casey crocker’s Lilac Lemon Fizz Mocktail

It’s me again….

…with yet another Casey Crocker recipe. This girl is so full of amazing ideas….I would have never thought to attempt a recipe that called for actual flowers, but that is the part that intrigued her=)  So when I walked into her lovely home, I was met with the warm fragrance of all the lilacs blooms she had gathered, in the bowl on the kitchen table.

Every time I visit with Casey I’m reminded of lucky I am to have a friend like her. In this fast pace world of ours it’s really hard to find the real genuine hearts in this world…and when you do, you better treasure that friendship, it’s the real deal=)

Okay on to the pictures…not that anyone was reading my rambles anyway=)

Okay I could have totally just taken pictures of these lemons….the color and lighting was perfect, but thankfully I spared you all and only shared one..

Everything good starts with sugar!

Since I’ve never made any kind of drink other than coffee and tea, I learned so much. I mean I even started a new pinterest board  and am looking forward to making some the new creations I’ve found=) thanks Casey for the inspiration!

Yeah sorry…those lemons again=) but I thought it was too beautiful not to share…

And the final picture!!!!

Perfect=)

I loved the way these turned out. Summery. Relaxing. Dreamy. I mean like seriously, sitting on the porch after ALL the photographing was accomplished. I could have sworn we were in Kentucky=) Each sipping our yummy cool drink while listening to the birds chirp. Sharing our house decorating dreams and just catching up on life happenings since we last saw each other. Sound slightly perfect?!?!? It was=)

those straws=) I know they’re perfect!

and lastly my favorite photo=) <3

So? What did you think?

Will you be trying this recipe this soon? hurry over to Casey’s blog for the recipe=)

I know I will (hopefully) be making lots of cool NEW drinks this summer. Waters great but sometimes it gets, to be honest, a little boring. So here’s to (literally) mixing up my summer drink selection up a bit=)

 

Until next time! Happy Thursday=)

casey crocker’s Strawberry Shortcake

Hey I’m back with another photography/baking session with the lovely Casey from sunshine hill chronicles. I was delighted when Casey informed me we were making strawberry shortcake this month, she couldn’t have picked a more perfect recipe…it literally screams spring in a million different languages, right? Right. This girl is such the planner and make’s my “job” so easy…all I have to do is show up on the day scheduled and then snap away. When we stop talking long enough to cook=)

Currently Casey and I only get together on our planned monthly Casey Crocker cooking day. Due to my crazy work schedule and then just our full lives. But I came to the conclusion we are going to HAVE to just hang out more often. We have so much in common, besides she’s one of those friends that I leave feeling so refreshed and happy. And who wouldn’t want to hang out with a person like that?!?!?

Casey’s method of cooking is so similar to mine…I love the fact she uses her hands as do I=)

I couldn’t help but be impressed with the fact she used heavy cream in the shortcake.  It was a lot more dense…but it sure resulted in some AHH-mazing shortcake.

I was a “genius” and decided to make this as dessert the very next day for my family, plus company. Besides Casey made it look so easy…well…to make it easier on myself I baked the shortcake in a 9x13 pan, instead of like Casey’s biscuits…

Well I put it in the oven and baked it…maybe I did have the temperature too high…but the toothpick came out clean and I took the shortcake out to cool. This was about an hour before we planned to have dinner, so I just continued with the rest of the meal preparation.

Minutes before the time we had planned to eat I was setting up the bar for a buffet style dinner (with a family this large, anytime anyone outside the family is included at meal time, this is our go-to serving style, because our table barely seats just our family=)…and with all those elbows, things could get ugly fast). I always like to include the dessert on the same table, just so “my” people would save room and not fill up on the main course. So to save time I went ahead a cut the shortcake…

…I’m so glad I did…possibly one of the worse things that could ever happen to this girl happened…

It wasn’t cooked at all in the center!!!!!

I mean it was…well I’ll just leave it to your imaginations. I went and sat on the couch for a few minutes, but after I quickly covered  the nightmare of shortcake, with a towel. Then like the 21 year old girl I am, I went looking for my mom. haha! And whispered the terrible news to her…like being not telling the disaster in a normal tone would magically make this situation any better. After she finished laughing. (another reason I love her) She and I combined our brains (figuratively not literally) to come up with a plan.

Maybe just put the entire thing back in the oven. No. Toast it. No. Just serve the pieces near the edges that were mostly cooked. That idea wouldn’t cut it either. And I didn’t have time to scrap the entire idea, I mean the whipped cream and strawberries were already prepared.

So I made an entire new batch of shortcake, giving the happy dogs, cats and chickens my first attempt. But this time I followed Casey’s instructions to the letter and they turned out so beautifully…but since I used honey (because of my mom’s preference) in it they were quite a bit more golden on top. They surprisingly finished cooking before we ate, and everyone enjoyed warm shortcake, instead of the typical cooled version…but it disappeared (mainly due to my dad…haha) My whipped cream turned out the best it ever has…if I do say so my self=)

All’s well that has a happy ending=) Everyone got their strawberry shortcake and I just sat there trying to breath. I don’t think I’ve cooked that fast in my life…no I have before, actually…I just don’t like too=)

Casey had never made whipped cream from heavy cream…it’s the only way I’ve ever done it. It was so nice NOT to be the girl squealing, for the first time=) hehe poor Casey.

They were wonderful!!! You can’t go wrong with strawberries…amiright?!?!?

And it tasted even better than the pictures turned out…if that is even possible.

And that’s strawberry shortcake=) hurry over to Casey’s blog for the recipe…I know that how my family reacted to it, I’ll be making it several more times this spring.

My mom mentioned to my dad about how I had gotten this idea from Casey and he was like you need to go over to Casey’s more often=) like more than once a month. I couldn’t have agreed with him more..but I don’t think my reasons are the same as his=)

Spring is officially here…hurry out and enjoy this beautiful weather, maybe even get a head start on your summer tan=)

Happy Thursday!!!