It's a Strawberry-Pink Kinda Week

It is strawberry season in East Tennessee. 

The big, plump, sweet and melt-in-your mouth kinda goodness that you only get to experience a few weeks each year, have arrived.

"Just picked" strawberries are right up there with "just picked" corn.  If you haven't had either you are so missing out.

Must do.
Not sure why they call the strawberries in the grocery stores "strawberries."  They are not strawberreis but something else.

You know, it is sorta like "sugar-free" cake.  "Sugar-free" is not cake.  Once you take the sugar out of cake, it becomes something else.  We should call it something else besides "cake."  What about "nake?"  N = not.  Ake = cake.  Yeah, call it NAKE which means "not cake."

Did I just invent an new word?  Watch out, we may be going viral.  You may have to start learning this word in school.

Nothing wrong with thinking BIG.

I had strawberry and pink cakes bursting out all over the place this week.  It was maddening, people.

The color pink always makes a beautiful cake but when you add "real" fresh strawberries then you have something "beyond the ordinary."

Strawberry season started with these little sweet babies.  I baked a strawberry into vanilla cake batter. I used a recipe that I found here.  A cute boy developed this recipe.  I tweaked it just a bit and it rocked.  Instead of all the orange stuff, I substituted strawberry stuff.  Simple.

Kids know cupcakes.  He called it a muffin but "we" know it is really a cupcake.  I would think his mom would allow him to eat several muffins because "they are good for you."  On the other hand, maybe he is only allowed one cupcake per day.  Maybe this recipe was his revenge.  He is like eating the heck out of what is mom thinks is "good for him" muffins but he is getting away eating the heck out of YUMMY-O cupcakes.  Smart kid.

He is cool.  I like him already.  Check out his foodie site here.

I like making up stories like that, do you?

When the hubster and I go out to dinner we may see someone who looks interesting in some way or another.  We then we start talking about who they may be, why they are there and just make up all kinds of stories about their life.

Sometimes we get a little carried away and start laughing like crazy.  To the point that people start looking at us.  Who knows, they may be making up stories about us and the reason we are laughing uncontrollably.

Try this one day.  You may AMAZE yourself by your own creativity.

If anything, you will get a good laugh and that's what counts.  That laughter thing - is good drugs man.

Okay, where was I?  Oh yeah, the strawberries and the cute boy.

I made some strawberry buttercream and did a big swirl.  The big fat strawberry on top stole the show.

But....totally don't do strawberries like this.  They leaked.  

Yes, they did. 

It was okay.  They still tasted awesome. Just a little extra sticky, sugar, juice kinda stuff running down.

If you don't want stuff running down, just don't do this.  Leave the tops on the strawberries.  Cleaner that way.

This baby girl was up next. Strawberry cake all the way. 

The filling was a little bit of vanilla buttercream, 

a little bit of fresh sliced strawberries 

and a little bit of chocolate ganache.

Yeah, baby - CHOCOLATE GANACHE.

Lots of buttercream ruffles and rosettes.  BIG buttercream happening here.

I topped it off with some pink-ish sugar and a few more "just picked" fresh strawberries.

A Sassy Banana cake just had to get in on the action this week.  

Yes, SASSY BANANA, baby.  Totally lives up to her name.

I did all this stuff to the Sassy Banana.... 

...strawberry buttercream.

...sliced fresh strawberries - just picked.

...chocolate ganache.

...vanilla buttercream.

I took a photo of the guts.  

Are you DROOLING?

I wrapped up all the goodness with a little more strawberry buttercream and tucked everything in tight.  

You know, sort of like you would do with a girdle.  

Tuck it all in tight and hope that nothing bulges out over the top, the bottom or the sides.  

Then I dressed up this beauty queen in "all butter" vanilla buttercream.

Oh my.

Drool.  Drool.  Drool.

The sweet finish to the week was this hot babe. 

She rocked it.

Okay, okay, so she bore no strawberries.

Just beauty.  

But she is pink.  That still counts, people.  Yes, it does.  Pink Pink Pink.

Okay, so she is a chocolate.  But a YUMMY-O kinda chocolate.

Remember all that chocolate ganache?

So there.  She fits in just fine.

A sassy little pink ombre number.

And with that beauty, we shall "call it a week."  

It was fun.

It was sweet.

And oh so YUMMY-O.

It happens just like that.

We love strawberries.  

Real strawberries.

So what are you going to do now?  Go get yourself some "fresh picked" strawberries of course.  

While you are there make up a story about the strawberry sales person.  

And then....LAUGH UNTIL YOUR GUT HURTS!  

(Yeah, really do this).

TTYL

Donna

xoxo