favorite childrens' book.  It is also one of my 3 year old's favorite books.  Sad thing is, we don't even own it. But that is what makes going to  the library special.  She loves going to there to get the book.  If you haven't read it It is a fun book of rhymes about berries.  Does it get any better than berries?  I think not!  My girls LOVE berries.  Needless to say, this day was a lot of fun for us. 

We started our morning eating "Nun's Puffs."  I stumbled across this recipe in my Better Homes and Garden recipe book.  This is my husband's favorite breakfast!!!

1/2 cup butter

1 cup milk (we have skim milk and it works just fine)

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

4 eggs

1 tablespoon sugar

Honey (optional)

1.  Preheat oven to 375.  Generously grease twelve 2 1/2-inch muffin cups, including the edge and around the top of each cup; set aside.  In a medium saucepan melt butter; add milk.  Bring to boiling.  Add flour all at once, stirring vigorously.  Cook and stir until mixture forms a ball that does not separate.  Remove from heat; cool for 5 minutes.

2.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating for 1 minute with a wooden spoon after each addition or until smooth.  Divide dough evenly among prepared muffin cups, filling cups about two-thirds full; sprinkle with sugar.

3.  Bake about 30 minutes or until golden brown and puffy.  Remove from pan.  Serve immediately.  If desired, serve with honey.

I don't know if it is our oven or what, but my Nun's Puffs never cook for the full 30 minutes.  They are usually done in 20 minutes or less.  This morning we ate our Nun's puffs (come on, say it out loud, you know you want to) with honey (highly recommended) and raspberries.  They were the perfect combination.

Next we headed to the local farmers market.   I was hoping to find lots of berries here but todays farmers market had a ton of veggies (that's okay because I found something for tomorrow's book, I'll give you a hint...peas).  No berries.  But thank goodness we bought a ton of strawberries from Costco the other day.  I have a recipe for strawberries that will change your lives forever.  It's that good.  Thanks to Our Best Bites.

 Strawberry Sauce

1 pint strawberries, washed, hulled, and roughly chopped

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon almond extract or vanilla

1.  Combine berries, sugar, and vanilla in medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat.  Cook for five minutes, stirring constantly and breaking strawberries up with a wooden spoon.

2.  After five minutes, remove from heat and allow to cool before blending.  When cool enough, transfer the mixture to blender and pulse until desired consistency is reached.  Refrigerate unused sauce for up to 1 week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Sometimes I buy strawberries that ripen too quickly and turn to mush before we can eat them.  If they are all mushy and nasty looking, do not fret because these are the perfect strawberries for this sauce.  Just make sure there is no mold.

Tonight we served our strawberry sauce over vanilla ice cream.  It was awesome!  In the past we have spooned it over pancakes or waffles.  One tip the book suggests is add a few spoonfuls to a glass of  fresh-squeezed lemonade for strawberry lemonade. YuM!!!

We had a berrylicious day!