Gastronomy’s Fruit Tart

Dough:
¼ cup almond paste
½ cup sugar
¾ cup butter
Pinch salt
3 egg yolks
1 ounce whipping cream
2 cups flour

Using an electric mixer on medium speed, blend all of the above ingredients until combined, but do not over-mix! Chill dough for 10 minutes.
Roll out dough on floured board to ¼ thickness and place in a 10 fluted pie tin with a removable bottom. **I didn't have a fluted pie tin so I just used my cheesecake pan and did my own little thing with the crust** Bake for 25 minutes at 325 degrees, remove from oven and store in a cool, dry place.




Cream Filling:
1 (5.1 oz.) vanilla Jello pudding **The whole package made it pretty thick so only use 3/4 if you want the filling to be less thick**
2 cups heavy whipping cream
½ tsp. pure almond extract
½ tsp. pure vanilla
Combine by hand all ingredients until mixed. Chill for one half hour.


Apricot Glaze Ingredients:
¼ cup apricot jelly
¼ cup hot water
Combine jelly and water to make glaze. Using a pastry brush, apply the glaze over the finished fruit tart. **I actually didn't do this step because I didn't have apricot jelly but it tastes fine just the same**

cut the chicken into small cubes and brown over the stove with salt and pepper.

Mix well and cook covered on low for 10-12 hours or high for 5-6. 
We served it over rice with a little bit of cheese and cilantro on top but you can also crush up some tortilla chips, cut up some avocados and add a little sour cream on top! Makes 6-8 servings. 

image and recipe via

• blender
• 1 12-oz can of frozen lemonade
• 3 fresh peaches
• 4 ounces of water (fill the can up 1/3 of the way)
• ice

recipe and photo via

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 cup chopped peaches

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
• To make the cinnamon sugar, combine 1/4 cup of sugar and a tablespoon of cinnamon in a small bowl; set aside.
• In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
• In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together butter, sour cream and egg. Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist. Add peaches and gently toss to combine.
• Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Place into oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
• Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

I bought several bunches of strawberries with the intention of making some strawberry jam. My plans changed when a ton of peaches were brought over to our place (Thank you!). I remembered pinning a recipe for strawberry/peach jam just a little bit ago and thought I would give it a try.

May I just say, strawberries and peaches go very well together in a jam. Yum!

I found yet another totally yummy recipe on pinterest and tried it out tonight. Two thumbs up! The best part is that it is very easy and healthy!

image

4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I actually just used two, because it's just Jake and I but I wanted leftovers)
Put chicken breasts in crock pot. Mix all other ingredients in a separate bowl. Pour over chicken breasts and cook on high for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks in the crock pot and serve over rice.
Garnish with cilantro or parsley, if desired.
*We actually served it over tostadas. Made some rice, topped with avocados, cheese, lettuce, and sour cream. Mmmm...mmm!

I've been looking through pinterest lately and finding a bunch of yummy recipes. Jake and I tried one a while ago and it was a total flop. Really gross and of course didn't look anything like the picture. Typical. Well I came across a white chicken chili recipe that peaked my interest. I risked it and tried it out. Let me tell you it was amazing! So I thought I would share this little piece of heaven with you all. The recipe is found here. It was actually fairly easy to make as well. Try it out for yourself!

Happy cooking!

So so good!

Since the cold weather has made its way here, Jake and I have decided that we should make/try a new soup once a week. Our first soup we made was the Wisconsin Cauliflower soup. This is one of Jake's favorite soups at Zupas so we thought we would give it go. Here is the recipe. Give it a try!

The days are getting darker a whole lot faster. Which means Fall is on its way. My favorite season in the whole entire world. The colors. The wardrobe. The foods. The hikes. I love all of it. Every time Fall comes around I get this huge craving for pumpkin. No this is not a pregnancy craving...just a normal Heather craving. I have gotten a couple of new pumpkin recipes that I am dying to try. One that involves pumpkin and cream cheese. Heaven right? Jake and I have been busy making lots and lots of salsa. Fresh and canned (thanks mom!). I'm glad I get to take a break from that to make this. And this. And this!

