Lemon Cookie Tarts

Whoa, it’s been awhile since I’ve posted anything! Well maybe this post will make up for it a bit, this is a recipe for lemon tarts that I was inspired to make after seeing something similar on Pinterest, unfortunately that exact recipe wasn’t working for me so I came up with these instead and I love how they turned out!! So yummy, they’d be perfect for a lighter summer dessert or for a tea party.

Lemon Cookie Tarts

Makes 30-ish.
Cookie Tart Shells

½ C. sugar
½ C. powdered sugar
½ C. butter, softened
½ C. vegetable oil
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ tsp. almond extract
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp. cream of tartar
2 C. flour

1. Beat sugars and butter till creamy.
2. Mix rest of ingredients into butter mixture until a smooth dough is formed. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 2 hours.
3. Measure 1 Tbsp. of chilled dough and roll into a ball, place in a greased mini muffin tin and press down center lightly with your thumb. Repeat with rest of dough.
4. Bake at 350 F for 9 minutes. Remove pans from oven and, working quickly, use the back of a rounded 1Tbsp. (or ½ Tbsp. if 1 Tbsp. looks too big) gently press a shallow indentation in each shell.
5.Bake 2-3 minutes more or until edges of shells are firm and golden. Press centers down again if necessary.
6. Let cool in pan for 5 minutes. Remove to cooling rack.
7. Cool completely before filling with lemon curd. Can be frozen unfilled.

Creamy Lemon Curd

1 ½ C. sugar
½ C. butter, softened
pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
½ C. lemon juice

1. Beat together the sugar, butter, and salt until fluffy. Add the yolks, one at a time, and beat until combined. Add the lemon juice slowly, beating well.
2. Pour the mixture into a stainless steel saucepan and cook over med. low heat until slightly thickened (it’ll set up completely once it’s been refrigerated so don’t worry if it seems soupy), about 20 minutes.
3. Remove from heat, pour into a glass container and cool. Refrigerate until ready to use, can keep up to a week in refrigerator.

Makes about 2 cups.
Great for any recipe calling for lemon curd, also good on scones and as cupcake filling.

Share this:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

The best salad I’ve ever made!

It is the perfect time of year to spend time in the kitchen isn’t it? I’ve been longing to bake some yummy breads but haven’t got around to it (yet!) I have been experimenting with some new veggie dishes though and thought I’d share a couple. Both are delicious but the salad is easily my new favorite recipe of 2013, it’s perfect in every way!!

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Sweet Potato Salad (also known as the best salad I’ve ever made)

3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
1 ½ Tbs. light olive oil
½ tsp. salt

Toss together and spread in a single layer on a large baking sheet.
Bake at 400 F for 20 – 25 minutes, stirring two or three times, until the sweet potatoes are tender.
Drain on paper towel and allow to cool.

Whisk together:
¾ C. fat free Italian dressing
1 Tbs. lemon juice
½ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. chili powder
¼ tsp. paprika

Stir in:
½ C. black beans
½ C. corn
1 small red onion, minced
¼ C. red bell pepper, chopped
Sweet potatoes

Season with additional salt if needed. Eat right away or refrigerate for a couple of hours.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Curried Spinach and Veggies

1 c. fresh spinach
1/2 c. water
1/2 c. tomatoes, diced (fresh or canned, doesn’t matter)
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 canned green chile, finely chopped
1/4 to 1/2 tsp. mild curry powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cumin powder
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
salt
mozzarella cheese cubes

Sauté the onion, tomatoes, and green chile in the water until onion is soft and the water has mostly evaporated.
Add all spices and salt, drop in the spinach and stir until slightly wilted. Pour into serving bowl (you may wish to drain it, I never do but if you’re serving it on a plate you’ll want to) and top with mozz. cubes.

This serves 1 as a main dish and 2 as a side.

—————————————————————————————————————————-

Lessons from NaNoWriMo

Lesson 1 from my first NaNoWriMo: Never let your close friends read the story during November, if they’re critical about it you will think about their words to much and lose your mojo.

Who – or What – in the Whoniverse Would You Be?

Good question! And you can find out on BBC America, Doctor Who Extras. I’m can’t believe I’m just now seeing this! I need to check the site more often…

Oh, and apparently I’m the TARDIS:

Your result: Ta da! You are THE TARDIS

You are a creative soul and more than a little eccentric. You might say your relentless zest for life makes you BIGGER on the INSIDE! Impulsive and curious, you lead the Doctor where he needs to go and not necessarily where he wants to go. You’re full of wanderlust, a romantic at heart and irresistibly sexy!

Beware – your passion for raw adventure can make you forgetful. Please call home from time to time!

I am NOT squeeing like a fangirl!! But seriously, isn’t this sooooo cool?????!!!! And such a perfect result since the sweater I’m knitting for myself is going to be decorated up to look like the TARDIS 🙂 And thank goodness I’m not a Dalek, I love the Daleks (they’re so cute!) but that would be a terrible result to get!

The Craziness of November

November is one of my favorite months, the cooler weather is always nice and there’s such a wistful feeling in the air. And of course there’s lots of things to look forward to this month (Doctor Who 5oth Anniversary!!!). November is also one of the busiest months of the entire year for me, Christmas crafting takes up a lot of my time (but of course, I can’t talk about that just yet! Someone might see what they’re getting a wee bit too early ;)) and for some reason I thought I could probably handle a few other projects as well (’cause really, who needs sleep???) so I have a sweater on my needles and a hat on one of my hooks. And I recently finished a scarf for myself:

If you click on the picture it will take you to the pattern page on Ravelry, the pattern is actually available for free until November 5th. I really love the pattern as it’s entirely customizable and so much fun. I used a lovely yarn from Neurotic Knitterz Etsy shop and played around with needle sizes. Notes from my project page:

Used roughly 1/2 of the nice smooshy yarn.
Started with size 5 needles, changed to size 6 on 2nd repeat of chart C, changed to size 13 on 3rd repeat of chart C.

Did allover lace version and repeated chart C 3 times.

I also finished a Chevron Cowl:

Click on the picture to go to the Ravelry pattern page. I made this with Caron Simply Soft Party in the Fuchsia Sparkle and Spring Sparkle colorways, the buttons are handmade with beads, ribbon, wire, and a little bit of crocheting. Notes from my project page:

Making this a button cowl instead of a slip-on.
Chained 150, worked in pattern to last 11 stitches of set up row. Working those 11 stitches after I finish the rest of the cowl. Plain dc with buttonholes.

I love this pattern! So easy and elegant.

And along with the Christmas gifts, I just started working on some penguin sweaters (as in, sweaters for actual penguins! Not sweaters with cute frolicking penguins stitched onto them) for the Penguin Foundation (remember, sleeping isn’t necessary!)

Speaking of crazy; I decided this year I was finally going to participate in NaNoWriMo…. So I’m going to write a 50,000 word young adult fantasy story in just one month! That’s totally possible!! As long as I have an endless supply of Twizzlers and Diet Coke, and my Pandora radio station keeps playing, sure! Totally doable (I don’t need sleep!!! ha ha ha, I can totally go without sleep for an entire month!! It’s easy, it’s… it’s… :snore:)