A Little of This, A Lot of That!

Hello Sweets,

So after a really long sleep (ten hours) and a day of relaxing, I am still really sore and tired :(  I didn't expect to feel super and back to normal, but I definitely thought I would feel a little better.  It's unfortunate but I am used to this process, you'd think by now I'd be able to gauge what will hurt me and what won't.  Clearly I am not very good at that lol, but I made lots of lovely memories yesterday and that's all that matters to me.

Today's pie filling is a combination, I didn't have a lot of the main ingredient so when I came across this recipe it was absolutely perfect!  Let me see if this hint will help, what time of kiss do children love to do because of the sound it makes?  A raspberry lol!  My nephew does it all the time and he thinks it is just hilarious because it sounds so funny lol.  So our main star ingredient today is raspberries, but I didn't have enough to make a good fillings so I had to keep researching.  Then I came across a recipe that sounded so delicious to me, and it included one of my many favorite fruits.  That fruit is the one we used yesterday, nectarines!  The idea of raspberries and nectarines together sounded so good together that I didn't need to look any longer.  When I was little my grandmother used to grow raspberries and some other small fruits in her garden, I say hers because my grandfather's was the large vegetable garden.  It was fun at first, then the squirrels started stealing them before we could enjoy any and had to cover with mesh wire.  After that we had no problem ensuring we were able to enjoy them, and just like blueberries I just leave eating them by themselves.

Raspberry Nectarine Pie Filling

Ingredients

1C raspberries

1/4C nectarines, peeled, pitted, and thinly sliced

3Tbs sugar

2Tsp flour

 

Directions:
1)  Gently toss the fruit with the sugar and flour until they're evenly coated.

 

A lovely mixture of sweet and tart, add a heaping spoonful to your pastry cup and bake as directed in my previous post.  Allow to completely cool before enjoying :)

 

I know I've said it probably a million times now, but I really am happy and proud of how these tarts turned out.  Each flavor is distinctly different in their own way, some sweet and other more tart.  All of them delicious and filling enough that you don't have to eat more than one at a time.  Not to mention you don't feel guilty about eating them because they're very close to bite size!

I know this post is on the short side as well, but my migraine is making it very hard to concentrate :(  Well we have one last tart left to fill, now I've got to start thinking about what I want to make next, hmmmmm maybe something for dinner perhaps ;)  Until next time.......................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Sweet, Sweet Nectar

Hello Sweets,

Oh man am I exhausted :( , I could barely sleep at all last night and maybe got about two whole hours of rest :(  I knew today was going to be tiring because my nephew is always full of energy, but the lack of sleep has made it even worse.  I will apologize now if this post becomes quite brief, but I felt like I was going to fall asleep while walking home from the grocery store (not a good feeling).  Just call me zombie Canuckette lol.

As I told y'all yesterday, I was going to be lending a hand chaperoning a movie outing for my nephews daycare with my sister.  We went and saw Planes (Disney Pixar) and it was very cute, not anything like Cars but good in it's own ways.  I was absolutely shocked at how well the children were in the theater, we're talking about three and four year old's sitting for about two straight hours.  As you can see from the following pictures, my little burrito had a wonderful time.  He also probably ate more popcorn then Asha (my sister) and I did lol, that boy can pack food away like nobody's business!

 

eating by the handful lol

 

that's one happy little boy :)

Today's fruit pie filling star is the hairless cousin of the peach, that's right nectarines!  I love these as much as peaches, and just like peaches I tried tirelessly to not get the juice all over me as a child (and now as an adult) lol.  It was actually quite cute watching Miguel eat one today, every time a little drop of juice would slide down his little hands he would chase it with his tongue lol too cute!  And just like with the peaches, I have never had a nectarine pie >_<  What better time to try something new right lol?  It's a very simple recipe and super easy to make, but personally I think simple is usually better than something that's been over complicated ;)

Nectarine Pie Filling

Ingredients

heaping 1/2C sugar

3Tbs cornstarch

4-6 large nectarines, pitted and diced

 

Directions:

1)  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar and starch.

 

2)  Add the nectarines and gently toss until they're evenly coated.

 

Once you have your filling ready, place a heaping spoonful into the pastry cup.  Baking as directed in the earlier post (click that little link!), and allow to cool before eating.  The nectarine tarts pair quite nicely with either some french vanilla ice cream, or if you're looking for a healthier companion cottage cheese :)

 

tada!!!

Don't they look delicious?!?  Well we're almost at the end of the tart series, I have two more little treasures tucked away.  But don't worry I'll be sharing those with you over the next two days.  As I said before this post is a little short, now in addition to the tiredness I am also experiencing some annoying pulsing pain in my shoulder/collarbone area >_<  What a lucky girl I am *eye roll* :p  Until next time.......................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Feeling A Little Blue?

