strawberry (and cherry) cheesecake parfaits

Officially the summer months are coming to an end as companies reintroduce pumpkin spiced everything and Halloween décor to the masses. These transition times usually lend me to a certain shortsighted nostalgia. I think about all of the fun things that I’m going to miss as one season lay rest to a new. As summer ends and fall takes over, a part of me cannot let go of the sun soaked memories and meals that summer brought. If my wimpy frou frou nostalgia shpeal isn’t reason enough for you to try this recipe, let me remind you that you still have a 30 quart Ziploc bag full of strawberries in your freezer that you need to get to before freezer burn does. Let’s celebrate the beginning of autumn with this blast-from-recent past summer treat: Strawberry (and Black Cherry) Cheesecake Parfaits. 

pistachio cherry crumble - let's get crackin'

I'm not sponsored by Wonderful Pistachios nor do I even think they know this blog exists (actually I'm positive they don't), nevertheless this post is going to be me trying my best to get their attention. So let's get crackin' (ohhh...I see what you did there).

If there was an award for biggest pistachio fan, my grandma would win it twice over blindfolded with her hands tied to her back. She is a pistachio fanatic, the quickest pistachio huller I've ever seen. Recently, and by recently I mean a couple hours ago, we bought a 3 pound bag of pistachios and within that time from the car to the house half the bag was gone. Keep in mind that this feat would be impressive for anybody, let alone a small, 80-something year old chinese lady. She pops those quicker than tic-tacs. Sometimes, even two at a time. But in all seriousness my grandma is wonderful...pistachios. Okay even I thought that one was lame, I'm gonna move on to the cooking. 

double chocolate cherry cookies - pssst...there's wine in there

I don't want to throw the term, "The Best", around lightly. But...these are "The Best Chocolate Cookies I Have Ever Had"! And I've had a fair share of cookies in my days. These cookies have the chewy, the chocolate-y, the salty, the sweet, the acidic, the fruity all in a handheld package. I love making cookies. Not only are they easy, but no one ever gets tired of them because there are so many varieties to try. Oh, I forgot about the wine. Yes there is a glass of 2011 cabernet sauvignon in these cookies. What can I say, you put in good, you get out good. Other than the cabernet, however, the rest of the ingredients are for the most part commonplace, but combined together, in this specific ratio, baked in this precise manner, makes for a delicious chow-fection. I would suggest baking these before you eat them, but really the batter is probably the best cookie batter I've ever tried in my life. I'm not going to lie, I think it's the wine. My throat feels warm. 

First, you want to take a stick of butter out to soften. Whenever you make conventional cookies you need the butter to be soft. When I'm hard pressed for time I just cover the butter and put it in the perfectly warm San Diegan sunshine. News Alert: I'm actually less than 1 mile from the Bernardo Fire that is burning right now. I think I should leave. I know, I try to brag about living in San Diego every post I write. In a medium bowl whisk together all your dry ingredients (flour, cocoa powder, salt, baking powder). Cocoa powder needs to be sifted and or whisked vigilantly to get rid of the lumps.