'Tis the Season for Wrap-Making

Seasons.  I am so thankful that there are seasons in life.  I know in Tennessee, we really get to experience all of the seasons of the year while in other parts of the country/world the shift is not as obvious.  There is great therapeutic value for me in living life by seasons.  Forming and maintaining rituals in these sections of the year gives me something to look forward to and to ground me.  Robert Fulghum, in his book From Beginning to End: the Rituals of Our Lives states,
"... for everyone of us, there is still an annual cycle of personal seasons.

A productive time and a fallow time.

A time to generate new ideas and a time to make them work. 

A time to invest and a time to sell.

A time to get organized and a time to let go. 

A time to get in shape and a time to be lazy. 

This paradoxical swing of the rhythmic pendulum of life is not to be ignored or disallowed."

Spring is my favorite. I am so thankful for the vibrant green of grass and trees and the blossoming of flowers, the wearing of flip flops, and enjoying being outside.  

This week I have been engaging in some of my springtime rituals. It is April and that means it's time to plant.  So, we have tended our little garden, and bought ferns to hang on the front porch. We have planted some things and we'll see what happens.  (Last year I wrote about my very amateur gardening skills. READ HERE if you want to hear how a not-very-green-thumb gardens.) When I start to feel overwhelmed by the pending weeding and watering of the next few months and am tempted to call the garden thing off, I remember last year and the bounty that our little garden produced.

Having jars of Zinnias and daisies to have in my house, take to people, and even put on a friend's fall birthday cake make it worth it!

and tomatoes for days... 

this bounty was the harvest from our garden before the first fall frost

And Spring also means fun, zippy, fresh food.
This past week
I made my first Key Lime Pie of the season.
When Becca made Baked Alaska for Easter Lunch and used 1/2 dozen egg whites and left a nice bowl of egg yolks for me, I was inspired to make the Key Lime, since it calls for lots of yolks.  (If you are ever in a similar situation, where you have remaining yolks, hang on to them and make a key lime pie!)  Asher and Dave were especially happy.




And I made some WRAPS for lunches, and it made me excited about picnic food.  My sister brought a couple of creative wraps over from a sandwich shop last Friday and we split them: one was a turkey strawberry wrap and one was hummus and veggie.  Lucy loved the veggie one with crunchy lettuce and cucumber being her favorite parts and I especially loved the turkey strawberry one.  It prompted me to make some for lunches this week. A wrap seems much more exciting than an average sandwich, don't you agree?

Dave has been a wrap fan for years! When we would go on vacation, Dave would always ensure that we had tortillas so that he could wrap up whatever was leftover from dinner into a tortilla and heat it up for a midnight snack!  We are believers in throwing all kinds of things into a wrap!

Here's what I do.
Open my fridge and pull out every POSSIBLE thing that I could put in a wrap, look in my fruit bowl and see if there are any fruits of vegetables that could work,
and think about what flavors would be compatible,
and then pile all of those items into a tortilla,
and wrap them up,
and there you have a tasty, convenient, transportable meal!
I tend to like wraps that are like a hand-held salad.

Last summer we were having sandwiches and salads for a dinner meeting at church.  I thought of making wraps because you can make them beforehand without ruining the bread and they seem a little more exciting for a dinner sandwich.  It worked out.  They were a hit – with kids and adults.

You can make them really basic or get creative and more gourmet!
You can make them all the same or custom make them and label them when you pack them up.
You can serve them with different dipping sauces.
You can make big ones and cut them in 1/2 or you can make regular sized ones.

I must give credit to my dear friend Connie who taught me much about picnic-ing.  Back when we would go to the park or go to the YMCA to swim and picnic, Connie taught me.  She picnicked in a big way.  She brought leftover pasta for us to share, and she brought wraps for the kids, often times.  She brought containers of cut fruit: melons, berries, whatever she had.  She brought plates and forks and served the meal.  It was so much more exciting than individually wrapped PB and Js. I adopted her picnicking practices immediately!  It's fun when you picnic with friends and you both do this.  Melissa and I will coordinate as to who's bringing the main dish, who's bringing which fruit, and who has time to make a batch of cookies to bring.  We find that our kids would rather eat what their friends have in their picnic than what they brought (no matter what it is), so we might as well do this "family style".


Here are 4 wraps we love.


1. Smoked Deli Turkey/Havarti Cheese/ Green Leaf Lettuce
with honey mustard on the side for dipping.

2. The Manly Wrap with co-jack cheese, turkey and bacon.

3. The Grilled Chicken Salad Wrap

This week we had some leftover grilled chicken tenderloins from dinner.  I added salad greens, cucumbers, apples and crumbled goat cheese, salt and pepper.  (I tossed the meat with some balsamic viniagrette before putting it in the wrap so that it wouldn't get the wrap soggy by pouring on the dressing, but would add the touch of dressing to the mix. It worked.)

 grilled chicken tossed with vinaigrette 

4. And my PBPB&S (Peanut Butter, chopped Peanuts, Bananas, and Strawberries) – inspired by strawberry season last year! (Or it's delicious without bananas- it's like PBJ on steroids)!

