I tried something a little new--I made pesto using mint + basil and it was so very yummy! and it's a good thing too, since now I know what to do with the mint forest that I have going on in my herb garden (it is seriously taking over!) Then of course I used it for pasta salad...
I just made enough for a single serving and I did all the mincing by hand, but if you have one of those small food processors that would do the trick as well.
xo CBB
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a little taste of summer...
Crust:
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 Tablespoon unsalted butter,cold, cut up
3 to 4 Tablespoon ice water
Filling:
3 C. fresh rhubarb, tops trimmed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp grated orange zest
1 C. sliced strawberries
1 1/2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1. Crust: In a food processor, combine flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to mix. Add butter; pulse until coarse crumbs form. Pour 3 Tablespoon of the water over top of crumbs and pulse just until dough begins to come together. (If dough is dry, add the remaining water.) Gather dough into a ball; press into a disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate 1 hour or overnight.
2. Filling: In a large bowl, toss rhubarb, 1/2 cup of the sugar, cornstarch, strawberries, ginger, and orange zest until combined.
3. Heat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. On a lightly floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll dough into a 13-inch circle, pressing any cracks together at edges. Drape dough over rolling pin and transfer to baking sheet.
4. Spoon filling onto dough circle, leaving a 2-inch border of dough uncovered. Fold edge of dough up onto filling, pleating dough and pressing any cracks. Brush dough with water and sprinkle with some sugar.
5. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake 25 to 30 minutes longer, or until crust is brown and filling is bubbly. Let tart cool on pan on wire rack 15 minutes. With a spatula, slide tart onto wire rack to cool completely.
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Now that the weather is feeling a little warmer it is about time to make a favorite of mine--pasta salad! I've found that it is always just the thing to bring to a pot-luck and has just about infinite variations. Here is a recipe that I formulated based on the contents of my fridge...
I hope you give it a try--yum!
xo CBB
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Two more holiday-ish things I made:
1. Snowflake cookies for New Year's Eve....
2. Little Dala Horse Ornaments with ma mere....
{mine}
{hers}
instructions here.
xoxo CBB
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In case you missed it--12 Days of Cheer: 12 how-to's & recipes for the holiday season! Here's a little summary....
Day 1: Embroidered Snowflake Ornaments
Day 10: Peanut Butter Truffles
Happy Holidays!
xo CBB
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Making gingerbread houses is a Christmastime tradition in my family. This year I made gingerbread houses with my students in the baking class that I am teaching. The recipe comes from a video my mom checked out from the library many years ago called "Gingerbread Fun for Everyone".
Gingerbread Houses
Yield: 6 houses
Dough Recipe
DRY INGREDIENTS
4-5 C. Flour
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
3/4Tbsp Ginger
3/4 Tbsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
WET INGREDIENTS
1 C. brown sugar
1C. shortening
1 C. molasses
1. In a pot, combine wet ingredients and heat on medium until well blended, 10-15 minutes, stir occasionally. Add dry ingredients, except for 1 C. flour set aside, and mix. When ball forms sprinkle extra flour on board and knead dough. Divide into 2-3 sections. Leftovers can be made into cookies.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Roll dough 1/8" thick. Place patterns on dough and cut with a sharp knife. Place on cookie sheet and flatten with fingers to remove air bubbles. Cut out windows and doors AFTER baking. Bake 7-8 minutes.
3. While still on tray, straighten edges, cut doors, windows, chimney. cool completely on rack after removing them from cookie sheet when cool.
Icing Recipe
4 C. powdered sugar
2 egg whites (made from powdered egg whites)
1 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
4. Combine in bowl. Mix at low speed and then on high, cover w/ damp cloth to keep frosting from drying out.
5. Decorate!
my students hard at work assembling....
my quick little demo house for showing how to use a pastry bag...
I hope you've enjoyed 12 days of cheer!
xo CBB
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Okay so I have been crazy busy BUT I haven't forgotten about my blog. Here is a two for one post! (to make up for the days I've been slacking)
First here is the recipe for the scrumptious peanut butter truffles...
yield: 16 truffles
1/4 C. peanut butter
2 Tbsp butter
1 1/2 C. powdered sugar
1/2 C. milk chocolate chips
This recipe is soooooo easy! All you have to do is put the butter and peanut butter in a bowl and microwave for 30 seconds or so until the butter melts. Stir it well to combine and add powdered sugar to make a thick dough like consistency (adjust amount of sugar if needed). Let this cool (put it in the fridge if you're impatient). Then roll the peanut butter filling into 1" balls. Melt chocolate chips (I did it in the microwave again this time for a minute) and using a spoon dip the truffles in chocolate. Put on a sheet of waxed paper to cool. I made a swooping motion with the spoon as a I placed them on the waxed paper to make them look pretty.
Now you're thinking I want to give these away as gifts--how can I package them so they are pretty? Well you're in luck--her is the how-to for little 3" treat boxes.
What you need:
-one 8 1/2 inch square of paper
-one 8 1/4 inch square of paper
-bone folder
-twine
-waxed paper
-stickers
-gift tags
-mini cupcake wrappers
How-to:
1. Start with one of the squares fold in all the points to the center like so:
2. Now fold all four points across making the point line up with the fold like so:
3. Fold points in again to meet the latest round of folds:
4. Make a little fold that comes out from each corner of the central square:
5. You'll have a piece of paper that has folds like so:
6. Now all you have to do is fold it up! Fold in two points at a time like this:
and then like this:
7. Cut a 2 3/4 inch wide strip of waxed paper and lay it inside. Then put truffles in mini cupcake wrappers and put in the bottom half of the box. Fold the ends of the waxed paper in and use a sticker to keep it secure.
8. Put the top of the box on and tie with twine and a gift tag! Voila!
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1/2 cup butter
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I hope today was lovely for you too! and here's a little holiday cheer: use coupon code BLACKFRIDAY and get free shipping now until 11:59 EST tomorrow (Fri. 11/25) on anything in my Etsy shop.
xoxo CBB
p.s. here's my contribution to the meal--a pumpkin pie with braided crust!
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