Vanilla bean scented Strawberry Tart

I've been all about fruit lately.  We've had some beautiful strawberries in the fridge so I thought that it was finally time for a creamy French tart.

 

You can actually see the vanilla bean in the pastry cream!  How awesome is that?

This 'pie' crust was a super fun version, I used butter and cream cheese with no water to make this dense and decadent delight.  My grandpa said, "Honey, are we going to get some whipped cream to put on top?"  Why yes grandpa, we certainly are.

Adapted from the Art & Soul of Baking's traditional fruit tart

pastry cream:

1 1/2 c. Almond milk

2 vanilla beans

1 egg

2 egg yolk

1/4 c. flour

6 Tbl. unrefined sugar

Place Almond milk into saucepan on med heat. Score vanilla beans down center, Using blunt end of knife scrape contents into milk. Bring milk to a simmer and shut off heat when tiny bubbles form.  Let vanilla steep in milk for fifteen minutes.  In a small bowl whisk sugar and eggs together.  When smooth add flour and mix until smooth. Once the milk has had time to absorb the vanilla scent, slowly pour a 1/4 or so of the warm milk into the egg mixture.  Whisk until smooth.  Now pour that egg mixture back into the pot on the stove and turn heat up to med. Whisk constantly while this mixture thickens like gravy or pudding.  Remove from heat.  If your mixture contains lumps, feel free to strain it.  If not, let cool on counter or in fridge until ready to serve.

 Crust:

1 1/2 c.  All purpose flour or whole wheat

1/2 c. butter

1 c. cream cheese

1 Tbl. unrefined sugar

1 tsp. salt

*1/4 c. white choc. chip

Mix dry ingredients in bowl.  cube in butter and mix until the consistency is that of bread crumbs.  Spoon in cream cheese with a Table or Soup spoon. Use your hands or a stand mixer to bring the dough together.  It will be quite soft like play dough.  Roll dough out between two sheets of parchment or saran and fold into quarters.  Chill in fridge for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375

Remove chilled dough and place in tart pan.  I used a spring form. Once the dough is in place, put foil on top and fill with pie weights. The easiest way to do this is to pour a bunch of dry beans on top of the foil.  The point of this is to keep the shape of the crust rather than having in puff up or fall in on itself.  And believe me, with this much butter and cream (cheese) it will!  Bake for 20-25 mins. until outer edges are golden.

*While crust is still hot spread the 1/4 cup of white chocolate chips all over the bottom.  Wait about 2 minutes then use the back side of a spoon to smear white chocolate all over the bottom of the crust to cool and harden.  This way the crust will maintain its integrity after adding the pastry cream.

 When all ingredients are cool, pour pastry cream into tart and spread evenly.  Slice berries and desired and arrage as desired. 

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Polka dots in the forest

 

 

 

 wearing a romper from moon collection, otbt's, thrifted belt and head scarf, betsy Johnson shades & my grandpa's very dead Nikon...

Veggies 101

So, you want to become a vegetarian?  Are you daunted by the thought or just turned off by the idea in the first place?  To tell you the truth, I was an avid meat eater/ anti-vegetarian for years.  I was annoyed by the fact that people assumed I was veg just because I did not shave my armpits.  Talk about putting people in boxes.  The funny thing is, when I finally started to shave my armpits I also became a vegetarian!

Whether or not you are interested in Becoming a veg seriously or are just curious about how us crazies do it,  I’ve compiled a few how-to’s  to make the transition easier.  Depending upon your lifestyle and personal reason for taking the plunge, I hope this will inspire and entice you into the wonderful  world of vegetarianism.

• Go to the store. 

Okay, duh!  But seriously, the closer that you can become with your food source, and the more acquainted you are with what you’re eating, will make all the difference in the world.

• Buy vegetables. 

Okay, duh! Really though, choose at least three different green things every trip to the market.  Try new and unusual veggies everytime you shop.  This way you can get into food by experience and learn what you prefer to eat.

•   Get Friendly with the spice rack

If you grew up in a home that rarely used spices then this little task can be especially scary.   Some of the coolest hot weather cultures in the world are masters of spice, from my personal favorite Indian, to Thai, Mexican and beyond.  Look up recipes from these culinary geniuses online.

•  Get cooking, blending, baking.

Invest in a few sauce pans, skillets, soup pots and baking dishes along with a good Blender. This will make your road to vegetarianism so much more accessible by allowing you to be creative with your meals instead of bored (wah,wah).

