Pasteis de Nata (Portuguese Custard Tarts)

I stumbled across this recipe and decided to give it a try.  It seemed easy for what I've always thought would be complicated to make and I guess if you were making your own puff pastry, then it would...They're never the same here if you've eaten them in Portugal, but I thought I'd give it a go since they're a fine breakfast or dessert, regardless.

Smokies wrapped in "Everything Bagel" Puff Pastry

I saw this on food t.v. this morning and was inspired by it.  I used smokies instead of hot dogs.  Mine came from a local butcher and are antibiotic, hormone and chemical feed additives free.  I was making Caprese salad with fresh tomatoes from the farmer's market and thought this would be a great accompaniment with it.  

Homemade Dumplings (for Chicken Soup)

I made my stock a couple of weeks ago so took it out of the freezer and made chicken soup.  I saw these dumplings on food t.v. so decided to give them a try.  For the soup I used rotisserie chicken, fresh herbs from my garden (thyme, dill, parsley & sage), carrots, celery and sweet onions.  For the dumplings:

Stuffed Yorkshire Puddings with Roast Beef

My friend's belated birthday lunch.  I made the beef yesterday and heated it up at 200°F today, trying not to cook it, just warm it but it wasn't rare any longer when I took it out.  At least it was tender!  Below is the recipe I used for the Yorkies.

Banana Tarte Tatin with Malai Ice Cream

I saw this chef's show on Netflix and knew I had to make it.  I've never made homemade ice cream before either though I have made tarte tatins a few times.  I found her recipe here.  I made the ice cream the night before and here's what I used:    

Crock Pot: Chicken and Dumplings

I saw this on social media and for some reason I wanted to make it.  I had to pull out my crock pot which I've never really liked.  I'll be honest, I wasn't expecting much, but I did want to try it.  I detest peas so used edamame in its place for my adaptation of the recipe.

Tomato Tart with Corn, Caramelized Onions and Blue Cheese

Every tomato season, I always make Tomato Tarte Tatin.  Today, I decided to try a spin on it as there was fresh, local corn at the market so I decided to incorporate it.  I ended up making this up as I went along.  What I used:

Ground Turkey Taco Impossible Pie

Well, I've made the dessert version, and now I decided to make the savory.  I didn't have "Bisquick" mix and wouldn't buy it anyway since it's easy enough to make.  

Salted Honey Buttermilk Pie

One of the best things I've done during the pandemic is join an online "Buy Nothing" community group.  Gifting neighbors feels great and even better is that things I no longer want finds a person who does want it.  The community spirit has given me comfort and hope in people during a time I've been feeling very 'out of sorts'.  One of the lovely people I've "met" (online only so far) unexpectedly gifted me some honey she makes in her own back yard as a hobby!  I wanted to do something with it, and share it with her, hopefully.  I found this recipe which I used for the filling.  "Sweet & Salty" is a nice combo...

Golden Beet, Tomato, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese Tarte Tatin

I realize the title of this is a mouthful.  I took out puff pastry and was going to make a pot pie but changed my mind and beet Tarte Tatin became the new plan.  I only had 2 beets though...so I put some onion in as well.  What I came up with:

Christmas Eve: Baked Brie in Puff Pastry

I'm making appetizers for Christmas Eve and often do.  I usually bake a brie in puff pastry but I wanted to do it smaller this year as we don't have people coming over and I thought it would be nice to reheat at another time with leftovers.  So, I used a jumbo pan which held 6.

Roasted and Fresh Tomato Pie

I have made this before, but with store bought pie dough and tomatoes not in season.  So, today would be the "real" thing.  Homemade pie dough and "in season" tomatoes which cost me a fortune this year!  Below is what it cost me for the jewels in this pie.  

Blueberry Scones

I follow Skinnytaste and these scones popped up as being "lightened up and low-fat" on social media.  I decided to make them for my son as he loves scones for breakfast.  What I used:

Tea Poached Pear, Leek and Cheddar Galette

I saw this on food t.v. and it looked interesting to me in that it was sweet and savory, so I gave it a go.   I think it would be great with goat cheese instead of cheddar as well...  I've always wanted to make a "galette".  I used the other pie crust to make a "crostata" which is essentially the same thing except one is French and the other is Italian (I think it's easy to guess which is which  😊)

MacLaren’s Cheddar Jam Squares

I googled this cheese as I used it in my potato soup and I wanted to provide a link to it.  When I did, I came upon this recipe and knew I had to make it.  I've always been a huge fan of cheese and jam together, and I love cheddar melted on apple pie too.  But I really made them for my son as I knew he'd love them.

Homemade Cherry Pie

It's cherry season, so this would be the summer dish I would use to make my son his annual homemade local "fresh fruit" dessert with.  I'd lie if I didn't say I'm thinking about this song as I write this.  I actually love cherry pie and can't even remember the last time I've had a slice -  maybe when I was a kid?  This will be rare dessert that I taste test myself.  I was going to make my own pie dough too...🤞

Apple Dumplings

I got up on this weekend morning and was watching the "Pioneer Woman" on Food Network.  I saw her make this.  In general, a lot of her recipes are not very healthy, however, they are easy.  I figured my son would love this so I made it for him tonight.  Half a pound of butter and almost 2 cups of sugar!  I scaled back a little on her bad ingredients though and used:

Chicken & Ham Pot Pie in a Cast Iron Pan

I saw chef Michael Symon on "The Chew" making a turkey pot pie and I stole the idea of the cast iron pan and puff pastry.  If you know me, you know I love my cast iron pan more than anything.  I made a pot pie and used these ingredients:

Apple Pandowdy

What's in a name, right???  I saw this on a PBS show called Cook's Country.  I couldn't find the recipe online, but I had the show recorded so just went from that (play, pause and write down the ingredients/cooking steps).  I made this for my son and it seemed like a nice autumn dish.

Chicken Pot Pie

As I stripped the meat off the rotisserie chickens my son bought me yesterday so I could make soup, I decided to make pot pie for dinner tonight.  My soup stock was going to go overnight in my crockpot.  This was a very easy version of pot pie as I was just going to use Pillsbury biscuit dough as the topping for it.  The other ingredients that went in were what I had on hand in the fridge.  I had a half bowl of homemade mushroom soup left, so I threw that in the mix below too.  I used: