A Couple of December Food Photos

Sweetie and I were given a wonderful early gift of a soup mix and recipe in a quart jar. It made a delicious mixed bean soup with veggies, and then I added some extra frozen mixed vegetables. Since I don't have the quantities of the ingredients, or even what all the ingredients were, no recipe for this one, but I wanted to show you what a beautiful soup it was.

The second photo is from a tart that was made today, mostly by my soon-to-be grandson R, with a little participation by me. The last time he was here, in the summer, we made a free form fruit pie, the kind that you fold the dough over the edges of the fruit and fold it as you go. This time it seemed like he was ready for a bit more challenge, so we did the tart. The recipe can be found HERE. It's a great recipe to have because the tart dough is made in a food processor and is super easy. Also, it's wonderful because you can make it with canned apricots. I keep a bag of almond flour in the fridge and if you do, too, you can make this tart almost any time. No canned apricots? Try canned peaches or tart cherries in their juice...not cherry pie filling, but the actual cherries. Fresh fruit like raspberries or strawberries would work, too. Of course you still need to have butter, sugar, flour, confectioners sugar, salt, eggs, and almond extract  along with that almond flour, but if you are a baker those things are usually in your pantry and fridge.

This tart is absolutely delicious, easy to make, rich but light, and looks really impressive while being pretty easy to make...so, a winner, right?

I was impressed by R's approach to making the filling...he did that part all on his own while I peeled the skin off the canned apricots. First he read the recipe, then he made sure he had all the ingredients on the counter, then he asked about measuring cups and spoons and how to attach the beater. THEN he started to make the filling. He will be taking a semester cooking and baking class starting in January and I suspect that he will do very well...of course I might be biased!

Wishing you, dear reader, a very happy Christmas. May your days be filled with fun with those you love, good food, good conversations, and someone willing to do the dishes.