•  Fruit is an awesome way to satisfy those carb cravings

Every week I buy at least one bunch of bananas, one or two bags of frozen fruit and one small container of almond milk. I also buy fresh fruit and cut it up and freeze it myself. It really depends on what is more affordable.  I also buy a gallon of apple juice once a month or so.  I make smoothies 4-5 days a week with protein powder to help burn calories slowly in my system.

 Did you know?

 Hunger:

Number of people worldwide who will die as a result of malnutrition this year: 20 million.
Number of people who could be adequately fed using land freed if Americans reduced
their intake of meat by 10%: 100 million.
Percentage of corn grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 80.
Percentage of oats grown in the U.S. eaten by livestock: 95.
How frequently a child dies as a result of malnutrition: every 2.3 seconds.
Pounds of potatoes that can be grown on an acre: 40,000.
Pounds of beef produced on an acre: 250.
Percentage of U.S. farmland devoted to beef production: 56.
Pounds of grain and soybeans needed to produce a pound of beef: 16.

Natural Resources:

More than half of all water used for all purposes in the U.S. is livestock production.
Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of wheat: 25.
Gallons of water needed to produce a pound of California beef: 5,000.
Years the world's known oil reserves would last if every human ate a meat-centered diet:13.
Years they would last if human beings no longer ate meat: 260.
Calories of fossil fuel expended to get 1 calorie of protein from beef: 78.
To get 1 calorie of protein from soybeans: 2.

Environmental:

Primary cause of greenhouse effect: carbon dioxide emissions from fossil fuels

Fossil fuels needed to produce meat-centered diet vs. a meat-free diet: 3 times more

 Percentage of U.S. topsoil lost to date: 75.

Percentage of U.S. topsoil loss directly related to livestock farming: 85.
Number of acres of U.S. forest cleared for cropland to produce meat-centered diet: 260 million.

Antibiotic:

Percentage of U.S. antibiotics fed to livestock: 55.
Percentage of staphylococci infections resistant to penicillin in 1960: 13.
Percentage resistant in 1988: 91.
Response of European Economic Community to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: ban.
Response of U.S. meat and pharmaceutical industries to routine feeding of antibiotics to livestock: full and complete support.

(These facts reflect only factory farmed beef in the United States.  Not meat that is raised naturally on family farms.)

There are many other reasons to support your local famers, but these are my favorite.  I love animals and I don’t want to contribute to the unethical way that they are raised in this country.  My father raised chickens my whole life.  We also had other farm animals at different times.  There is a major difference between the meat raised on a small scale family farm and meat that is mass produced. 

Happy Vegging!

(sourced: vegycyber.com)

Blueberry Nectarine & Blackberry Galette

This was easily the tastiest thing I've made in ages. It must be the lightness of fruit and the fact that summer is on its way!! I ended up scooping on a little rice dream vanilla ice cream and it was perfection!

 * A galette is basically a free form pie.  Traditionally they can be made in a circle but feel free to play with squares and rectangle shapes too.  Simply place pie crust on parchment on a baking tray, put berries in a pile in the center, then fold up the edges before spreading the filling out evenly. No pie pan needed.

Preheat oven to 400

Crust:

1  stick butter (1/2 c.) cubed

1 1/4 c. Flour

3-4 Tbl cold water

1 Tbl sugar

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. cardamom

1 egg yolk (for brushing)

sliced almonds (optional)

Place all dry ingredients in mixing bowl.  Put butter in and mix with fingers until crumbly with some big chunks of butter remaining.  I used to think that it should look like crumbs, but by leaving some bigger pieces of butter, the crust will be much more flakey.  Once this process is complete, add water until a mass forms.  Take mass out and roll out into desired shape.  If you made a circle, fold into quarters leaving a pie shape.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.  If you made a diamond or rectangle fold into quarters making a small square.  Cover and let chill for 1 hour in fridge.

Filling:

1 Nectarine

1 c. Blueberries

1/2c. Blackberries

1 Tbl. Flour

1/3 c. brown sugar

Slice nectarine vertically around pit.  Put with berries into medium mixing bowl.  Sprinkle flour and sugar over top and let sit until dough is ready.  Once pie dough has finished chilling, take out of fridge and put on prepared baking tray.  pour berry mixture into center forming a tower.  Fold up sides of dough, then spread berries to edges.  Brush exposed dough with an egg yold and sprinkle with almonds.  Put in oven and bake 40-45 mins.

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Fun in the SUN

 

Annalee found this cute little adobe house with an attached garage in an alley by her house!

 Sillyness. Can you tell that we live in a college town?

A little yoga in the park.

Wearing a cropped T, cut high waisted vintage dockers,  jewels from India, betsy johnson shades