Apple Tart

Perfect Pairing:  Ice Cream

I have been a married woman for 6 whole months!  Time is just flying by, and we are having such a great time.   A few random thoughts after 6 months…..

• We love Monday nights.  I teach Zumba on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, and Thursday is our regular pre-weekend date night, so Monday nights tend to be a home cooked meal and some quality couch/DVR/football time.  I never thought I would love Mondays so much.
• It is super weird having someone pay all of your bills after being on your own for a decade.
• We need more closet space.
• Chris loves my cat, Molly.  This might not seem like a big deal, but it is a really big deal.  On National Cat Day (there is a day for everything) Chris posted this on Facebook.  She is officially no longer MY cat, and is OUR cat.

• We need more closet space.

In honor of six months, here is the video of my amazing husband surprising me at our reception with a dance routine.  He’s my favorite.

Thanksgiving!! Every food blogger’s favorite holiday.  

Of course you have to have pumpkin pie (and pecan pie) on your dessert table, but there is always room for something apple related, right?  

My family loves our shared apple pie recipe, but this apple tart is a fun change.  It is super simple but still really delicious and, dare I say, lighter?  It is like the thin crust version of deep dish pizza, but… pie. 

I used my favorite press, no-mess, pie crust recipe for the base.  It is so simple and honestly better than any roll-out crust I have tried.  

The crust is topped simply with Granny Smith apple slices, sugar, and butter. 

After it is baked the entire dessert is brushed with apricot jam and sprinkled with cinnamon.  The jam is thinned a bit with brandy, or rum, or water if you don’t have those. 

I would most definitely pair this with ice cream.  Fantastic. 

Need some Thanksgiving recipes?  Well, let me help!

Happy Thanksgiving!

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Key Lime Pie with Pretzel Studded Crust and Coconut Whipped Cream

Perfect Pairing: Juicer and muscles

 

Key lime pie is the perfect summer dessert.  It is also one of the easiest pies to make.  I suppose you could complicate it by adding a meringue or fancy ice cream layer, but why mess with a good thing?

I have been making key lime pie for years, but this time I changed it up a bit by adding pretzels to the crust, and then topped it with coconut whipped cream instead of plain whipped cream.  Everyone loves a little salty/sweet action, so the pretzels were a great addition.  The base is still mainly graham cracker crumbs and the pretzels just add some texture and flavor contrast.

 

Obviously this is called KEY lime pie, but I discovered you can absolutely use regular limes.  Key limes are tiny and it would take you a very long time to get one cup of juice. 

If you can put your hands on one of these old school plastic juicers, snatch it up immediately!  I think I got this as a freebie in a bag of lemons years ago.  I have the fancy hinged model, but the free plastic juicer is my absolute favorite.  It gets every last bit of the lime juice.  This is important now since the price of limes is at an all-time high.

 

It also doesn’t hurt to have some muscles in the kitchen to help you squeeze the limes! 

 

Instead of topping this with regular whipped cream (which would still be amazingly delicious), I used coconut whipped cream.  I noticed this trend on Pinterest and decided to give it a try.  All you do is chill a can of coconut milk in the refrigerator overnight and then scoop off the hardened layer at the top and whip that with a little powdered sugar.  It has a very tame coconut flavor, but it totally adds to the tropical taste of the key lime pie.  Another tip is to chill your mixing bowl and beater before whipping the cream. 

I think I need to make this again. Soon.

 

One year ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Quinoa Produce Salad

Two years ago on Perfecting the Pairing: Shrimp with Feta and Tomato Sauce

 

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Lemon Cream Pie

Perfect Pairing:  Easter

I absolutely adore lemon desserts, especially lemon pie.  It always reminds me of my sweet grandpa who always said that was his favorite.  Every time I make this pie someone in my family comments on how much grandpa would love it.

This version of lemon pie does not have a meringue topping.  Instead, on top of the standard lemon filling it has a layer of lemon flavored cream cheese and is topped off with whipped cream or whipped topping.  It is so good. 