                                      

Alright peeps. Here is the recipe for the sweet pork Cafe Rio salad, which you could also turn into a sweet pork burrito with uncooked tortillas, which I highly recommend. Jake and I were able to find uncooked tortillas at Walmart but they are a little bit smaller than the ones at Costco. There is also a recipe for the Cafe Rio chicken if you are not a sweet pork lover, which seriously....who wouldn't be.

One of my last assignments in my "stupid" computer class was to make a 2-4 minute movie either making something or selling something. First of all I can't sell anything worth beans. So I decided to do a movie making something.

Making ebelskivers particularly.

Ebelskivers are a classic treat in Denmark and are light round pancakes that can be made like this....
this.....or this!
You can make them filled with jam, curd, fruit, or covered with yummy caramel syrup with powdered sugar sprinkled over top. I chose the last one because I didn't have time to fill it with yummy goodness. I shall try another day though. Oh how I love cooking. I think I found what I am going to do this next semester when I am not in school. Yes that's right! No school for me. For now at least. I am done with everything. Everything. I now have to just wait patiently until I get into my program.

Can I just tell you how much fun I had last night? So I went on a date with a giant. Seriously this kid is so tall! I was semi okay with my height until I stood next to him.

I maybe go up to his shoulders. Maybe.

We went to Comedy Sportz and if I may say, it was the best one I have been to so far. The players were hilarious and everything they said was really witty. Definitely a good night to go.
I laughed so hard I'm pretty sure I had a six pack by the end of the show. We talked, found out more about each other, conversation flowed great, he was great. Did I mention he is going into dentistry? Likes to cook? Likes to read? Play games? Plays the piano? Has a great singing voice? Is very smart? Loves to play any sport and be outdoors? Great smile? We have a lot of things in common including music taste including dislike of country music, being the oldest, the fields that we are going into.....seriously. It's crazy. I just sat there and thought...geesh who are you?! Perfect guys like that don't exist or are very hard to come by. If only I were a good couple inches taller! I do love my heels, but I love my flats a tad bit more. Well after Comedy Sportz, we came back to my place where we made Skookies, not pizookies, yes there is a difference, with a couple of other people. The Skookies were ah-mazing! After that, we played games, and laughed our heads off till about 1 in the morning. Do you know how long it's been since I have stayed up that late before? Long time. It was such a fun date!

I feel I have finally adjusted to this new change. Embraced it is more like it. I love it here! Love my job. Love being close to so many friends and family. Love meeting new people. It's fantastic. I have yet to find THE ward for me but I will give it another go this coming Sunday.
I made dinner for gram and gramps yesterday and it turned out very nice! That's one thing that has been hard for me is that I really do like to cook....but not for just one person....especially myself. So I'm thinking gram and gramps will be getting quite a bit of cooking from me. I have a couple of recipes that I am dying to try. I am so excited for the weekend! So many fun things planned!

I came across a recipe in Women's Health Magazine that I just had to try. Making new meals can be a good thing, and a bad thing. Bad because you don't really know what it's supposed to taste like, good because others don't know what it's supposed to taste like. So I decided to venture out and just try it. Here is the recipe if any of you want to try it out! I highly recommend it! I don't really like fish, so I just used chicken.

3/4 c uncooked long-grain brown rice
4 Tbsp orange juice
2 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp finely chopped cilantro
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 pinch (about 1/16 tsp) sugar
4 snapper fillets (5 oz each), rinsed and patted dry
1 3/4 c medium salsa
1 can (15 oz) no-salt-added black beans, drained and rinsed
2 c chopped pineapple

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and cook rice according to package instructions.

2. In a large, shallow bowl, combine orange and limejuices, olive oil, two tablespoons cilantro, garlic, and sugar, plus salt and pepper to taste. Add snapper fillets and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes.

3. In a 3-quart baking dish, combine rice, salsa, beans, pineapple, and 1 tablespoon cilantro. Place snapper over mixture, overlapping fillets if necessary. Spoon remaining marinade over fish.

4. Bake uncovered until fish is cooked through and opaque, about 25 to 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining cilantro on top and serve.

Makes 4 servings. Per serving: 466 calories, 10 g fat (2 g saturated), 594 mg sodium, 54 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 37 g protein

Of course, after that wonderful meal, the roommate and I had to get caught up on Kyle XY. I had already watched it without her because I couldn't wait, but I was more than willing to watch it again! He is just so dang attractive! Too bad the season is about to end. What a sad day that will be.