Ina Gartens Lemon Curd Tart

I am very excited about the recipe today.

1. It's from Ina garten - who I love love love. I don't even think about tweaking her recipes. .... { Ina if you are reading this can we do a cook date together }
2. It uses lemons !! 
3. You get to peel the lemons not great 
4. I got to use my new food processor.

Tart Shell 

• 12 T butter - room temperature- very important  
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 3/4 cups flour 
• pinch of salt 
• bag of beans to weigh down crust 

1. mix together the butter and sugar in electric mixer 
2. add vanilla 
3. sift together the flour and salt then add 
4. mix till it just comes together then dump onto flighty floured surface and form into a ball
5. put into tart pans 
6. ***  ina called for a 10 inch but i was giving away one tart so i used two 5 inch and that worked great 
7. chill in fridge till firm 
8. heat oven to 350 
9. lightly coat annunimun foil with butter and place onto of tart 
10. fill covered tart with beans 
11.      - i totally forgot this step and it still turned out ok so don't freak out if you do 
12. cook for 20 minutes 
13. remove foil and prick tart with fork and bake for another 20 minutes 
14. cool to room temperature 

Lemon Curd 

• 4 lemons 
• 1 1/2 cup sugar 
• 1 stick (1/4 lb) butter- once again room temp 
• 4 eggs ( add one at a time) 
• 1/8 t salt 
• 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice- from the lemons you will zest 

1. zest the lemons with a vegetable peeler - try to not get the white part that is bitter 
2. add zest and sugar into food processor :) with the steel blade and pulse till its well incorporated 
3. cream the butter lemon sugar and eggs in your electric mixer with the paddle 
4. add fresh lemon juice and salt 
5. pour into saucepan on low heat and the curd will thicken- takes about ten minutes 
6. pour into your cool  tart pans 

tips

 you can make the tart and the curd or day before and then add the curd when ready to serve 

you can add 4 eggs to the tart recipe and come up with something really good- it was a mess up.... and the dough was divine--- new recipe ???? 

since you will have lemons lying around don't forget to make our 

lemon chicken with capers and lemonade 

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valentine's buttercream cake with strawberries

Cake, strawberries and buttercream frosting.... yes please 

I have been craving cake lately and thought I would make a quick 

valentine's cake

to show some love this month. 

For my birthday, I always get white cake with strawberry filling and buttercream frosting from our local bakery. My family always makes fun of me that I have no variety- but I like what I like. And I LIKE!!! ...I'm liking this better though :) 

White cake 

4 egg whites

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter or shortening, softened
3/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
 1 1/3 cups buttermilk

1. Break eggs and separate. Set aside and let rest for 30 minutes 
2. In a medium bowl stir together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. 
4. Add sugar and vanilla; beat until well combined. 
5. Add egg whites one at a time, beating well after each addition.
6. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk to butter mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Spread batter into the prepared pan(s).
7. Cook at 350 for 30 minutes in a round 8 inch cake pan 

Chocolate cake 

3/4 cup butter 

3 eggs

2 cups ap flour 

3/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder 

1 teaspoon baking soda

3/4 teaspoon baking powder 

1/2 teaspoon salt

2 cups sugar 

2 teaspoons vanilla 

1 1/4 cups milk 

1. Warm butter and eggs to room temp 
2. Stir together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, salt - set aside 
3. Beat butter for 30 seconds, slowly add sugar and mix 4-6 minutes 
4. Add in eggs 1at a time
5. Add vanilla 
6. Alternate adding in flour and milk
7. Spread into 8 inch pans and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes 
8. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on wire rack than remove to finish cooling. 

- recipes adopted from better homes and garden 

Butter Cream frosting 

you can also click here for recipe 

3 cups confections’ sugar

1 cup butter softened over night

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons whipping cream  

1. In a standing mixer equipped with the whisk, mix overnight soft butter and confection’s sugar. 
2. Mix on a low speed until blended then increase to medium and whisk for 3 minutes.
3. Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Add more cream according to desired consistency

- you can get clear vanilla at most cooking stores if you want pure white frosting.

- make sure and whisk for the whole 3 minutes- it does make a difference. 

I decided to stack this cake to show its two flavors and because I can not frost a cake. They turn out ugly- very very ugly, not a skill that I have. 

I hope that you enjoy this wonderful cake. It is a perfect valentine or anytime treat. 

-ALIX 

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Grandma's Lemon Cookies

Now I know that you are thinking seriously more lemons. I am in love with lemons right now. My name sake grandmother would cook me these cookies every time I went to her house and they are my favorite. 

