JAM TARTS

Last Sunday I went to a friend for Sunday Brunch. There about thirty of us and we all had to contribute some food item. I contributed two items: Jam Tarts & Scrambled Eggs & Cheese in Crossaint Rolls. The egg dish was a last minute dish. The hostess was afraid she would not have breakfast dishes so I offered to make something else-scrambled eggs & cheese in a butter crossaint. This was a hot item and went quickly,

The jam tarts were enjoyed and appreciated, but it's hard to tell people the kind of effort that went into making them. It took making three different batches to get the tarts I wanted. I used miniature muffin pans-the first time greased, the next two times, not greased. I made miniature pie crusts three times. The first batch fell apart; the second batch was too much pie crust and the third batch was just right.

JAM TARTS

Take 3 ounces of cream cheese and mix together with 1/2 cup butter or margarine. Add 1 cup flour and 1/8 tsp salt. Mix together, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Take less than a tablespoon, but more than a teaspoon of dough, flatten out with floured hand and place gently in minature muffin pan.

Fill each pie crust with less than half of a teaspoon of jam or preserves. Too much and the jam overflows the muffin cup and makes it impossible to get tart out of tin. Any type of preser works. I happened to have on hand: apple jam, raspberry preserves, strawberry preserves and orange marmalade.

Bake at 400F for 16 minutes or until the pie crust is golden. Move to a cooling rack and get tarts out as fast as you can onto a plate. If you leave them to cool off, they will fall apart later.

Nobody appreciated the effort I made in making these tarts-3 days worth of learning and re-doing my work. Buying triple the amount of ingredients orginally needed. All they saw, was what looked like a simple pastry filled with jam. It was so much more....

Cookbook Review:
The Spice Necklace by Ann Vanderhoof

I'm at work on a trip, so I probably won't have a lot of cookbook reviews this week. In the meanwhile, I'm entertaining you with The Spice Necklace. The Spice Necklace was sent to me by a New York publisher, in hopes for maybe a review and passing it on to a local book group.

If you can swing a 7-year Caribbean adventure on a sailboat, than this book may be a primer for you. The Author & her husband lead us through adventures with Caribbean cooking, eating and island life. It was a little slow at first, it is still an inside look at life on the various Caribbean Islands. Grenada is the author's most memorable stop. With lots of history in the foods of Grenada and it's chief export-nutmeg. Grenada's export of nutmeg is only to Indonesia ( nutmeg's world largest producer and exporter). In Chapter One, she has included two recipes-one for Ginger Spice Cookies and Grenadian Banana Bread with Chocolate, Nutmeg & Rum. Both have too many ingredients for my cooking, but the 2nd recipe does sound intriguing.

More to come....

I have been gone for 3 days, but now I'm back. At least for a couple of days.

Cookbook Review:
Weight Watchers Shortcut Cookbook

This was printed in 2003 by the Oxmoor House. Based on Weight Watchers Current Point System, there are 141 recipes to choose from. Beautiful color photographs of some of the finished recipes are included.

For 5 points in the No Cook section, you can prepare a Grilled Chicken Greek Salad in 6 minutes. Or in the No Mess section, for 6 points, you can prepare and serve Cheese Ravioli in Pesto & Tomato Broth in 14 minutes. Or in the Last Minute Supper Section for 4 points, you can prepare and serve Polenta with Mushrooms, Zucchini & Mozzarella in 21 minutes. You get the picture. Other sections of recipes include: Make Ahead Meals, Dinners for Two, Family Favorite Recipes, Easy Sides, Sweets & Treats & Beverages & Snacks. You know what! These recipes are so good & easy to prepare-you don't even need to to be on a diet to enjoy them.

Spent the last 3 days in Kingston, NV. This town is divided into two sections-Kingston 1 and Kingston 2. Neither is very big-maybe a couple of hundred people in each, but definitely divided. We stayed in Kingston 1 at my friend Patty's retreat. She bought this place 5 years ago, because she is a big fisherman/woman and the lake is five minutes away is stocked yearly with trout.

The big draw in the surrounding towns is the Gold Mine. They just found a new gold vein and more workers than ever are being employed to work it.

We passed through Goldfield, coming and going to Patty's place. This was the original capital of NV, now a small but thriving town.

That's all for now.

