berries

Remember in high school when you were forced to take a career aptitude test? You had to fill in little bubbles with #2 pencil, answering questions like “Do you enjoy completing the same task repeatedly?” and “Do you put others’ needs before your own?”

A few weeks later you were handed a list of possible careers. While my friends ooohed and aaahed at the prospect of becoming doctors and legal aides, I stared down at my own results list.

Jenny Puckett

Score: 0

Possible Career Matches: none

Likelihood of living in a van down by the river: 100%

“Well, shit,” I thought. “I guess I’m not suited to do anything.”

Yes, it’s a crap test. No, it won’t actually tell you what you’re going to do with your life. Because if it had any powers of prediction it would have said:

Jenny Puckett

Score: Awesome

Possible Career Matches: One Billion and a Half

Likelihood of crafting fabulous desserts: 100%

Take my newest creation, for example. It combines the creaminess of cheesecake with the chill of ice cream. It has a crunchy graham cracker crust, requires no baking, and is so easy to make a toddler could do it (mine did).

All you’ll need are a few waxed paper cups and popsicle sticks, along with sugar, whipped topping (Cool Whip), raspberries, cream cheese, butter and graham crackers.

Place the graham crackers in the bowl of a food processor.

Pulse several times until fine crumbs form.

Melt the butter, pour it over the crumbs and squish together with your fingers until the crumbs are thoroughly moistened.

Scoop one heaping tablespoon into the bottom of each cup (or have a tiny helper do this part. It got messy but she was in seventh heaven).

Press the crumbs down firmly into the bottom of each cup. The more compact, the better. Lucy’s tiny pink “wine glass” was perfect for this step (yes, I find it weird that my 2 year-old has pretend wine glasses, too. I have no idea where they came from).

Stick them in the freezer for at least 15 minutes or until the crust is set.

In the meantime put the cream cheese, raspberries and sugar in a large bowl.

Blend with an electric mixer until smooth.

Fold in the whipped topping…

…and use a large freezer bag with the tip cut off to squirt the filling into each cup.

Insert the popsicle sticks into the center of the filling, careful not to push too far and break the crust. This is such a fun dessert to make with kids. Lucy was so proud of herself.

Stick ‘em all in the freezer for at least an hour before serving.

When you’re ready to eat, simply tear away the cup and you’re good to go.

These are so creamy and light, with fresh raspberry flavor and great texture from the crust. They’re such a fun, easy dessert—we’ll be making batches for the rest of the summer with blackberries, peaches, cherries and nectarines. They would be so fun for a party, too, as an alternative to cupcakes or ice cream cake.

Take that, career crap-titude test. I’m a dessert genius.

Raspberry Cheesecakesicles printable recipe

This is a fun, easy summer dessert that’s great for parties. Substitute your favorite fruit or combination of fruits to make your own flavor! Makes 8 popsicles.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Freeze Time: 1 hour 15 minutes

7 graham crackers to yield 1 c graham cracker crumbs
3 tbsp butter, melted
8 waxed paper cups, 9 oz size
8 popsicle sticks
1 c raspberries
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature
1/3 c sugar
8 oz whipped topping (Cool Whip)

1. Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until fine crumbs form. Using your fingers, mix crumbs with melted butter until thoroughly moistened. Pour one heaping tablespoon of crumb mixture into each cup and press down very firmly. Freeze cups for 15 minutes or until crusts are hardened.

2. In a large bowl beat together raspberries, cream cheese and sugar using an electric mixer. Fold in whipped topping. Pour mixture into large freezer bag, cut off tip, and squeeze filling into cups. Insert popsicle sticks into center of filling, being careful not to pierce crust. Freeze for at least one hour before serving. Carefully tear away paper cups and eat.

Berry season is officially upon us. I don’t know about your neck of the woods, but our long, wet, cloudy spring delayed the ripening of those beautiful berries. It was torture. I even got pissed off and made shortcake with oranges.

But now they’re here. They’re ripe. And we picked ‘em.

Happiness is lifting a tangle of vines to find a family of blood-red strawberries underneath.

For every berry she put in the basket, one went into her mouth. She had a ball. And when we got home we made freezer jam and pie with our bounty.

Local berries are tricky that way—you have to use them immediately. But for others, I have a little trick to keep them fresh longer.

Take blueberries, for instance. They come in those easy plastic containers, and it’s tempting to just rinse them and stick the whole thing in the fridge. But doing that will shorten the life of your berries.

First, give them a good rinse.

Then spread them out on a clean towel and let them air dry. They should be completely dry to the touch.

Next, put them in a container that has a tight-fitting lid.

Place a clean, dry paper towel over the berries, close the lid, and store in the refrigerator. Change the paper towel daily as it’s there to soak up moisture that likes to rot the fruit. Your berries will stay fresh much longer!

What are you going to make with summer berries?

-RDG