Lemon Cookies 

• 1 cup butter 
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar 
• 2/3 cup corn starch 
• 1 cup flour 

Lemon Frosting 

• 1/4 cup butter 
• 2+ Tbs Fresh Lemon Juice 
• rine of a Lemon 
• -Powdered sugar to spread - Can be a whole box you buy at store. All Preference.

1. Mix butter and powdered sugar 

2. Add corn starch 

3. Add flour and mix 

4. Drop teaspoons onto cookie sheet and indent and cook 325* for 15 minutes - 

5. Cool 

6. Mix frosting butter 

7. Add  fresh squeezed lemon for  juice 

8. Grate lemon 

9. Add powdered sugar to spreadable consistency. 

10. ENJOY !!!!! and then say "this is the best cookie ever"

11. Hide them because you will eat the whole batch. 

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Peanutbutter chocolate brownies with PB&C sauce

Chocolate and Peanut butter. Who does not love this combo? We know that you need a go to dessert for the times you have company. This is as an amazing combo, but so so simple!

Brownies

• 1 box brownie mix - I used Betty Crocker dark or fudge brownies. $.99 at winco!!!
• 2/3 Cup Peanut butter

Sauce

• 1/3 Cup Peanut butter
• Small handful Semi- sweet chocolate chips
• A splash of Half and half
• 1/4 cup powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1 tbsp butter

1. Make regular brownie mix except oil
2. Take 1/3 cup peanut butter and mix with oil, add to rest of batter and mix
3. Take 1/3 cup peanut butter and fold into batter
4. Bake normal recipe on box

1. Melt 1 tbsp butter
2. Add peanut butter and chocolate chips, microwave just enough to start melting
3. Add powdered sugar, half and half, and vanilla. Mix, should be pourable
4. When brownies are done either drizzle over entire brownies or do it when serving.

Simple yet elegant looking and sure to wow any of your guests. The nice thing is these brownies will taste great even if you don't have time to make the sauce. 

To print Recipe Card Click above image.

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dress up your holiday treats

Here are some great tips on how to dress up your holiday treats to look fabulous. All you need is your favorite treats, or store bought (one less thing to check off your list :) ), scrapbook or wrapping paper and household containers. 

Snow globe 

 Add left over halloween candy corn and chocolate chips to powdered donuts. 

 Turn over white paper plate and add paper. Cover with clear wrap. 

Envelope 

Pop popcorn and add holiday colored chocolate candy. 

Find a cute envelope and address to your dearest friends. 

Love you brownies 

Bake up your favorite brownie recipe. 

Place in a cupcake wrapper. Cut out any holiday shape in holiday paper and add a bow. 

* a variety of treats can be place in cupcake wrappers. - breads, cookies, nuts ect...... 

Below are some other creative ways to dress up your holiday treats. These were found in 

Better Homes and Garden Magazine 

Add a bow and colored paper to a egg carton and fill 

Cover a paper towel tube, or pringles tube add a ribbon and fill. 

Do you have any other fun way to dress up your treats. Please share. 

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dulce de leche

Found a can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk and couldn't help but use it to make a delicious 

Dulce de Leche 

• Water
• Large pot 
• Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk

1. Take a can of Eagle Brand sweetened condensed milk and place in a large pot filled with water 
2.  Low boil for 2 hours for a liquidy caramel and 3 hours for a thicker sauce. This one I did it for 2.5 

Now what to do with this ridiculous easy yummy treat??......

we love to put it on 

brownies 

ice cream 

a spoon 

hot cocoa

apples 

and anything that you want to add a little caramel taste to  

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Tortilla pumpkin crisps

As a kid I always remember that this was a halloween tradition. 

These Tortilla Pumpkin crisps will become a family favorite of yours also. 

• tortillas - flour works the best 
• oil 
• cinnamon/sugar mixture- we add a little brown sugar. 

1. cut up tortillas. we use a butter knife  or for younger children the cookie cutter works well 
2. fry in oil then remove onto a paper towel 
3. add cinnamon/mixture 
4. enjoy your new family tradition. 

 by alix 

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Butter cream Frosting. Happy birthday Son

My son's birthday was the beginning of the month and he requested cupcakes with blue and green swirl frosting. So I made my super easy, extra delicious 

Butter cream vanilla frosting. 

• 3 cups confections’ sugar
• 1 cup butter softened over night
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1-2 tablespoons whipping cream  

In a standing mixer equipped with the whisk, mix overnight soft butter and confection’s sugar. Mix on a low speed until blended then increase to medium and whisk for 3 minutes.

Add vanilla and cream and beat for another minute. Add more cream according to desired consistency

- you can get clear vanilla at most cooking stores if you want pure white frosting.

-make sure and whisk for the whole 3 minutes- it does make a difference.


