Jam tarts

I made some sweets Tuesday for Louise's spa party. Jam tarts, natch -- the easiest kind of pie/tart to make.
Didn't have any leftover piecrust to make 'em with. That's my mom's way of making jam tarts. When small child is helping her bake, she takes the scraps of pie dough that have been re-rolled once (and shouldn't be used again for real tarts as they will be tough and chewy, not flaky) and gives 'em to the child to flatten. Put a spoonful of jam in the middle. Get child to pinch dough around it, like a perogy or a chinese dumpling. Bake about eight to ten minutes in oven. Child will be overjoyed to eat her/his very own jam tart.
Easiest kind of tart to make, not a 'real' tart, no work for the filling. As mom says, it's not like I really baked, this is only a jam tart. Tough, chewy, messy if jam bubbles out.

Without bothering to make pie dough, I still wanted to make tarts for Louise, so turned to an alternative. Wonton wrappers! I had half a pack, thawed in the fridge. Here's the method -- too simple to call it a recipe.
Peel off individual wonton wrappers, and tuck them into muffin cups so the ends point up and the wrapper makes a little bowl. Bake in 350 F oven for five to eight minutes -- my landlady's oven has a few quirks, yours may too -- just bake until the points are starting to brown and the whole wrapper has crisped up. Remove from oven.
Tuck about 3/4 teaspoon of jam or jelly into each of these hot wrapper/bowl/tart shells. (Can use less, say 1/2 tsp if you want less of a very rich jam or want people to be able to eat it without a drippy gush of juice.) Return pan to oven for one to two minutes, just till jam has melted. Remove from oven, let cool slightly before eating as hot filling will burn your mouth.

The best thing about these jam tarts is that they're very basic and adaptable. You can put the filling in the raw shells before baking, if you want to be simpler, and the points will be crisper than the bottom of the tarts. If you've got a scrooch gun or a pastry bag or an icing syringe you can squeeze various kinds of filling in instead of just jam. How about adding a dab of softened cream cheese? Or a bit of lemon snow?

I've made these with bits of filo and they were terrific.
Of course, that batch started because I dropped my brand-new box of filo and broke those lovely rolled sheets into pieces about the size of a wonton wrapper. That day I learned to make these neat little rolls with a bit of barbecued salmon tip, a bit of feta cheese and a bit of avocado rolled in two layers of filo. And for dessert -- jam tarts. Two layers of filo that's been cut into squares about 1/6 the size of a sheet. Tuck the little pieces of filo into muffin cups. Don't bother to brush them with butter unless you really want to, they crisp up anyways. Tuck in 1/2 tsp of jam or jelly, bake for five to eight minutes, remove from oven and let cool.

Green your Campbell Dollars

I thought this was the best contest I've seen yet!! I've spent my $100 already, I purchased a stainless steel water bottle from MEC and the rest went to food.

Check this out http://contest.thetyee.ca/greenyourcampbellcash/

I voted for the Madrona Farm, a productive, biologically diverse urban farm on Blenkinsop Road in Victoria, under strong development pressure.

Saving green space, contributing to food security and sustainability, the environment.

Place your vote!

Seriously hooked on Serious Coffee Granola Bars

There is a Serious Coffee outside the front door of the new apartment building. Thought I would have a break one day after taking a few boxes over. Good coffee, and I got a scratch card which won me a free brioche. Went back, no free brioche available so was allowed to choose another treat. Went for the Granola Bar.

A few days later went for a coffee break, had a Chai tea latte and a granola bar.

Friday, coffee and two granola bars, one I ate there, one I kept for later.

http://www.seriouscoffee.com/

No recipe online. Seriously have to figure out how to make those bars. I dare you to try them without getting hooked...

City Harvest

I salute Paula and Martin for their SPIN farming! This month's EAT magazine http://eatmagazine.ca/ for an article on SPIN farming featuring Paula Sobie from City Harvest. Paula will also be at this year's Organic Festival http://eatmagazine.ca/

It has been wonderful to note that more stores are carrying local produce. We use to grow most of our food on this island and ship in very little. In 50 years this has changed and we really need to change back. From a simple search on Google I have noted there is a lot of people on a small scale growing crops, making cider/wine or even raising bison.

Check out:

http://www.yellowpointcranberries.com/

http://www.islandbison.com/

http://www.islandfarmfresh.com/

The issue of Food Security

Over on the other blog, Central Ganglion, Bernie has posted an interesting story on shortages in the US. Scary, really scary. Even today when I went to buy my muffin there was a note posted in UVic's Finnerty Express Cafe that due to the increase in the price of flour there was an increase in the price of muffins. This is bad news on the grain front, but the positive side of it is, I'm not going to indulge as often and that probably will be good for staying away from the "white stuff".

