What do Jelly Rolls and Daytime TV have in Common? Read on!

After spending a year on maternity leave I’ve come to the conclusion that daytime TV generally sucks.  I know, a real shocker, huh?  There are so many garbage “reality” shows and a plethora of sub-standard talk shows that I have to wonder what the network execs are thinking when they give the go-ahead to producers.  Anyway, there is one show I really like – The Chew.  It’s probably my crush on Clinton Kelly from TLC’s What Not to Wear (I know, he’s gay, but I can still crush on him) and my love of food and cooking that make this show not just tolerable but enjoyable.  So, I was watching it the other day while Baby O napped and saw this seemingly super easy summer dessert recipe, Carla Hall’s Summer Berry Pudding, and decided to give it a go for our inaugural dinner on Sunday at my Mom’s new place (which is just 450 metres away from our house, I might add.  Yay!). 

The ingredients are simple – berries (or any summer fruit), lemon juice, sugar, white bread and jam.  I tend to experiment and put my own twists on recipes, so instead of white bread and jam I grabbed a jelly roll while at the grocery store today. 

 

The method is simple too but you need to use a glass bowl.  Gulp.  Glass bowls are for grown ups and serious bakers, aren’t they?  I have a set of stainless steel bowls and a really cute set of pink plastic mixing bowls (and matching measuring spoons!), but a good glass bowl?  Nope.  

I’m… ahem… 38-years-young, but there are times when I feel like I’m not completely grown up.  When I go to my Mom’s or to my mother-in-law’s house they just seem more grown up than me, for lack of a better term.  Of course they are, you say, they are 25 or 30 years older than me, but it’s a funny feeling that as I’m staring 40 down the nose, I still feel like a kid.  I’m just not quite there in the house furnishing and kitchen equipment department.  Don’t get me wrong, our house is lovely, we are very comfortable and have everything we need, but I don’t have a gravy boat (why would I?  I’ve never cooked a turkey dinner for a crowd), I don’t have proper serving bowls and utensils and if I can find 4 forks and knives that match, I’m lucky.  

Anyway, back to the dessert.  I do have a glass dish that has a lid (that my Mom gave to me out of her kitchen, of course!) so I used that. I combined blueberries, blackberries, raspberries and two very ripe peaches in a saucepan with the required two tablespoons each of lemon juice and sugar and let it cook down.  While that was happening I lined the bowl with slices of jelly roll, careful to fill in all the holes.  Once the berries and peaches were ready, I poured the mixture into the jelly roll lined dish and then covered it with more slices.  The dish then went into the fridge, covered with plastic wrap, where it will sit overnight. 

Fast forward to the next day…

It’s looking good.  The berry juice has seeped into the jelly roll like I had hoped it would – at least on the bottom.  I think my bowl was too wide.  But when I flipped it over it did look great.  

Gravity did its magic and it plopped out of the bowl onto the plate.  Still looking good.  I removed the bowl and it started to flatten and spread.  Boo hoo.  It was not a perfectly shaped dome like I had seen on TV.  Ah well, I bet it tastes good.  

I whipped up some real cream with my bad wrist, which is now aching (note to self: purchase another ten dollar mixer next time I’m at Walmart), to go on top.  Man, I’ll be glad to have this cyst removed from my wrist in September.  I feel like my right hand is 100 years old with the lack of strength and grip I have in it.  Sheesh.  

After Baby O went to bed tonight (before 7:00 p.m. because after four failed nap attempts today he fell asleep in his high chair at dinner!) the hubs and I gave the dessert a try.  Yum!  Berries and peaches and real whipped cream, what’s not to love?  Combine it with a jelly roll and I’d say you have a dessert fit to serve…your own family.  It’s not pretty but it’s tasty!  Next time I’ll splurge for a better glass bowl (I bet the “buck store” – that’s for you Mom – has some) and will use white bread as per the recipe.  Don’t let my experience discourage you from trying this, it was really yummy and easy!

P.S. I know at the beginning I said this was to take to my Mom's for dinner tonight, but she came down with a stomach bug, so we'll be supping there tomorrow instead - with leftover berry dessert in tow!  Feel better, Mama!

P.P.S. I hope to migrate my blog over to WordPress very soon so that I can have more control over formatting, etc.  Blogger stinks, so excuse any wonky spacing or what-not.

P.P.P.S.  This pic of Baby O asleep in his high chair is too cute not to include.