No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

On Saturday, Tom and I will be attending the 2016 MGS Summer Picnic, and I decided to bring a No-Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake, among other things. Since it has to chill for several hours, I made it tonight.

No Bake Strawberry Icebox Cake

• 19 oz graham crackers
• 2 pounds fresh strawberries
• 3 ½ c ups heavy cream
• 1 banana, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 tsp salt

1. Cream powdered sugar, vanilla and salt with the heavy cream in the bowl of a stand mixer. Beat until the cream mixture holds stiff peaks.
2. Spread a thin layer of heavy cream mix in a 9x13 pan just to coat the bottom.
3. Layer 5 graham crackers across the center of the pan, then 2 more, breaking them as needed to fit around the top and bottom edges.
4. Spread a thick layer of heavy cream mix over grahams and top with a hearty layer of sliced strawberries.
5. Place graham crackers on top of strawberries, then heavy cream mix, then layer of thinly sliced bananas.
6. Repeat the graham-strawberries-cream layers 1 more time (3 times total) and you should reach the top of the pan.
7. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight until the graham crackers have softened completely.
8. Top with a few sliced strawberries or whole strawberries if you desired.
9. Serve chilled.

We'll see on Saturday how it turned out.

Our Fourth of July

Mom's phone call came earlier last week, "What are you doing this weekend?" I told her I was working and she mentioned that she thought that we might get together to do a little geocaching. I told her of the plans that Tom and I had already made for July 4^th - geocaching along the C&D Canal - and would they like to join us? Talk to your Dad. I explained the plan to Dad, and invited them to come along. He'd let us know. Thursday, we knew.

We got a relatively early start, leaving shortly after 8 a.m., and between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 p.m., we had found 121 caches. Overall, it was a good time, and we got most of the ones that I had hoped for. Around 5 p.m., it started to rain, and we got soaked. At that point, we had just over 100 caches, but the next level badge on BadgeGen was 120 finds in a 24 hour period, so we cached for 5 more hours!

Having Phoon at C&D Canal

It was frustrating (arguing with the chauffer), exhausting (walking over seven miles) and rewarding (woo-hoo, 120 caches in 24 hours!), among other things. I don't know when we'll have the chance to do something like that again, so I'm glad for the opportunity.

Happy 3rd of July

Well, it was a bittersweet day for me. I decided a few months ago to leave Baltimore's Marching Ravens, and today, they were performing at the Independence Day parade in Havre de Grace. I was working, and the parade was still in progress as I left after my shift. I wanted to see everyone, but I didn't, do you know what I mean? Anyway...

Instead, Tom had planned a cook-out and invited Mario and Sally (our next-door neighbors), as well as my parents, who were arriving this evening to geocache with us tomorrow. We decided to try something new, cooking corn on the grill.

Roasting Ears of Corn

• 6 ears corn
• ¾ stick butter
• 1 slightly heaping T Herbes de Provence

1. Do not shuck ears - soak in a pot of water overnight.
2. Start grill) Drain ears, pulling off the first couple of leaves.
3. Pull remaining leaves down ear, about 3/4 of the way down. Remove silk.
4. Melt butter. Add Herbes de Provence. Stir.
5. Generously brush herb butter on ears.
6. Replace leaves on ears of corn, tie the tip closed with a leaf that had previously been removed.
7. When grill is ready, place ears on grill. Roast for 30 minutes on low to medium heat (20 minutes on medium to high heat), turning the ears every 5 minutes.

The corn turned out well. After being soaked all night, it was juicy, and the flavor of the spices was good.