Coastal Oaks

We are at the height of STRAWBERRY season. Strawberries are so juicy and wonderful. They go great in a variety of items: cakes, smoothies, salads, their scents in candles and other fresheners etc.... The US is the top producer of strawberries even though France was the first country to grow the garden strawberry. These little berries are a good source of vitamin C, flavonoids, folate, potassium, dietary fiber, manganese and antioxidants. So here is your excuse to have few berries as a guilt-free snack! After a visit to the local Farmer's market (which will be featured in a later post) I had a big bowl of strawberries that were peaking in ripeness. Our Mother's day dinner was coming up and I wanted to use these berries... resulting in this recipe. Hope you like it! Our Moms' sure did!   Strawberry Cheesecake Squares 3 pounds fresh strawberries, sliced 1 (32 ounce or 4 cups) heavy whipping cream 2 small (or 1 large ) boxes of cheesecake flavored Jello pudding 1 (14...

When someone in our family has a birthday or special occasion we usually celebrate by going to a restaurant or a meal at the house. My Cheesy Chicken Enchiladas are on the top list of most requested meals for these types of occasions.  If you'll remember my first post HERE "Sunrises with a Slice of Cheese", I love cheese. These enchiladas are full of a delicious creamy cheese sauce that is finger-licking-good!  One year I made a New Years resolution to make something new in the kitchen at least once a week. I was pretty young and inexperienced so this was a lofty goal at the time. I kept it up for about a month then chicken nuggets with a new sauce was "trying something new" in my opinion. However these enchiladas were apart of that experiment so as of today I do consider that resolution a semi-success.  There is no such thing as extra cream cheese lying around at our house going to waste.  Have you ever tried that Nechefel cheese? It is supposed to ...

My head taste tester (the hubby) would not stay away from the batter of these cookies! I have to admit it tasted like chocolate pudding. He literally was swiping whole spoonfuls. I had to start fending him off by whipping my spatula at him. I packaged up these cookies and gave as Mother's Day gifts. These are the same as the Lemon Cookies you may have previously viewed HERE . I like the chocolate version too! Chocolate Crinkle Cookies 1 Box chocolate cake mix 1 egg, slightly beaten 2 cups cool whip (8 ounce container) 1/2 cup powder sugar Preheat oven to 350. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick spray. In a large bowl, combine cake mix, egg, and cool whip. The batter will be very sticky. Using a spoon form dough into tablespoon balls and roll in powder sugar then place on baking sheet.  Bake 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden. remove and cool.  Yields: about 24 cake cookies

So I have been an emotional wreck lately over doggies. If you even slightly you know me, you'll know that anything dealing with a dog will bring me to my knees. First case: As I'm driving to work over the 610 bridge I see a dog trotting along and scared beyond belief. Of course I pulled over and tried to help the dog. My faith in humanity was slightly restored because many others at least stopped so they would not hit him. Oh, it just tore my heart out. Even though I acted radically I would hope that if it was my dog someone would do the same to help her. Case two: my wonderful neighbor is a foster mom for a golden retriever rescue organization. We meet many of her "friends" and of course my dog befriends them as well. So this week she got a new friend that we heard was in a car wreck and one of his leg's had to be amputated. Granted he has adapted wonderfully and very happy; I just broke down sobbing like a baby and hugging this dog while I gave silent prayers th...

Every once in awhile I try and get crafty. I found a picture of a beach themed wreath that you could display all year. I loved it so much I thought, I could make that. After a few modifications and sore fingers I produced the wreath below. I hung it up this weekend. Hopefully it will take the weather and few knocks from girl scouts.  Makes me want to put some sand on my doorstep! Ha!

Welcome back to the Sunshine! She's been absent all week. Perhaps she had allergies too....  Well She is back with bright rays this morning! Hopefully shining down some hope on us given the past few sad days.  May safety and peace be with Boston. 

This week our yard is exploding in bloom! I never thought I would get giddy with joy seeing something I planted actually bloom. It's the small things in life..... Well we could look at it this way.... those pretty blooms made me forget for just a split second about taxes... blasted taxes. Every year my Dad and I get our Publication 17 and study up on deductions. Pathetic I know but I feel like I work hard for my paycheck and I don't like giving it away. Enough about boring taxes and back to blooms.  I do have a plant dilemma and maybe one of you are an expert in this field. We planted what we thought was a lemon tree 2 years ago. Its about 6 ft tall and very healthy looking. It keeps getting little white flowers on it but still no lemons. I've heard some species of trees need a complimenting one that pollinates it so it will bear fruit. Is that the case here? Or did we maybe buy a dud? Or did the store label it lemon but I really just got a normal tree? Or maybe it takes ...