Just Until Christmas....and then Its Gone!....

I love ice cream..mmmmhmmmm.....

Every Christmas we enjoy Candy Cane Ice Cream.  mmmmmmm.... President's Choice here in Canada has a delicious one with slivers of crunchy, dark chocolate...with crunches of candy cane.  Oh my even Abby my furbaby kitty really loves that one, you see next to yogurt....she loves ice cream.

Marc and I ate a bowl of it with a couple of Dutch gingerbread cookies.  I think this year I'm going to stock up with a couple of cartons because after Christmas.....its gone!

Do you buy candy cane ice cream?  I'd share.... Judi xoxo

Canadian Butter Tarts with Walnuts and Raisins...

Recently on a cool fall evening I tried a new soup recipe (in clear mug) and enjoyed it with a grilled ham and cheese sandwich. Yum.

AND I made butter tarts.  Butter tarts are considered one of Canada's quintessential desserts.  I like to make an easy crust using butter.  The Pate Brizee butter crust recipe is from Joy of Baking but because I like the filling to be slightly runny I use a Canadian Living recipe (follow below) which has corn syrup in it.  Joy of Baking is a great site.   I process it in a food processor so its VERY easy.

then into the fridge to cool for about an hour

meanwhile you make the filling which includes eggs, corn syrup, brown sugar, butter and vanilla..  The filling is from Canadian Living magazine and I have been making it for years....(but use the crust recipe above)

I like walnuts and raisins in mine which I put in before spooning in the filling...You can make them plain or with just raisins.  The choice is yours....

and goes into the oven like this with the filling....

and comes out like this 20-25 minutes later when the filling has settled and the crust is lightly brown...

There are 2 distinct butter tart lovers. Those who like a regular butter tart filling and those who like a more RUNNY butter tart. I am of the latter...with corn syrup and cooked just until lightly browned.   If you haven't given them a try...you should!..and if you do let me know how you like them.   Yum....Judi xoxo

Tenderflake Baked Brie, Pear and Walnut Braid & Another Week of Vacation

Marc is back to work this week but I have another week off. Abby and I are back in Canada.

My brother's youngest son Thomas is here from British Columbia for 9 days. My eldest son Geoff picked him up at the airport at midnight.

This morning we're picking up my mother along the way and driving 2.5 hours north to her cottage until Wednesday evening. I won't be able to blog while I'm away. I hope I'll have some pictures to share with you though when I'm back.

I am sharing the recipe for the Baked Brie, Pear and Walnut Braid Marc and I made to bring to the 4th of July Picnic we went to. We brought over 2 braids. The recipe follows. Its easy and sooo delish. We once brought some to a friend's place and they were serving a Mexican dinner. She served our dish with fresh fruit as a dessert. A great idea! Its very impressive but not difficult to make.

Baked Brie, Pear and Walnut Braid

Pillsbury Puffed Pastry (from the frozen section)

1 pear - leave skin on and slice thinly

1/3 cup dried cranberries - roughly chopped

1 tbsp Dijan mustard

1/3 cup chopped walnuts - toast on cookie sheet for about 5 minutes in oven

1 large sweet onion, sliced thin

2 tablespoons butter

1 tbsp sugar

4 oz brie cheese, sliced into think slices

1 egg - mixed with a fork

The puffed pastry comes in 2 per package. You will use 1 sheet for the above recipe.

Allow the puffed pastry to thaw.

Meanwhile slice the onions thinly. Fry with the butter stirring occasionally and add the sugar. This helps to carmelize the onions. You will fry the onion for about 20 minutes until it is a lovely carmelized golden browny colour. Add the chopped walnuts and cranberries and stir together.

Spray a cookie sheet with Pam or brush with margarine/butter.

On a lightly floured counter, roll out the pastry to about 12"x9" size.

Brush the mustard down the middle third of the pastry lengthwise. Then spread the onion mixture over the mustard. Then place the brie cheese slices along the onion mixture followed by the pear slices in the same way.

Starting at the left corner make diagonal cuts 1" apart almost to the filling. (like the left side of a "V") Repeat on the right side in the opposite direction (like the right side of a "V") Alternating strips from side to side bring up one strip and fold over filling resembling a braid. Brush each strip with the eggs. You can see the strips in the picture with the fruit and cheese in the middle. Carefully using an egg lifter lift on to the cookie sheet.

Bake at 375 for about 25 minutes or until the top of the pastry is a light golden brown and you can see the cheese has melted.

You can serve it on a pretty plate with a seregated knife to cut as you eat it or as we did for the picnic we cut down lengthwise and then cut it into pieces across. It was easy for a crowd of people to help themselves that way. VERY yummy!

It can be cooled and wrapped in foil and frozen. Remove from foil and heat in oven.

Enjoy and see you when I'm back... Judi xoxo