Hello Sweets,

I'm sure y'all noticed I was absent from the blogisphere yesterday, and I have some good reasons for it too.  The biggest and most debilitating issue was my shoulders, or the amount of pain I was experiencing from all the baking on Friday night (I just can't seem to pace myself).  The other reason, well frankly I've been feeling a little down.  No actually a lot, as you know I can't work or workout with my fun ailments.  I think probably the no working out part has been the hardest part, considering I work for the biggest fitness company in Canada, you could see how embarrassing that is for me :(  Luckily for me I have THE cutest and loving nephew of life, when I didn't answer my phone yesterday he (with the help of mommy) sent me a video saying "I love you auntie Jemmy and miss you and hope to see you before you leave for Texas".  Granted the Texas statement was a little much for him to say, but it made me smile when I needed it the most.  It picked my spirits up and now I'm trying to do more things to help myself instead of cuddling in bed, although I still like that part too lol.

However, that is not what today's post is about.  It's all about the blueberry filling I made for the tarts ;), see what I did there lol?  Do y'all love blueberries as much as I do?  I don't know why I love them so much, but I even made a blueberry milkshake a while back and yes it was delicious!  When I was little blueberry picking was interesting, and the only reason I say that is because you need to be fairly gently gentle when picking them.  As I'm sure you could guess children don't always have a gentle touch, which means you end up with more squished ones than whole lol.  None the less, I loved picking fruit as a child, and I hope to carry on the tradition with my children and even have my own little garden :)  The process for putting the tarts together is the same as before but click here for the tarts and here for the pastry if you need a quick refresher :)

Blueberry Pie Filling

Ingredients

 4C blueberries

3/4C sugar

3Tbs cornstarch

3Tbs water

1Tsp lemon rind, grated

1/2Tsp cinnamon

1/4Tsp nutmeg

2Tbs butter

 

Directions:

1)  Combine 1 cup of blueberries with the sugar in a saucepan.  Simmer on low hear until the sugar is melted and is very liquefied, about 5 minutes.  *I squished a few blueberries and added a very small amount of water, it looked as though I would have burnt the sugar otherwise*

 

2)  Combine cornstarch and water in a separate bowl.  Add to the blueberries in the pot.

 

3)  Cook over medium heat until mixture comes to a boil and is clear (not milky) and thick.

 

4)  Pour hot mixture into a bowl, cooling until warm.  Fold in remaining blueberries, lemon rind, cinnamon, nutmeg, and butter.

 

5)  Let cool before adding to pie crust (or on top of a cheesecake).

 

yummy!

Again, like the cherry mix, this is so much tastier than anything pre-made or canned.  It's not very sweet at all, and the cinnamon and nutmeg compliment the blueberries wonderfully.

I have now had six people try my little tarts of love, and I am happy that they've all enjoyed them very much :)  Nothing makes me happier (well almost nothing), then having people enjoy the food I make them.  A perfect example would be making dinner for my grandparents, even tonight when I made them dinner they were very satisfied with the meal.  My grandmother told me she was very proud of me and how I turned out, nothing makes a child happier :)  Until next time...........................................


Stay sweet,




Jennifer xoxoxoxo

Simply Sour

Hello Sweets,

I want to apologize in advance because this will be a fairly short post.  I had a hard time sleeping last night because of the needles I had earlier in the day, and I am still very sore :(  On the bright side, since I couldn't sleep I found myself looking for something to watch and came across a show I watched while in late middle school and high school.  See I have a soft spot for anything horror, and naturally I enjoyed watching "Tales from the Crypt".  Even though it is really old and sort of cheesy, it allowed me to forget about the pain even if only for a moment.  However, this is the first post in my fourth of July series :)  I only made two treats for the celebration as it was a small number of family that got together, so two posts will be about edible treats and the third will be about my very first fourth of July celebration.

Now I had always envisioned the fourth as a huge deal full of family bbq's, fun in the sun, and of course a crazy display of fireworks.  The last few years (according to Nathan) have been a little quieter but at very least I would get to experience "American" fireworks in all their glory!  So naturally I wanted to make somethings for the bbq portion, from scratch of course lol sometimes I go right in to house wife mode and there is no stopping me.  I wanted to make a beverage, a side salad, and a dessert but unfortunately I didn't have time to make the side salad (sad face).  So since I'm experiencing discomfort I thought I would start with the beverage and hopefully tomorrow I'll be as good as new, well at least to the best of my ability lol.

Fresh Lemonade (adapted from Disney Family Cookbook)

Ingredients

5-6 large lemons

1C sugar (I used about 3/4)

2qt water

an extra lemon to slice for garnish

Directions:

1)  Cut the lemons in half and squeeze each of them into a large measuring cup.  *should yield 1 1/2C of juice*

 

2)  In a large pitcher or mason jar, combine the juice and the sugar.  Stir in the cold water and serve over ice.

 

I didn't use as much sugar as it called for (or what is depicted for that matter), because I didn't want it to be overly sweet but more tart.  Nathan's dad, who you may remember as the lemon lover from my lemon cookie recipe, loved it too!  I even mixed it with some iced green tea I had made earlier in the week and hello yummy town :)  I guess it all depends on your preference for lemonade, but I will tell you once you make it you will never go back to store bought or frozen again.

Well y'all I am going to go kick my feet up and relax in hopes of forgetting about the pain I'm in.  As always I love hearing feedback from each of you, so don't hesitate to drop me a line in the comment box or shoot me an email :)  Until next time........................................................

Stay sweet,

Jennifer xoxoxo