It was a great time!

 

Mister man’s birthday celebration and our Fourth of July was a huge success with everyone walking away very full and happy. Thank you to everyone for your warm wishes on his special day. One item I like to include during the summer is deviled eggs in my opinion nothing says summer like these tasty treats. But I don’t like them to be heavy and I like a lot of flavor so here’s the recipe I like to use:

One dozen eggs, hard-boiled and peeled

¼ cup plain nonfat yogurt or low-fat mayonnaise

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/3 cup finely chopped radishes

4 teaspoons chopped fresh chives

4 teaspoons chopped fresh dill

Additional chives and radishes for garnish. You get the idea mix everything together and you have a wonderful fresh modern take on deviled eggs!

 

I’ve received several requests for my tomato tart recipe so here it is: tomato tart. I’ve used this recipe for years and always make my own shell, shell recipe in my previous post since it has more flavor then a store bought one. The only thing I change a little is when I put the olive oil on my tart, half way through cooking and use a 1/8 of a cup rather then the whole quarter. Otherwise it leaks all over the bottom of the oven and turns into a sticky mess you have to clean up later.

 

Since I told you everything I was making in my previous post I thought I would show you how it looked all together and most everything can be prepared ahead of time.

 

The cabernet gelato that Mister Man requested ended up being a blackberry cabernet sorbet since the recipe I have for the gelato has chocolate in it and mister man prefers berries. As you can see the color is amazing and the only advice I can give for this simple but perfect recipe is make sure you blend your blackberries first and then strain to get all the seeds out before finishing your sorbet off. The recipe I used can be found here: cabernet sorbet

 

Last but certainly not least is Mister man’s birthday tart, he feels cake to heavy for hot summer months. Fresh fruit tarts are the easiest things in the world to pull together and you get to play with your food decorating the top. I’ve found over the years that most tart fillings are rather bland and sometimes not firm enough to hold the fruit up so here’s my tried and true recipe:

Tart filling:

1 package of cream cheese, softened, then whipped

1 can sweetened condensed milk

1/3 cup realemon juice

1 teaspoon vanilla

Be sure to whip your cream cheese first and then add the other items. Chill for two hours before decorating and you’ll have yourself a refreshing fruit tart. I didn't glaze the top of the tart since mister man prefers it without but you can simply glaze the top with melted jam.

 

Trust me there was nothing left of our dessert and it had Mister Man begging for a tart all his own.

 

Dylan wasn’t left out of the celebrations since Dad let him do his favorite thing…open gifts even if it isn’t for him.

So there you go, all these images are mine taken either during preparation or dinner so you know all these recipes are tried and true. Most of these recipes I’ve used for years, they’re simple to make and big on flavor. If you’re ever interested in other recipes click on my pinterest button most of the recipes in there I’ve personally tried. If they don’t work I delete them or I’ll add my tips onto the picture.

If anyone tries these out be sure to let me know what you think or if you have a tip yourself for improvement.

Enjoy your week enjoy and stay cool if you’re in heat. We’ve been very lucky up north and not baking at least outside!

XX

~Debra~