Saskatoon Berry Tarts

Yes these are as good as they look! My sister was over from Saskatoon and loves these berries so I decided to make Saskatoon berry tarts. I've made them once before and they are seriously so yummy! The orginal recipe and picture come from joinmefordinner. I did do some adaptations to it. 

You can use pre-made tart shells if you would like or use the recipe below. It whips up pretty fast and easy. You can also use a tart pan. The pastry recipe below will make enough for 2 crust pie or 8 4-inch tart pans or approx 20-24 tarts. (I use a small plastic container to cut out the pastry dough for the tarts..it's a 2 cup container)

Pastry Crust

2 C flour

1 tsp salt

1 C chilled butter

1 Tbsp vinegar

1/3 C milk

- Put flour and salt in food processor and pulse. 

- Cube butter, then add to flour in processor bowl and pulse until it resembles coarse meal. 

- Add vinegar to milk. Add all at once to flour mixture. Pulse until it just forms a ball. 

- Remove and divide into two balls. If you are not using both right away wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate.

If doing tart shells. Roll out the first round disc of dough on a slightly floured clean surface until 1/8-1/4 of an inch. Cut out rounds with plastic container. Carefully push work them into a muffin tin making sure they are all the way to the bottom. They will shrink about half their size so you want to make sure you have it all the way to the top. Do the same for the second disc of dough. 

Prick the bottom of each tart with a fork a couple times. Bake at 375 for about 15-20 mins or until nice and golden brown. Cool. 

Filling:

8 oz Cream Cheese (room temperature)

2 lemons zested 

1 lemon squeezed for the juice. (or 1 tsp lemon extract)

4 Tbsp sugar

4 Tbsp heavy cream. 

Blend the cream cheese well with a hand or stand mixer. Scrapping down sides often then blending again until fluffy. Add remaining ingredients and blend well until nice and fluffy. Cover bottom of each tart shell with mixture. 

Topping: (This makes extra but it's really good on ice cream as well)

5 cups Saskatoons

1-1/2 cups water

1/2 cup sugar

3 Tbsp corn starch

- Add 1 1/2 cups of berries to 1 1/2 cups of water in a saucepan. Simmer for about 5 mins mashing the berries as it simmers with a potato masher. 

- Strain the juice from the pulp reserving the juice and putting juice back into the saucepan. Discard pulp. 

- Combine sugar and cornstarch and add to juice. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until mixture is thick and clear. 

- Add remaining Saskatoons to glaze and stir gently. 

- Cool, then fill tarts. Garnish with a dollop of whipped cream if desired. 

Stone Fruit Salsa with Cinnamon Chips

These are seriously so good! I took it to a party one time and they all loved it. There is a lot of cutting but it is worth it, believe me. Such a great Summer treat! Thanks to the Cooking Channel for the recipe. 

Salsa:

6 cups chopped mixed stone fruit (apricots, cherries, peaches, plums, nectarines)

I also put in strawberries and mango. 

2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp minced fresh basil

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp ground cinnamon

Pinch of salt

Cinnamon Chips:

1/4 cup sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

6 (8-inch) flour tortillas

4 tbsp (1/4 cup) unsalted butter, melted

Directions: 

For the salsa: In a large mixing bowl, combine the fruit, honey, basil, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt. Stir to coat the fruit evenly. Try not to stir too much as it may make the fruit mushy. Taste and season accordingly. Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

For the chips: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small bowl, combine the sugar and cinnamon. Brush both sides of the flour tortillas with the melted butter. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar over both sides of the tortillas. Cut the tortillas into 8 wedges. Place on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 20 mins, flipping half way through. Serve with the fruit salsa.

Strawberry Cake

With Summer upon us and strawberries being the going thing I wanted to try a strawberry cake. Not too many don't love the yummy taste of strawberries. I did one for my dad's birthday which is not this recipe but it was from scratch and it just seemed very dense and dry to me although some said they loved it. I wanted to try a boxed version and this one turned out really soft and light -I'm trying to avoid saying moist but it's hard to describe it any other way...because that's just what it is..moist (sorry anti moist people)

You could do a lemon cream cheese frosting on this too which would be super good!

This recipe comes from www.callmepmc.com.

Ingredients

1 pkg white cake mix

1 (3oz) pkg strawberry jello gelatin 

1 cup mashed or finely chopped strawberries (I used thawed out frozen with some fresh added and blended in my food processor for a bit but not too much. you want some small chunks. 

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil - the original recipe called for 1 cup but I found it too much.

4 large eggs. 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8oz) pkg cream cheese

1/2 cup butter, room temp

3 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar or more to taste and thickness

3/4 cup fresh strawberries, mashed or chopped fine (I just used more strawberry gelatin to taste and garnished with strawberries)

Instructions

1. Preheat over to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray pans with non-stick spray. Line the pans with parchment paper on the bottom and spray again. 

2. Place the cake mix, jello, oil, milk and eggs in a large bowl and mix 3 mins stopping to scrap down sides of bowl often. Fold in strawberries. 

3. Divide batter evenly among layer pans or  pour into a 9x13 pan. Cook according to chart below. Cool on rack until almost completely cool.  Remove cake onto the racks and cool completely. 

4. For Cream Cheese Frosting: Mix cream cheese and butter until smooth. Sift sugar and add one cup full at a time to cream mixture. Add strawberries or jello powder and incorporate completely. Cover cake. 

