August 2009 Recipe Theme

With a wedding in the family this month I am horribly slow on the August recipes, you will note. In our neighborhood recipe club the theme for August was Fruit. Great fruit recipes aren’t too prominent in my personal cookbook because I think it’s hard to improve on nature. What could be better than a piece of fresh fruit? But still…

Sometimes just adding some to a recipe or as a side dish in a meal is enough to add interest and utilize in season fruit. For instance, grapes in a chicken salad; apples, oranges or strawberries in a green salad; or pineapple in sauces or salsas. I love adding a little bowl of fruit as a side dish to dinner. I use melon, grapes, strawberries, oranges, whatever’s in season. A little Cool Whip, a sauce, even yogurt or just a few sprinkles of sugar on the fruit is a great addition as well.

Strawberry Freezer Jam is the best thing ever. I use it for a ton of stuff and it’s not hard to make. Mix with fresh cut strawberries in a saucepan over medium heat until warmed for the best and easiest strawberry sauce I’ve ever had or made. Use it over ice cream, pancakes, waffles, and for shortcake (biscuits, pound cake, or angel food or regular cake). And peach? Mmmm.


(I apologize ahead of time for not having exact measurements on so many of the ingredients, but it depends on what you have on hand and how many people you are feeding.)

Here are a few of my favorite fruit recipes:

Cooked Apples
Oranges and Cream
Peach Crisp (or Apple Crisp)
Banana Cake w/ Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting
Low Calorie Recipes