(recipe card at end of post) 

This year he wanted a Mario Kart Wii birthday party, and he wanted to ride his bike. Which he just learned how to ride without training wheels!!!

• The first thing I did was spray paint boxes gold and added numbers to create 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place platforms. I then found pictures on-line and printed them onto stickers and stuck them onto toothpicks and inserted into the cupcakes. 
• With the extra spray paint I covered a $1 cup I found to look like the trophy. This made a perfect holder for the markers in which the kids used to decorate their own t-shirts. This way they could "choose" which character they were going to be. 
• It was a hot day and hydration was needed. I created labels and printed them on sticker paper and wrapped them around water bottles.
• I found gold coins, mushroom looking balloons, and yellow star candy to top off the decor. 
• For give-away bags the kids got crazy straw water bottles, their decorated shirts, Mario stickers, and gold coins. 

A picture of the whole table. 

Next was the race track. It was very very windy so we had to do some heavy duty taping, which ruined the look of my decor a little.

I wanted to recreate a race track.  

• We set up a starting line, and had laminated photos of the icons you get when you run over the question marks. The kids had a blast pretending that they had run over a bullet, star, mushroom, or lighting cloud. 
• We also blew up posters of the characters on their vehicles so it looked like they were also involved in the race. 

The kids had a blast. They raced, raced, and raced some more. The cupcakes were a big hit and overall it was a great party. 

Happy 5th Birthday Son. Hope this is a great year!! 

Click to print recipe card. 

  

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Farm Fresh Fridays - Watermelon

Since Alix wanted to find something cool, but not ice cream, to cure her late night pregnancy craving I thought I would concoct some

 watermelon drinks. 

A watermelon slush and watermelon sherbet smoothie 

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Weekend Splurge - Sweet Vanilla with Strawberries Ice Cream

Every weekend we are going to post an amazing dessert recipe. From Ice Cream to brownies and much, much more. Since August is national ice cream month we decided to go with

  homemade ice cream. 

The kids had picked some black berries a few weeks back, and Alix really wanted to use them in the ice cream. They tasted odd so we decided to go with our Larry's produce strawberries that we had frozen after making jam. Turned out to be a great idea. Alix was really sad that all her hard work wasn't used, but she says we definitely made the best choice.

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S'mores for our birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TRIP.

& S' mores

Alix and I have our birthday's 2 weeks apart along with our Anniversary sandwiched in the middle and we always try to do a little vacation to celebrate. This year we went down to Monterey. We had a blast, but didn't do much cooking. Our hotel did have a little fire pit- which means S'mores!!! While we did some traditional s'mores we also roasted Starburst's and used Reese's Peanut Butter Cups instead of Hershey's chocolate. Here is my son enjoying his treat. Photos are a little distorted. IPhone at night!

• To roast Starbursts: Just stick them on a stick and then stick them in the fire until they start to get soft. Let them cool for a minute, but not too long as they won't be gooey inside. Then enjoy!!!

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puffs and chocolate sauce -

happy anniversary to us.

7 Years. For this year I made for my hunny puff shells, added ice-cream and homemade chocolate sauce.

I wanted a good picture of it in the sun-light.

And here it is at 9pm after we got the kids to bed and were able to do a candle light dessert .

Puffs

• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/8 t salt
• 1 cup flour
• 4 eggs

In a sauce pan add water and butter and salt. Bring to a boil. Add all the flour at once and still vigorously still it forms a ball. Take off stove and let cool for 10 minutes. (if not when you add your eggs they will curdle. -Did that once with. Not so good!) beat in eggs 1 at a time with a wooden spoon. Drop 12 balls onto greased cookie sheet. 400 for 30-35 minutes. For smaller make into teaspoon balls and bake for 18 minutes. Cut into half and scrap out soft dough.

- This is from Better Homes and Garden cookbook but its the basic recipe for puffs. Julia Child's is basically the same.

Chocolate Sauce

• 1/4 c cocoa
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1 c whipping cream- un-whipped
• 1/8 t salt
• 1/4 c butter

Add all above to sauce pan. Bring to boil and add 1t vanilla

Cream

• 1 cup whipping cream
• 2 T sugar
• 1/2 vanilla

beat till you get the desired consistency.

Tips- To write on the plate. I placed chocolate sauce into a small tip squeeze bottle and wrote message. Then placed in the freezer.

-I also filled the puffs with the ice-cream in the morning and put them in the freezer. Take out a few minute before you serve them to thaw.

-puffs can be filled with anything to make a yummy appetizer, breakfast or dessert.

This is what our plate looked like real quick.

Happy Anniversary and I Love US!!!

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