For years I've been amazed at how little we grow on the island. We have a great climate and yet we import a hell of a lot of our food. One of the reasons I selected my current abode was because there was a huge garden and a least 4 apple trees. I was greatly disappointed when the garden disappeared to plant more lawn and the apple tree was removed never to be replaced. I am going to be moving into an apartment block soon, with lots of light and I hope to grow herbs.

This summer I will be planting a vegetable garden in a plot I've obtained for free. I gave my UVic plot back and requested that it go to a student in residence on the waiting list. There is a community garden in Oak Bay on Montrieff. I live near there and I've noticed some plots are never planted. There is a 5 year waiting list to obtain a plot. I'm not sure if Oak Bay Municipality monitors the lot, but they should. If the plot isn't planted in one summer, then it should be passed to someone on the waiting list. UVic's Community Garden has a policy whereby you have to plant by the end of May. If you don't you lose your plot. I think that's fair.

The city needs more community gardens and roof tops to be converted for condo and apartment dwellers.

Another project is City Harvest. http://www.cityharvest.ca/
SPIN farming -- see website for information

Still , we need to do more and we need to do it NOW!! Or are we too late already??

The best brownies

These were made and devoured at John's sister and brother inlaw's during the movie & pizza night we offered as part of their Christmas gift. The are the BEST brownies I've ever had...

Fantastic Fudge Brownies

1 cup butter
2 cups sugar
4 heaping tablespoons cocoa
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup flour
1 cup walnuts, chopped (I don't put them in)
1 teaspoon vanillaIcing
2 cups icing sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 talespoons cocoa
2 tablespoons boiling water
2 teaspoons vanilla

Cream sugar, cocoa and butter, Add beaten eggs and vanilla. Add flour andfold in walnuts. Bake in greased 9" x 13" pan at 350 for 40 -45 minutes.Top will appear underdone (falls in middle) but DON'T overcook!! Should bemoist and chewy. Add icing IMMEDIATELY after removing from oven so it willmelt into a shiny glaze.Icing - mix ingredients together with electric beater while brownies are cooking.

chewy sweet-mores

Found this great recipe in the latest issue of Momentum, a magazine for bicyclists and self-propelled people. It's for sweet-mores, a homemade chewy thing something like an Eat-more bar, and the recipe comes from a book called Health by Chocolate. That title, incidentally, has my vote for second-best title of the year. The hands-down best title goes to my friend Bev's novel Feral.
I've modified the recipe here a bit from the original. These no-bake, granola bar substitutes are supposed to be adaptable to suit different tastes.
Needed:
1 6-cup saucepan (better try a cheap thrift store pan the first time, not your best)

1 cup peanut butter (or almond butter or other similar product such as No-Nuts golden pea butter. )
1 cup honey (I used liquid honey; I don't think hard or creamed honey would work so easily)
cocoa powder to taste (recipe calls for 1 cup; the second time, I used only 3 tablespoons)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
sesame seeds or sunflower seeds to taste (1/2 cup to 1 cup)

Put peanut butter and honey in saucepan, and heat gently until bubbling, said the recipe. Hah! I heated gently and stirred the heck out of the thick goo with a chopstick to try to keep the bottom from burning before the top got warm.
Remove from heat, and stir in cocoa powder. Stir in about 1/2 cup coconut and 1/2 cup sesame seeds. Keep adding coconut and seeds till you get a texture you like. The mixture should be too thick to stir, and look something like an Eat-More bar: lots of stuff mixed into dark brown goo.
The mixture will remain warm for a few minutes while you're mixing. Don't let it get cold in the saucepan.
The recipe says to press the mixture into a pan, and when it's cooling, slice it into bars. I guessed rightly that the mixture would set like rock when it got cold. Instead, I recommend shaping the mixture into manageable pieces while it's warm. Butter your hands, and put two Tupperware-style sandwich containers on the table. Scoop out teaspoonfuls of the mixture, pinch them into round, flat cookie shapes and put them into the plastic sandwich containers. You can roll each shape in coconut as you make it.
These cookie shapes will get dense, almost hard and chewy as they cool down. They will also soften and leak peanut oil on a warm day, so don't just wrap a couple in a bit of plastic wrap and stick 'em in a pocket. I'd recommend a Tupperware (they tend to seal well) or a Zip-lock snack bag -- maybe double bag if leaks would be a problem.