Very Berry Sangria and a birthday

We had some friends over this past weekend, and I always take this as an opportunity to make a big pitcher of Sangria to sip & enjoy. Since it is the spring time and the berries are usually on sale at the grocery store this time of year, we made a very berry Sangria using four kinds of berries!  I wasn't head over heels for  this batch that I made, but then I remembered my mother's recipe where she uses blackberry brandy. Remember - drink responsibly!

Apologies for my lower quality IPhone picture

I also celebrated my 24th birthday yesterday! Which seems a bit meaningless in the scheme of birthday milestones, but I had a very nice day --- the husband made me pancakes for breakfast, had some physical therapy on my wrists, and a hike in the woods with our pup Sawyer (pictured below). 

The car gives him some funny hair do's

Mmm, pancakes

Sweet & Simple: Strawberry Ice Cream Cakes

Dessert is as simple as scooping out some vanilla ice cream and convincing your guests they're eating gourmet food. Strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and dessert shells make for an affordable, delicious, and light tasting dessert. This recipe would work well with almost any berry or a mix of berries.

The sponge cake dessert shells used in this recipe are usually found in your grocery store's produce section (check near the berries). Six dessert shells ran me about 2.29 (or about 38 cents a shell). If you make this recipe in the springtime, strawberries are usually on sale - I bought them for buy one get one free and ended up paying $4 for 2 lbs of strawberries (you only need 1 lb). Finally, vanilla ice cream will cost you roughly $4-$5 and you'll have plenty leftover for late night snacks. Overall, you're looking at $1.48 for each yummy serving.