So in honor of spring. Plant something, make a key lime pie, make some wraps, and by all means, have a picnic!  I suggest you look deep within your fridge and start pulling stuff out that looks like the makings of a sandwich: meat, cheese, cream cheese, lettuce, fruits, veggies, nuts, seeds, dressings, condiments, etc. and see what creative concoction you come up with.

wrapped and ready for a picnic

Strawberries Are Here!

Strawberry season is here.

It’s time to pick.

It’s time to buy.

It’s time to eat them!

During this prime strawberry season, my family pretty much eats strawberries at every meal!

the gift on my porch

A couple of weeks ago, I got a text from my sister letting me know that there were freshly picked berries on my porch- to look for them!  What a fun and welcomed surprise!  She and her kids had gone picking at a nearby berry patch and brought us some to enjoy. YUM!  

lucy & the basket of berries in the patch

We, too, went on a strawberry picking adventure last year, and are going to try to get picking in the next several days.  Have you ever been picking?  It is so fun.  Our family loves picking all kinds of produce:  blueberries, apples, strawberries and peaches (my favorite to pick).  Check your chamber of commerce to find a list of local farms that are open to public pickers and what dates each product is available.  We have learned, that at times, the fruit can be as pricey, if not more, than at our grocery, so beware.  The benefits are the experience, the freshness, and supporting local farmers.  


Strawberries have shown up a lot lately on our table. Here are a few examples :

Breakfast- yogurt/granola/berry parfaits and waffles with berries and whipped cream

Lunch- PBJ & S  or PBPB & S (peanut butter, peanut, banana, & strawberry) sandwiches- or wraps!

and Dinner- strawberry green salad or fruit salad, 

and of course, dessert with berries: We had Poundcake with berries and whipped cream on Saturday and Strawberry shortcake- the classic strawberry dessert, on Monday.  

There are many variations on "strawberry shortcake", from angel food cake with berries and whip, to poundcake, to the spongy cake sold in the grocery.  But the "original" is made with a sweet biscuit, not unlike a scone, with berries and whipped cream sandwiched between or poured on top.


Strawberry shortcake parties became popular in the United States around 1850, as a celebration of the coming of summer.  I love this!  I think I might start having an annual strawberry shortcake party.  


According to kitchenproject.com, shortcake gets its name from the use of shortening or butter in the dough. The name "shortening" for butter or lard comes from the term "to shorten"- a 15th century term which meant "easily crumbled", probably because its fibers were short, unlike bread.


Strawberry Shortcake:

The Biscuit (adapted from Everyday Food Magazine)

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)- I used 1 cup regular, 1 1/2 cups white whole wheat 

1 stick cold, unsalted butter

1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sugar

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  In a food processor, combine flour, butter, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder and salt; process until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Add milk; pulse just until moistened- 4 or 5 times. Do not over-process.  Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface. With floured hands, gently pat dough into a 4 X 8 inch rectangle.  Dust a large knife with flour; cut dough into 8 squares.  Transfer to a baking sheet.  Sprinkle with remaining sugar.  Bake until golden, 20-30 minutes (depending on the heat of your oven). Cool on baking sheet.  

patting out the dough

slicing the dough

golden brown

The whipped cream:

I have loved fresh whipped cream for as long as I can remember, but I will never forget the first time I saw the miracle of a pint of cream becoming a bowl of fluffy, sweet whipped cream.  I went to my friend, Hannah's house when I was in graduate school and she made key lime pie for dessert.  She said she was going to whip some cream to put on it.  She attached a wire whisk attachment to her Kitchen Aid mixer, poured whipping cream in and let it go full speed, and I beheld the glory of the whipping of the cream.  She poured a few drops of vanilla in and a hefty spoonful of sugar and voila! I've never been the same since.

whipping the cream

The berries:

It is best to prepare (wash, hull, slice) the berries,  and add some sugar so that they are sweetened, and let them sit for a while before serving.  The juices and the sugar also create a nice sauce.  You can add a couple of splashes of orange juice too if you'd like.

Assembling the Shortcake:

Split the biscuits in half with a serrated knife.  Layer with berries and whipped cream.  Gobble it up!

Some tips for the berry season:

Berry Care:

You will really benefit from sorting through the berries when you get home from the store.  One or two rotten berries can spoil the entire carton if they are left un-tended (I have learned this the hard way). If you find rotten spots, cut those parts off and salvage the rest.  Use them first!  If you find berries that are "too ripe" put them in a plastic bag and store them in the freezer for making smoothies.

Now whether or not you should refrigerate the berries is debatable. “They” say you shouldn’t refrigerate, as it will change the berries- shrivel them and make them soggy.  However, it can extend the life of the berries as well.  What are your thoughts on this one?

Stain treatment:

When eating lots of berries you might need some tips for how to treat berry stains in clothing, especially if you are as messy as some of the people in my house are. It is high risk for berry stains over here.  

My mom, the stain queen, as we lovingly call her, has found a great remedy for these highly acidic, strongly colored stains.  Distilled white vinegar and liquid dish soap.  Pour some of each on top of the stain and rub into the stain BEFORE washing the garment.  Leave it soaking in the vinegar and soap for a little while.  Rinse and see how effective it was.  You may have to give it two rounds, but if you see that the stain is changing in color or reducing in size that is a good sign that it is reacting and you should continue with the treatment.


Enjoy the bounty and beauty of this season of strawberries!  Let them inspire you in the kitchen this month!