Let’s face it, Valentine’s Day is a heavily commercialized and consumer driven day where people spend either a little or way too much. I’ve always been a fan of homemade, whether it’s a card, dinner, sweets or personal gift. In my humble opinion, a gift which truly comes from the heart is what really hits you in the heart strings.
“Food is symbolic of love when words are inadequate.” — Alan D. Wolflet
ropping into a store and buying something last minute is easy when you’re strapped for time, I get it. Perhaps this week’s fit to eat idea will give you some inspiration as it’s easy to make, easy to assemble and easy on the bank account. Anyone can make this — seriously! I wouldn’t leave you astray on the day of love.
Say “I love you” with devilled strawberries. We’ve all heard of devilled eggs — how about deviled strawberries? No, they’re not similar in taste in any way. The only similarity is, like the boiled egg whites, they’re stuffed with a delectable goodness. And no, these strawberries aren’t just stuffed with whipped cream — it’s a mixture that will make your drool on the first bite and everyone after. The filling is so, so, so, yummy. If I was to make a comparison, I’d liken it to cheesecake filling.
“Current relationship status: Made dinner for two. Ate both.” — Unknown
Valentine’s Day is what you make of it — it is how you choose to celebrate or show love to someone else or yourself. That’s right! There’s nothing wrong with showing yourself some love and treating yourself to these delicious lovelies. What do you need? Abut eighteen large strawberries, one tablespoon of lemon juice, two thirds of a cup of sugar, one teaspoon of vanilla, eight ounces of cream cheese, one cup of heavy whipping cream, one third of a cup of sour cream and a garnish of your choosing. You can use anything from chocolate shavings or graham cracker crumbs.
The first step is what takes most of the time but like most things, you’ll get the hang of it after a couple of goes. Cut the tops (green part) off the strawberries, cut them in half and then scoop the strawberries out a wee bit to ensure it can hold the filling. If you find some or most of the strawberries don’t rest on their backs and fall to the side, cut a little off the back to even it out.
Take your lemon juice, vanilla, sugar and cream cheese and beat it in your mixer. Beat the heavy whipping cream in a separate bowl. Once both are thick, fold the cream cheese mixture into the whipping cream.
Depending on the baking tools you have on hand, you can fill a piping bag with the mixture using a star tip and fill the strawberries. If you don’t have a piping bag, no sweat my love! Take a sandwich bag, cut the corner off and fill away.
Last but not least, sprinkle your delicious homemade deviled strawberries with a garnish of crushed graham crackers, perhaps chocolate shavings or maybe you like them simply just the way they are.
Actually, if you want to make it even easier on yourself, prep your strawberries and make the filling the night before. Then, all you have to do on Valentine’s Day is assemble.
You can serve deviled strawberries on a plate or get a little creative and place them in a gift box. Completely up to you. Whomever you gift these deviled strawberries, they will no doubt appreciate your time and effort. And if it’s not typically something you would ever do — they’ll be completely surprised. I love the unexpected and I’m getting excited for you just thinking about it.
“I’m going to spend Valentine’s Day with my true love, food.” — Unknown
Love is in the air. The love of food, that is! However you choose to celebrate, have a Happy Valentine’s Day foodie friends. Thankfully, I am now done writing this column and will be digging into these in, in 3, 2, 1…
Erin Sulley is a self-confessed foodie who lives in Mount Pearl. Instagram: @erinsulley