Cookbook Val

Hi! I'm back again tonight, but I will be gone for two nights. I'm driving up with friends to Northern Nevada for some fishing on the river.

New picture update! My hair is not short, just pinned up. Remember when I told you I was shooting cooking videos for U-Tube. Well, I've shot four so far and they're still not on U-Tube . Now there is an editing process. I think I'm just going to them on my own with my little web-camera and tripod.

Tonight I went to a friend's house, where there were 16 of us for Desserts & Cocktails. I brought a Coconut Pie. Along, with 3 different types of Lemon Cakes, Rum Cupcakes, Texas Sheet Cake, Chocolate Mousse and more. Too many sweets to try!

Cookbook Review: Betty Crocker's Cookie Book

Though printed in 1987, cookie recipes do not go out of fashion or style. Adjustments are rarely needed. Christmas is coming and it's not to early to start planning your Cookie Exchange Party. It's only the first part of September and I'm already invited to two Christmas Cookie Parties in December. I'd say there are about 150 recipes for cookies in this book, including Bar Cookies, Rolled Cookies, Drop Cookies, Molded Cookies, Refrigerator Cookies & Pressed & Fried Cookies. My favorite cookies to make & eat are Russian Teacakes.

Look for this cookbook and all my cookbooks on EBay-Valerie2901.

That's all for now.

Cookbook Val

Here I am back again. "Trying" to post every day. This morning, I attempted to hit garage sales in Las Vegas. Today, I hit Central Las Vegas, on the west side and was very disappointed. Clearly, the recession has hit this area hard and the yard sales I went to-well, not very much and what there was, overpriced. I'll try again next week in a different area.

Today, I went to a Luau party at Barry and Jacqueline's. They host a monthly meetup group focused on Wine in their home. Finally, an affordable wine group, that I can afford to taste new wines. Each month is a different criteria and prices for wines. Today, it was wines over $10. The food was so good, always grilled and healthy and the wines were wonderful.

Cookbook Review:

House & Garden New Cook Book: At first glance, looking through this cookbook, I found some good recipes, but mostly I saw a cookbook published 43 years ago! But then, I started seeing other things, cooking history, food lore and techniques; like rolling & stuffing hams, making puff pastry from scratch, homemade pasta & how to prepare truites farches parisienne (stuffed trout in pastry), challahs & so much more. Over 400 recipes! I have bought & sold this book at least 4 times. The next one I find, I'm keeping for my cookbook library (I have already exceeded my personal cookbook quota for this week). Of course, if it doesn't sell quickly (but I know it will), then I will get to keep it. Please note that this cookbook has been well used, but is still completely intact & still in very good condition.

That's all for now.

Cookbook Val

I am back from an easy trip to Wichita, KS and a few days in Savannah with my son, Nick, his fiancee, Jen & her three boys, Ethan-8, Clayton-6 & Trevor-5. This was my first time meeting the boys & I forgot how active little boys are. Great kids.

Dining experiences: Ate at the Green Mill Restaurant in the Holiday Inn in Wichita. Their dinner special was a half of a turkey club with fries for $5.99. What made this sandwich so special, the bread used was cranberry-Wonderful. In Savannah, we ate at a Longhorn Steak House-your average great meal and at Fiddler's Crab House down on the River Walk. I had a Caesar's Salad with blackened, grilled shrimp (lots of them, not the usual 4-6, I get in other restaurants) and Jen had fried oysters & fries. We sat outdoors on the 2nd floor patio overlooking the river, as a gentle breeze caressed us & most importantly-NO Humidity!

New within my blog: I am going to "try" and write a book review on at least one cookbook a day that I am currently selling on EBay on my listing-Valerie2901. So keep checking my blog everyday!

Cookbook Review: Samantha's Cookbook from The American Girls Collection. Activities from the past for girls of today. This is a peek at dining in the past with meals you can cook today. Enjoy the same gingerbread, ice cream snowballs and other treats Samantha loved in 1904. This cookbook is filled with full-color photographs, simple-to-follow recipes and elegant party plans. This book has been used, but it is in very good condition. Besides the great recipes, there are four different ideas for tea parties. I don't have a little girl, but it sounds like something I might want to do.

Remember to tell me if feed back on your EBay sales are important to you, because I am very bad about doing this otherwise.

That's all for now.

Cookbook Val