Blueberry Bonanza

The farmer's market had beautiful, fresh blueberries. They went home with me, and they became two very lovely blueberry tarts. I had a request for the recipe for the first one I made, so I thought I would just include both of them here.

Blueberry Tarts

Shortbread Crust (for 2 tarts):

1 cup butter softened

1/2 cup sugar

2 cups all-purpose flour

To make the crust:

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add in the flour and mix until combined. The crust will be crumbly. Press into two fluted tart pans and bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Allow to cool before filling.

Mascarpone Filling:

1 1/4 - 1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream (I didn't measure)

1 package (8 oz.) mascarpone cheese, softened

scant 1/2 cup sugar (I think this could actually decrease or be left out entirely)

cinnamon

freshly ground nutmeg

For the Mascarpone filling:

Beat the whipping cream with the sugar and spices until soft peaks form. Add in the mascarpone and beat just until combined. Spoon into crust and top with blueberries. Drizzle the top with honey and allow to chill for a couple of hours in the fridge. 

A friend of mine recently found out that she needs to cut dairy out of her diet, and so I made a tart that she could enjoy because the first one I made the filling was almost entirely dairy. 

Lemon Filling:

1/4 - 1/2 cup honey (I didn't measure)

2 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

3 Tbsp. tapioca flour

1/4 tsp. salt

1 1/2 cups water

2 lemons, juiced

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter

4 egg yolks, beaten

To make lemon filling: 

In a medium saucepan combine honey, flour, tapioca flour, salt, water and lemon juice. You could also zest the two lemons and add the zest. Whisk together and cook over medium heat until it boils and starts to thicken. Add in the butter and stir until it melts. Pour a small amount into the egg yolks, whisking continually, and then pour the yolk mixture back into the pan and cook over medium-low heat until it thickens. Pour into the crust and place in the fridge to cool. Top with blueberries.

Pumpkin Lovin'

Please, try these today. They are amazing! And you will love me forever for telling you to make them. A sweet friend who is getting married and moving out of the country in 3 weeks came over tonight so we could have a baking date one more time. I saw this recipe and wanted to try it, so I thought this would been the perfect opportunity to try it out. It's super easy, and you should have everything to make them in your pantry.

Pumpkin Poppers 

(Because you will want to pop them all in your mouth) 

1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. allspice

1/8 tsp. ground cloves

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3/4 cup pumpkin

1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cloves and stir to combine. 

In a separate bowl combine oil, brown sugar, egg, vanilla, pumpkin and milk and whisk. 

Pour the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients and mix until combined. 

Fill a mini muffin tin cups until almost full. Bake about 10 minutes. Allow to cool for a little bit.

Melt 1 stick butter. In a separate bowl combine 2/3 cup sugar and 2 Tbsp. cinnamon. Dip the poppers in the butter and then in the cinnamon/sugar mix and try not to eat each one you dip. Enjoy!!

P.S. I finally got an SD card reader, so there will be blog posts in the near future whenever my life calms down enough for me to post some.

pumpkin pancakes

The other morning something happened that has never happened before. My roommate and I ate breakfast together. We aren't really breakfast people. We like breakfast foods. We just tend not to like breakfast hours. We have frequently had brunch together, but never breakfast, until the other day that is. And what a breakfast to have. . .I seriously think I could dream about these pancakes. Absolutely delicious!! I adapted my recipe from Alice's Tea Cup's recipe.

Pumpkin Pancakes
1 cup unbleached all purpose flour
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 Tbsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup buttermilk
3 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3-6 Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
1 cup pumpkin puree

Mix together the dry ingredients. Then one at a time add the buttermilk, butter, applesauce and pumpkin, mixing well with a spatula after each addition. Allow to sit for 15 minutes, then stir again. Then allow to sit for another 15 minutes. Cook on a griddle or in a skillet until bubbles form, flip and cook for another couple of minutes. Serve with butter and maple syrup. Yum!

P.S. I'm headed off to Mexico for 10 days starting tomorrow, but I'll be back after that, and I have some yummy recipes to share with you! Stay tuned!

An American Classic

Apple pie is classic Americana. It says 4th of July and summertime and picnics. It says family and home and country. And I love making pie, even having a job where I made pie every day for 6 months did not take away my love of baking pie.

In my humble opinion it is the crust that makes the pie. Crust should be flaky and crispy and melt in your mouth. If the crust isn't good, the pie won't be any good. I am torn as to whether I should let you in on my crust recipe. . .not right now. . .maybe later. I will tell you my secret ingredient. I replace a little water with chilled vodka. Here is my apple pie recipe.

Apple Pie
5-6 apples
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
Sprinkle cinnamon
Sprinkle nutmeg
2 Tbsp. flour
2 pie crusts

Preheat oven to 350*F. Peel, core and slice apples. Toss in the brown sugar, flour, and spices until evenly coated. Fill the bottom pie shell and top with 2-3 Tbsp. butter cut into pieces. Top with top crust. I chose to do a woven top crust on this pie. Sprinkle the top of the pie with some cinnamon and bake on a cookie sheet for 40ish minutes. I bake it on a cookie sheet in case it overflows the pie pan. I would rather clean a cookie sheet than clean an oven.


I have used several types of apples, but right now I am stuck on granny smith's because I like the tartness that off sets the sweetness of the brown sugar. I also go back and forth on what to use to sweeten my apple pie. I said brown sugar here because I probably use it the most, but I also really like to use honey. This will make for a slightly more runny pie, though, because there is more liquid.

Eating Healthy

I love eating squash. It's soooo good and such a fun Fall/Winter food, and it's really good for you too! You can do so many different things with squash, but this is how I have been enjoying it lately.


I used one medium sized sweet potato and one medium sized butternut squash for this. I cut the ends off the butternut squash and then peel it with a potato peeler and then cut it in half and dig the seeds out. I believe that you can roast the seeds just like you can with a pumpkin, but I have not done that myself. I then just cut it up into nice sized chunks. I washed the sweet potato and then cut off the ends and cut it into chunks. I threw these into an oven-safe dish.


Then I topped it with spoonfuls of coconut oil, which I happen to be obsessed with currently. It is so good for you and gives you a taste of the tropics. Yum! I also topped with my favorite seasonings. I used a bit of cayenne pepper, turmeric, nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper, and sea salt, but feel free to use whatever you like. This is about achieving a flavor palate that appeals to your taste buds. Put this in a 350*F oven for 15 minutes and then stir. Repeat in 15 minute cycles until you have reached the tenderness level that you desire. I like my squash soft almost to the gushy point, but not quite there. You can eat this by itself for a healthy and nutritious dinner or you can add something to it.


For instance if you happen to be obsessed with toasted cheese sandwiches (like me) you can eat the squash as a side for your toasted cheese sandwich.


And there you have it, a healthy, easy to make dinner perfect for a cold winter day.

mmm. . .hot chocolate

Photo courtesy of my lovely roommate KB

Tis the season for hot chocolate. The weather is colder and with Christmas approaching I find that this hot chocolate is becoming a staple in our house. I prefer sipping chocolate to regular hot chocolate, so this is my version. I also am not a huge fan of super sweet things, so this is not a super sweet hot cocoa either. Here's my version of hot chocolate. This makes about 2 servings, and the measurements are not exact, so make it to taste.

1/2 cup cocoa powder
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
2 heaping Tablespoons tapioca flour
sprinkle cinnamon
freshly ground nutmeg
1 cup water
2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon vanilla

Mix the dry ingredients in a saucepan and add the water and 1 cup of half and half. Mix until combined. Then add the last cup of half and half and the vanilla. Continue stirring until the hot chocolate has thickened to the perfect thickness for your tastes. This will become pudding if you let it go long enough. Also it is really important to continuously stir it or else it won't thicken evenly.

Observations:

Freshly ground nutmeg is the only way to go. Don't use the ground nutmeg from a container. Find whole nutmeg and grate it. You will not regret it, I promise. This makes hot cocoa soooo much better.

For all my friends whose bodies don't agree with milk you can most certainly substitute almond milk for the half and half.

For those of you who enjoy a little something special in your hot chocolate you can add peppermint schnapps, southern comfort, rumchata, whiskey, brandy or other liquor of your choice. We most often drink ours with peppermint schnapps.

However you decide to alter your hot chocolate, I hope you will enjoy it. . .all winter long. Merry Christmas!!

