Happy Mother's Day!

I was flipping through one of the recent food magazines that I get and I saw an ad that struck me.  It asked “Why do you cook?” and it had a bunch of different reasons all around it.

The more I thought of about it the more complicated the answer seemed.   My mother always said “There are two types of people, people who eat to live and those who live to eat.”  And I know that the two of us are in the second category.   

Everyone has to eat and food provides a way to connect with people.  I use it as a way to connect to and show love for my family and friends.  I use it as a way to be closer to my mother and grandmother who taught me to cook.  I love using my grandmother's recipes from her cookbook when I miss her because it provides a connection to her.

And some day I will cook for and with my daughter as a way to connect with her.  I’ll be able to teach her the same recipes and show my love for her in the same way my mother and grandmother did for me.

  

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers, mother-like figures, moms to be, and potential mothers trying so hard to have a child. 

To celebrate Moms everywhere – here is a super easy fresh dessert. 

Puff Pastry Berry Tart

-One sheet of defrosted puff pastry

-Pastry Cream – I like Martha Stewart’s recipe found here

-Fresh berries

1) Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2) Roll out the puff pastry to a rectangular shape.  Score about a half inch from the outside for a crust and poke multiple holes in the middle to keep it from rising too much. 

3) Place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

4) Prepare the pastry cream (or even some sweetened cream cheese or sweetened mascarpone cheese, depends on your taste and what you want.)

5) Let the baked puff pastry cool completely, then topped with the pastry cream. 

6) Top with fresh berries.  I chose strawberries, blueberries and raspberries.

7) Enjoy and celebrate Mom! 

Chocolate covered Oreos

B and I are expecting.  I’m 21 weeks along, which is why I haven’t posted in what feels like forever.  Between the 24-hour sickness (I refuse to call it morning sickness), food aversions and the sheer exhaustion I knew I had to let something go, and so the blog went.  I also gave forgave myself about it because the purpose of the blog is for my enjoyment and not an opportunity to beat myself up.

This past weekend we had a gender reveal party for which we had tons of homemade food.  One of the desserts, in addition to the pink or blue cake, were chocolate covered Oreos.  These look super fancy, but are really simple if you have the time to make them. 

Required:

- Oreo cookie molds (I like spinning leaf’s)

- Double stuffed Oreos

- Melting chocolate wafers(white, milk, dark, whatever your preference)

- Optional:  Melting chocolate (colored)

I did white chocolate covered oreos with pink drizzle or blue drizzle, because it was a gender reveal party.

For the chocolate I used Ghirardelli's white chocolate wafers this time.  I've used the Wilton candy melts in the past, but the Ghirardelli's really had a better flavor.  The Wilton ones are readily available at your local craft store which is great, but if you want a higher end chocolate the Ghirardelli's is worth the extra bucks.  Plus you can order them on Amazon and have them shipped right to your house.  I did notice this time that the Ghirardelli's took a little longer to set, not a big deal but you need to have enough time to make them.  

Melt the chocolate wafers in a double boiler (a bowl on top of a simmer pot of water works – no need for anything fancy).  Make sure the temperature of the stove is low, and that you are stirring frequently.  This will help temper the chocolate so that it doesn't break or seize. Make sure that no water get in the chocolate.  

Partially fill the bottom of the mold and make sure that the sides are covered as well.  Place an Oreo in and then cover with a little more chocolate.  I usually bang the mold gently on the counter to get any air bubbles out and then smooth with an icing spatula. 

Pop into the fridge until the first batch is set and then repeat for as many Oreos as you were making!  I like to have two trays of the Oreo molds, because then I can make a dozen at a time.  

For the drizzle:

Melt some more chocolate in another double boiler.  You can also the microwave, but I find the double boiler is easier for tempering.  Pour a small amount into a pastry bag or a Ziplock bag with a corner snipped off.  Then drizzle a little bit on top of the Oreo.  In the past, I've also decorated with sprinkles. 

Ta-da!  They look gorgeous!  Especially on my wedding china :-) 

Here's some of the decorations from the party:

And the cake with the gender reveal inside: 

And in case you were wondering it's a GIRL!