The Grounds Crew: Strawberries and Cream and Food Labels, Oh My!

To celebrate all the Williams showing up at Wimbledon, from royalty on and off the court, we present to you another quick-to-make twist on the ol’ strawberries and cream recipe, as well as fun celebrity food labels for all of your tennis party hors d’oeuvres!

Fried Wontons Topped with Strawberries & Cream

Ingredients:

• wonton or egg roll wrappers (These can be found in the refrigerated produce section at the food store.)
• canola oil
• 1 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. cinnamon
• 1 lb. strawberries
• 1 can of whipped cream
• shortbread cookies

Directions:

1. Wash the strawberries and set them aside to dry.
2. Put a few shortbread cookies into a sandwich bag and smash them into crumbs with a rolling pin or mallet. Set aside.
3. Cut the wonton wraps into strips. Then slice each of the strips in half. You want to make them large enough to hold the strawberries and cream that will go on top. Roughly 1" x 3".
4. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and set near the stove.
5. Pour about 1" of oil into a large pan and heat it over medium-high heat.
6. Once the oil reaches 360° — who takes the temperature of oil? I ran my fingers under water and flicked a few drops at the pan to see if it was hot, then screamed to Alli that I checked the temp and it was ready — carefully drop a few strips at a time into the oil. When they begin to turn a golden brown color, flip them over.
7. Once both sides are golden brown, take them out of the pan (we used tongs for this; you can also use a slatted spoon) and drop them into the bowl of cinnamon and sugar. Use the tongs or a spoon (they are HOT, don’t try it with your hands!) to mix them around. Once they are fully covered, place them on the plate you will be serving them on. Repeat for all of the strips.
8. Slice up the strawberries and layer 3–4 slices on each strip. Follow that with a layer of whipped cream, a sprinkle of shortbread crumbs and you’re ready to serve!

Now to label all of these recipes so you can focus on the match you’re watching without interruption!

Celebrity Food Labels

I went with Princess Kate, Prince William and Anna Wintour, but feel free to swap them out for your favorite tennis players or Wimbledon-watching celebs!

What you need:

• sheets of white card stock (I’d buy two sheets for each label you plan on making)
• printer
• Google
• X-Acto Knife
• scissors
• 12 gauge jewelry wire
• tape
• double-sided tape

1. Google images of the celebrities or tennis players you want to use and print them onto the card stock. *If you don’t have a printer, you’re not out of luck. Pick up a weekly gossip mag and cut the pictures out of there! Just make sure you double-side tape them onto card stock first for support.*
2. For the speech bubbles, you have a few options. You can buy blank stickers like these, and write the foods in yourself. Or you can pop into Microsoft Word and, using speech bubbles from the “Shapes” tab, type the foods into them. Print the final speech bubbles onto card stock.
3. Cut the speech bubbles out and use double-sided tape to stick them onto the celeb images.
4. Using the X-Acto knife (and/or scissors — I switch between the two depending on the angle) cut the images out of the background they’re in.
5. Lay the image face down. Take the wire and shape it along the back of the image, taping it down as you go, creating support for the paper. Leave a few inches of excess wire at the bottom to form into a V shape prop for the image to stand upright.
6. Repeat for each of the labels you’re creating. And that’s that!

Sometimes, the DIY projects I think are going to be a huge hit go unnoticed. Other times, an idea that I don’t expect anyone to pay much attention to is an unexpected hit. THIS is one of those projects. Everyone loved them! They’re colorful, different, fun AND informative! You can’t go wrong with that. Thanks for stopping by and checking us out! We hope your weekend is filled with the wins of your favorite players, stuffed strawberries, Pimm’s Cups, and tons of compliments on the delicious food and awesome DIY decor at your Wimbledon party! Have a great weekend! Until next time..