Sunday Cook: Frozen Fruit Squares

Welcome to Sunday Cook, I have a very yummy dessert for you today!

But first!

HAPPY 145th BIRTHDAY TO CANADA!

Today, Sunday July 1st is Canada Day.

I cannot BELIEVE timing sometimes. Last night on my way to and from Gold Pan Provincial Park - where I travel to once during the evening to clean, empty garbages and register campers, I drove by a man walking along side of the highway.

No big deal - right?

Wrong.

I knew he was what I call - A WALKER.

I had wished that I had waved to him.

This morning, Derek, Cassia and I were over at the day use area across the highway to look around and empty the garbages. Just as we were leaving who should appear! 

Yup - THE WALKER.

His name is Bram and Bram is from Holland.

Looking pretty good for 71 years I'd say - Bram that is. You can see the gear that he pulls behind him.

I call these people walkers because that's just what they are doing. No bicycles for them. Last year we had one walker stay at Skihist for the night. The next morning as we were driving up she was walking down. I stopped so that we could talk to her too. She was about the same age as Bram - walking from the Shuswap area to Vancouver. 

WoW! You have to admire them.

We spent some time talking with Bram. He has walked ACROSS CANADA - from Halifax. Now, I don't think he has walked the ENTIRE way - he buses it at times. Amazing non the less. He averages about 35 kms per day. 

The neat thing about talking to Bram today was his love for Canada! The main reason is because at the end of WWII, when he was 4 years old, it was the Canadian Troops that liberated Holland. Now - you may not know this but both my parents are from Holland as well. The fact that the Canadians liberated Holland also had a HUGE impact on my mom, 4 years older than Bram. So much so that she immigrated to this fine country back in the 60's. While in Ontario, Bram even went in search of Veterens to talk to and thank, he says he talked to a few in Oshawa. 

WoW! 

We had a great little visit. We took pictures of him, he took pictures of us! As we were headed out he came over and gave us a little Delft Blue dish to give to my mom. So nice. I know that my mom would want Cassia to have it so we passed it on to her. One day I'll share both her Oma's and Bram's stories with her!

Sunday Cook day - let's get too it.

Todays recipe was actually in keeping with the theme of Canada's Birthday because it is red and white - Frozen Strawberry Squares. I didn't want to steal a picture so if you want to see what I mean visit She Wears Many Hats for the original recipe.

Sadly, when I was in Lytton this week to pick up some strawberries they were really bad - and I mean bad! So, I had to go with my back up plan of using the frozen berries we keep in the freezer for smoothies.

So, here we go.....

Frozen Fruit Squares

1 cup flour

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup almonds, chopped (other chopped nuts can be substituted)

1/2 cup melted butter

2 egg whites

1/2 cup granulated sugar

10 fluid ounces whipping cream

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries, crushed mashed (or other berries)

I've been on a nut kick lately - I LOVE snacking on them at night. So - I had almonds on hand - a quick chop and they were ready.

Place flour, brown sugar, nuts and melted butter in a bowl and stir.

Here's my cute little assistant stirring for me.

Until this consistency. Spread in an 8" x 8" pan. Bake at 325ºF for 20 minutes. Stir a couple of times. Cool. 

Beat egg whites and granulated sugar until stiff.

Beat whipping cream until soft peaks form. I put my glass bowl and beaters in the freezer for a bit. Do you do this too? My mom always did that so I do it too!

Yummm - fresh whipped cream.

Here are the frozen berries - I just chopped them up.

Hmmm - seems I had a blueberry thief!

Gently combine beaten egg whites, whipped cream, lemon juice and berries. 

Once the crumb mixture is cool, evenly press 2/3 of it in the 8" x 8" pan to create crust.

Spread the berry mixture over the crust.

Sprinkle remaining crust/crumb mixture on top.

Freeze for 3 - 6 hours.

Cut in squares and serve.

Man oh man is this good! I HIGHLY recommend trying it this summer. 

We were all pretty impressed with me tonight!

I like this recipe so much I think I'll start coming up with different versions - hmmmm - how about chocolate! 

We don't always buy ice cream, although we all LOVE it and would LIVE on it if we could. But it is a bit expensive and well, we don't HAVE to have it - right? Derek and I did own and run an old fashioned sweet shoppe - The Mortlach Sweet Shoppe - where we sold REALLY good ice cream - MacKay's Ice Cream from Cochrane Alberta.

So, it's not like we haven't had our fair share - I mean - we did have to sample - right?

The Frozen Fruit Squares seem to be the perfect substitute!

{And Richard if you are reading this - I DID get your last 2 comments in my email - they just don't show up here on the blog - I have NO idea why. Anyway, thanks for those - I TOTALLY agree - it doesn't really matter how much it costs to raise a child - the experience is PRICELESS! Thanks for putting that into perspective. I checked your blog but didn't see a way to get a hold of you! :) T}

Enjoy!

Teresa

Today's Interesting Link: I just came across this site today - Dessert Now, Dinner Later. It seems like a fitting link for today's Sunday Cook and my kind of blog. Although it sure looks like there is a whole lot more there then just desserts!

Be a Fan