P.S. The days are going to start getting longer now!! :)

Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies
1 1/2 sticks butter, softened
1 cup dark brown sugar
dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1 tsp. vanilla
3 ish Tbsp. unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup water
1 tsp. baking soda
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
3 cups old fashioned oats
raisins
chopped dark chocolate

Cream together sugar and butter. Add applesauce, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg and water. Mix well. Add baking soda, flour and oats. Mix in raisins and chopped dark chocolate. Bake at 350 degrees for 6 to 8 minutes. And enjoy. I also added some peanut butter to this latest batch. Enjoy!!

meatloaf

The other day it was a bit of a dreary day and my roommate was having a sort of bad day, so I decided to make some comfort food. I'd been wanting to try making meatloaf for a while because it is usually made with eggs, and I wanted to try making it without eggs for my roommate.

I adapted this from the recipe that my grandma usually makes out of our family cookbook. I know, you wish you had a family cookbook too. I just threw in whatever spices I felt like. Feel free to mix it up however you want.

Meatloaf
1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground elk
2 slices bread, crumbled up
ketchup
splash red wine
dash cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, chili powder

Crumble the two slices of bread in a bowl. I was able to find bread that wasn't made with eggs, so I went with that.

Then season with the spices you choose to use.


Add the ketchup.


Then add in the beef and elk as well as the red wine. Mix it all up together. I used my hands because that's just how I roll but I supposed you could mix it with a spoon.

Place in a loaf pan and pour some more red wine over it. Then top with some tomato sauce and bake at 350* for 45 minutes to an hour depending on your oven. I think mine was about 45 minutes because my oven runs hot.

I'm not a big meatloaf person. I didn't really grow up eating it, but this turned out well. I actually think it was better the next day because it had time for the flavors to combine and sit together and be all happy. It might actually be good to let it sit for a bit and marinate before topping with the tomato sauce and baking it.

oatmeal

I love oatmeal. There was about 3 months of my life that I ate oatmeal every single morning for breakfast, and while I don't have that kind of devotion to it any more, I still love a good bowl of oatmeal. This is how I make mine.


In a saucepan combine the appropriate amounts of old fashioned oats and water or milk as well as a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg, a handful of chopped pecans and some honey. Allow this to cook over medium heat until it thickens.


Then stir in about 1 chopped banana and allow to cook for just a minute before enjoying a delicious and nutritious breakfast of champions.

This is just one of the many variations of oatmeal that I have made. One of the things I love about oatmeal is that like shortbread it is a very basic thing and so it is easy to make many variations of the same thing and each one has a bit of a different flavor and taste to it.

coconut cupcakes

You may remember that I made a coconut cake for my sister's bridal shower back in April. I realized that this recipe would also make great coconut cupcakes. So that's what I did. It helped a lot with the dryness of the cake to make them in cupcake form instead. I also didn't bake them as long. I was also making these so that my roommate could enjoy them as well, so I adjusted the recipe somewhat from my coconut cake recipe. I also cut the recipe in half as I didn't need as much batter for the cupcakes as I needed for a three layer cake.

Coconut Cupcakes
1/2 cup butter
1 cup coconut sugar
1 2/3 cups flour (I used unbleached all-purpose, and this was approximate)
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
6 Tbsp. applesauce
2 Tbsp. tapioca flour
dash cinnamon
sprinkle nutmeg
toasted coconut

Cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg.


Add the tapioca flour and applesauce.


Combine the remaining ingredients and mix well. Fill cupcake wrappers and bake at 350* for about 15 minutes. I iced these cupcakes with the remaining frosting that I had from the coconut cake and sprinkled them with toasted coconut. Delicious.

peanut butter + dark chocolate = heaven

I discovered heaven yesterday on my sweet friend's blog. Please, please, please, if you try no other recipes on here, please, try this one. You will not regret it, I promise. Unless you don't like peanut butter or dark chocolate, in which case I don't promise. But you should try it anyway because you might change your mind. Deliciousness has a way of making that happen.

I have a dear friend in Scotland right now who is a kindred baking spirit, and she posted a recipe for giant peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, and I just knew I had to try them. You should just go look at her blog anyway because she's funny and sweet and lives in Scotland and she's my friend. . .'nough said. I tweaked her recipe just a bit to accommodate for my roommate because I wanted her to try them too because everyone should try these cookies. The End. Okay, so here's my altered recipe.

Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Chip Cookies
2 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
sprinkle freshly grated nutmeg
sprinkle cinnamon
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut sugar
6ish Tbsp. applesauce
1 pkg. dark chocolate chips

Using a stand mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Then add the peanut butter and beat again. Then add the sugars and beat again.

Add the applesauce and beat again.


In a separate bowl combine the dry ingredients and whisk together. Then add to the butter and sugar mixture and beat until just combined.


By hand stir in the dark chocolate chips. Then take a good handful of dough and roll it between your palms and place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.


Bake at 350* for 12 minutes turning the pans halfway through.


Then enjoy the deliciousness that awaits you. May I just say you know the mark of a good cookie when it falls apart when you are taking them off the baking sheet, these definitely did. Yum! Thanks Anna for making my day with these delightful cookies!!

shortbread variations

One of the things that I love so much about shortbread cookies is that they are a very basic, simple cookie that can be spiced up with whatever sounds good, and to suit the tastes of the people eating them.

This first version I only have one picture of, but they were delicious. I added dark chocolate pieces and toasted almonds to a dark brown sugar and whole wheat flour shortbread. These went with the banana bread and monster muffins to my friend who was hosting company a couple of weekends ago.

Dark Chocolate Almond Shortbread
1 cup butter
2 cups flour (I used all whole wheat)
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
fresh grated nutmeg
dash cinnamon
dash cloves
dark chocolate pieces
toasted almonds

Combine the butter, sugar, vanilla and spices. Beat in the flour. Then stir in the dark chocolate pieces and toasted almonds. Chill. Roll out and cut out cookies. Bake at 350* for 13 minutes, turning the cookie sheets at the 8 minute mark.

This second version I made for my sister's bridal shower. A friend and fellow baker loves using lavender in her baking. That was what inspired me to try these.

Lavender Lemon Shortbread
1 cup butter
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 cups flour (I used unbleached all purpose)
dash cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
juice of 1/2 lemon (about, I think I used a little less)
zest of 1 lemon
sprinkle of lavender (it was probably around 2-3 Tbsp.)

Cream together butter, sugar, cinnamon, vanilla and lemon juice.

Beat in flour.


Then stir in the lemon zest and lavender. Bake at 350* for 13 minutes, turning the cookie sheets at the 8 minute mark.


These are delightfully fresh and light. I like using the unbleached all-purpose flour for these because it really allows the flavor of the lavender and the lemon to come through. Whereas I feel that the dark chocolate of the first version really needs the whole wheat flour to back it up a bit.

banana bread

I used to make banana bread all the time. My favorite coffeeshop would give me all of their old or unusable bananas to make into banana bread. At one point, I actually had about 30 bananas in my freezer. I was a little overwhelmed. They all eventually found their way into banana bread which found it's way in the the stomachs of many happy people.

However, one of the foods that my roommate is allergic to is bananas. . .sad day in happy town. I had just enough bananas left in my freezer to make one more batch, so I decided to make it up and send it with the muffins to my friend who was entertaining house guests last weekend. And here's the thing about my banana bread. I almost never make it the same way twice. Yes, I have a recipe that I gauge off of, but every time I make it I decide I want to try something a little different. And honestly, I don't even really remember what all I put in this batch as I didn't really write it down as I was making it, but I will try my best to remember.

Banana Bread
1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 coconut sugar and 1/2 dark brown sugar)
1/2 cup shortening
1 egg
3 Tbsp. applesauce
1 tsp. vanilla
3 cups flour (I used a combination of almond flour, whole wheat and unbleached all purpose)
1 Tbsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. (approx) cinnamon
dash nutmeg (or some fresh ground)
2/3 cup sour milk
(I didn't have any milk on hand, so I used almond milk with a bit of vinegar in it)
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup chopped pecans

Mix together shortening and sugars.

And this is where I stopped taking pictures. Add in the egg, applesauce and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix the dry ingredients. Then alternately add the milk, bananas, and dry ingredients to the sugar mixture. I add a banana, 1/3 of the milk, 1/3 of the flour mixture, and repeat until it's all in. Mix well. Then stir in the chopped pecans. Pour batter into two greased regular loaf pans. Bake at 325* for 40 to 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. My oven takes about 40 to 45 minutes.