There is a fair amount of sugar and egg yolk involved in this recipe.  Needless to say, it will not filed under, “healthy”.   It is more of a celebration type of dessert.  I made this last year for Easter and it was the perfect ending for our family meal.  I am hoping to make it again this year.  I may also repeat these deviled eggs with goat cheese and herbs as an appetizer.  They are just so springy!
 

 

This post also gives me a chance to rave about my favorite pressed pie crust recipe.  The crust is made right in the pie plate (nothing to roll out) and it is the best pie crust I have ever had.  My tomato pie (sounds weird, but it is crazy good) post gives step by step instructions with pictures on how to make the crust.

I hope you all have a blessed holiday spent with loved ones celebrating the resurrection of our Savior!

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead… 1 Peter 1:3

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Strawberry Pie

Perfect Pairing:  Whipped cream or Cool Whip

Summer is officially over.  Hey, I’m the first person to say that I love crisp fall weather, sweaters, football, and all things pumpkin, but I am going to miss summer.  It is my favorite season for so many reasons. 

It really started to feel like fall this weekend around Chicago.  I went to a Cubs game on Saturday and it was not exactly pleasant baseball-viewing weather.  Yesterday was a perfect fall day with bright sunshine.  I spent the day watching my niece and nephews play soccer.  I saw a lot of kids that looked like me when I played soccer at five years old.  My skills included tracking butterflies, picking flowers/weeds, and scoring goals for the other team.  Soccer is not my sport.  Fortunately, it looks like my niece and nephews are not taking after their aunt.

You can bring back a little bit of that summer loving with this strawberry pie.  Have one last summer hurrah before you start celebrating fall with pumpkin or apple pie.  Strawberry pie is so easy and delicious.  My family likes it even more the following day.

I would recommend using my grandma’s famous “Press, no mess, pie crust” recipe for the crust.  It is truly the best homemade crust.  It is made right in the pie plate, no rolling pins needed.

The Perfect Pairing for Strawberry Pie is whipped cream or Cool Whip.  Clearly, homemade whipped cream is the preferred choice but if you want to cut a few corners you could use Cool Whip, chemicals and all.

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Tomato Pie

Perfect Pairing:  Pressed pie crust

How can it be September 6^th?  Where did the summer go?  I had a lot of summer activities I still wanted to accomplish.  It is so funny how everyone’s attitudes switch after Labor Day.  Even the weather automatically has a crisp feel to it and I swear I saw the leaves change just a little bit overnight.  The clothes are warmer and everyone is in the mood to watch football, even if they don’t usually care about football.

This tomato pie is great recipe for the transition between seasons.  It has the summer flavors of tomatoes and basil but also feels like autumn comfort food.  I have made this recipe twice and both times it got rave reviews.  It is a savory pie filled with tomato, basil, onions and cheese.  I originally made it as an appetizer but decided it would be great for a breakfast or brunch item.   It is even better the day after you make it.  This recipe is really versatile and can be adapted to use what you have on hand.  You can substitute caramelized onions for the raw red onions and use any kind of cheese that you like.  I have used a combination of mozzarella and cheddar and gruyere and cheddar.  I like the look of using two different colors of cheese.

 

The Perfect Pairing for this recipe is actually a recipe for a pie crust.  I am sure you could use a store-bought crust, but why would you do that when you can make one so easily and inexpensively?  Plus, it tastes so much better than the store-bought version.  My mom and I use this recipe all the time for any kind of pie and it always comes out perfectly.  You do it all in the pie plate so there is no rolling pin or mess involved!  Here is how it happens.

Measure your flour, sugar and salt into a pie plate and mix with a fork.

Make an emulsion of vegetable oil and milk in a separate dish using a fork or whisk to combine.

Pour the liquid over the dry ingredients and stir it up with the fork until there are no dry areas.

Press out the crust to even thickness around the plate and crimp the edges.

Pre-bake or use raw.   You will love this recipe for pie crust!

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