Note: 

Cooking times for pan size

2- 9 inch round 28-31mins

2 - 8 inch round 30-33 mins

3 - 8 inch rounds 28-30 mins

9x13 28-30 mins

Rhubarb Custard Bars

Rhubarb season! I grew up eating it every Summer and love it. I usually did the same cake or crumble so I wanted to branch out this year and try a new recipe. This was so good! 

It got rave reviews from family and friends. I definitely will be making this one again and again. This recipe came from Taste of Home.

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 cup cold butter

Filling:

2 cups sugar

7 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1 cup heavy whipping cream

3 eggs, beaten

5 cups finely chopped fresh or frozen rhubarb, thawed and drained

Topping: 

Cream cheese 6 oz - 3/4 of a brick, softened 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup heavy whipping cream, whipped

Directions:

1. In a bowl, combine the flour and sugar; cut in butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. (I use my food processor for this with the blade). It will look somewhat dry. Press into a greased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake at 350 for 10 mins. 

2. Meanwhile, for filling, combine sugar and flour in a bowl. Whisk in cream and beaten eggs. Stir in the rhubarb. Pour over crust. Bake at 350 for 45-60 mins or until the custard is set in the middle. Cool.

3. For topping, beat cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until smooth; fold in whipped cream. Spread over top. Cover and chill. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Funnel Cake

The first time I tried a funnel cake was at East Side Mario's restaurant and thought they were so good. Then we saw them at Lagoon Amusement park in Utah and tried them there. So delicious! Since East Side Mario's isn't there anymore and we are not in Utah anymore we figured we better do the next best thing and make our own. These were very yummy and you could put whatever topping you like on it. Traditionally it's powdered sugar, strawberries and whipped cream. Mmmmm!

Ingredients

(makes 6)

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup milk

1 tsp baking powder

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour (or coconut flour to make gluten free)

2 Tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp salt

Canola oil , enough to cover the bottom of a heavy skillet. 

Powdered sugar for topping

Fresh Strawberries

Whipped cream

Directions

- Mix egg and milk in a medium sized bowl. 

- In another smaller bowl sift flour and baking powder and blend together.

- Gradually add the flour to the milk mixture beating until smooth with a whisk. 

- Preheat oil in frying pan to 375 F. 

- With your finger on the bottom pour batter in a funnel with a 1/2" or 3/4" hole. You can just use a large Ziploc bag or decorator bag with circle tip on the end. I did the Ziploc bag and snipped the end off to make a hole being careful not to let the batter out until ready. 

- When oil is ready, let the batter drizzle into hot oil. Spiral to create a circle and overlap a couple times to seal things together stopping the batter in between cakes. This is easier with two people if you do it this way. If you use a funnel you can just put enough batter to make one cake. About 1/2 cup. 

- Cook for about 1 min or until golden brown then flip carefully to cook the other side. 

- Remove and drain on paper towels. 

- Sprinkle with powdered sugar and top with fruit and cream or whatever topping you wish. 

Acini De Pepe Salad

This is my daughters favorite salad and wants me to make it for every pot luck gathering. It`s like frog eye salad meets ambrosia salad. I got the recipe from my Aunt Marlene and not sure where she got it from but it`s so yummy everyone will love it!

The picture is not exactly how it looks like but could not find one. 

picture courtesy of jamhands.net

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 3/4 cups pineapple juice

2 Tbsp flour

3 beaten eggs

1/2 tsp salt

Cook over medium heat until slightly thickened, don`t burn! Set aside to cool. 

1 1/2  cups acini pasta

5 cups water

tiny bit of oil to prevent sticking

a little salt

Cook the acini 7 mins, then rinse in cold water. Add acini to sauce. Set in the fridge 8-10 hours. I usually do this the night before and leave it overnight in the fridge. 

1 large can crushed pineapple drained (you can do this the night before and use juice in first step)

1 can orange sections, drained

1/2 jar maraschino cherries (optional)

1 cup coconut

1 can fruit cocktail, drained

Strawberries, sliced 

Purple grapes, sliced in half

1 small Cool Whip

Mini marshmallows (optional)

Add all ingredients including acini sauce in a large bowl and blend well adding the fresh fruit last so it wont break them apart too much. 

This makes a pretty good sized bowl full which you`ll need because everyone will love it! 

Meatless Chili

Get your can opener ready because this recipe calls for many different canned items. It is so easy to put together and so yummy. Honestly I`ve done this recipe many different ways so I will give you options you can try. But let me tell ya this is a great dish to boost you up on a dreary day. 

Thanks to ezrapoundcake.com for the picture.

Ingredients

1 large can or 2 small diced tomatoes (I prefer Rotel Chili Fixin or Hot)

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 can beans in tomato sauce or navy beans (not baked beans as they tend to have a BBQ flavor) 

1 can sliced mushrooms

1 can or frozen corn

fresh Jalapenos or green peppers (optional)

1 pkg of chili seasoning (I like McCormick Hot Chili)

If you don`t want to use the packaged seasoning you can add 1 Tbsp cumin & 1/4 cup chili powder

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 Tbsp maple syrup (optional)

sour cream

shredded cheese

pickled jalapenos (cuz we like it hot!)

In a large pot add all the canned ingredients without draining and chopped fresh peppers if using and heat through on med-high heat. Add chili seasoning. 

Add the brown sugar and maple syrup if using. This can cut down on the acidity of the canned tomatoes and the heat of the chili seasoning if using a hot kind. 

Turn the heat to low and simmer with a lid for about 15 mins or more. 

Garnish with sour cream, shredded cheese and pickled jalapenos if desired.