#FreshTastyValentines: Individual Tarte Tatin

So.

It's the last day of #FreshTastyValentines. I'm shocked at how much I've posted for this event.  Really, I think it's more a case that I've actually sat down and written up my posts.  There's lots on the camera to come in the coming months.
First things first, we need to recognize all the amazing sponsors who have helped to make the event such a success!

(Have you entered the Giveaway yet?  You totally should.)

Today, the recipe includes a sponsor item, Envy Apples.

You know how those little cooking hack videos keep showing up on Facebook, demonstrating in 90 seconds how to make something totally drool-worthy and gorgeous?

J has taken to sending them to me.  I watch them and think, "I could do that."  and then I don't.  

But when I saw this video, and I knew that I was going to have some Envy Apples to play with, I thought that it would be worth a shot:

When I lived in France, I learned from my host mother to make a tarte tatin in a 9" cake pan.  This is just on a smaller scale.  My recipe also makes 2 - 1 for you, and one for your loved one.  Or 2 for you.
I present to you now Individual Tartes Tatin:

Son of Magazine Challenge: Apple Crisp

So.
I was reading an article today about being a "mean mom".  Don't ask me why I was reading it, seeing as the closest thing to children that I have is 2 cats who do what they like and a husband who doesn't always listen to me either.  But there I was, reading about how to raise kids by being mean.
One of the things that the article said was to not give in and serve dessert every night so it would be a "treat".

*insert cricket sound here*

I grew up in a house where dessert ended lunch and dinner.  It could be a cookie or fruit, but there was always something.  J and I don't eat dessert every night, but we do often have something in the evening after dinner - perhaps a glass of chocolate milk, or one of the many things I bake up.  It's not an every day thing, but there's often something.
The October 2007 issue of Everyday Food included a dessert article called Sweet, Warm and Cozy:  sumptuous, soul-soothing treats that go straight from oven to table.  Of the 4, I wanted to make 3 of them. I bought a new, appropriate shallow dish and have already made 2.  The next one is coming soon.
Might I suggest a return to ending your meal with something sweet?  I'd also suggest returning to slow meals together with laughter, conversation and a distinct lack of mobile phones, but I don't want to be all crazy-like.
Let's start with desert.
I present to you now from the October 2007 issue of Everyday Food, Apple Crisp:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Rustic Plum Tart

So.
I am happy to announce that this is the first month that I have completed 6 recipes from the corresponding Everyday Food issue since I started the Magazine Challenge!  Mind you, this is a 2 month issue, but by the same token it's exciting to think that 18 months into the project I've managed to complete my goal.
My mother has been here for a few days, and needed to make a dessert to take with her to a cousin reunion.  I was excited to suggest this, seeing as J isn't a big fan of plums and I thought it looked pretty.  I had another reason to suggest making this with my mother:  she is the queen of pastry.
When my parents got married, my mother said she would make a pie on the 7th of each month - their anniversary.  She's made a pie on the 7th of the month for more than 40 years.  As opposed to my own pastry, hers is flaky and tender.  While this isn't the pastry from the box like my mom makes, or even a traditional lard pastry, I figured she'd know what she was doing.  Plus, with the rustic look of this we couldn't screw it up too much.
Or so I thought.
I present to you now from the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food Rustic Plum Tart:

Bride of Magazine Challenge: Raspberry Buckle

So.
It's fruit season.  While J enjoys some fruit out of hand, there's not a whole lot of it.  He likes blueberries and blackberries.  Um, he might eat a couple of strawberries.  That's about it.  Whereas I like most summer fruits.
The raspberries right now are spectacular.  J commented today that this is the wettest summer that he remembers in a long time.  As a result, there's been lots of good looking produce.  With how the raspberries are looking, we needed to give them a try.  When the buckle came out of the oven, the only question was whether or not I was planning to serve whipped cream with this dessert.  The answer was a resounding yes.
I spent a little bit of time looking for the origins of the name buckle, and while I discovered that it is a seasonal dessert with rich yellow cake and fresh fruit that is popular in New England, that's about all the wisdom of the interwebs taught me.  All I know is that it's yummy.
I present to you now from the July/August 2006 issue of Everyday Food Raspberry Buckle:

Homestyle Classic: Peach Cobbler

So.
When my mother in law passed away, my sisters in law cleaned out her kitchen.  They left me a pile of cookbooks that they didn't want to go through and a kit to make pumpkin loaves because they knew I liked to cook.  I took a couple of small magazines, the loaf kit (which was delicious...I made mini loaves that we shared with friends), and one cookbook, Betty Crocker's Ultimate Bisquick Cookbook.  Yeah.
I bought a box of Bisquick and tried a few things, nothing which really thrilled us.  But then I made this cobbler.  As I said in the past, I made peach cobbler once a year.  J will tolerate it, and I love it the first night, and then reheated to pretend that it's still the first night.
I present to you now Peach Cobbler:

Pintertest Kitchen: Peach Sorbet

So.
While I am a big fan of fruit, J is not so much.  Every year, I buy a basket of peaches at the farmer's market because I can't resist.  Then, I realize that I can't possibly eat an entire basket of peaches myself before I've made a habitat for mold on my counter, and I end up making peach cobbler, a dessert that J will tolerate.  I like it the first day when it's still warm, but after that...eh...not as much.  So I put it in the microwave and reheat it a bit to pretend that it just came out of the oven.  This year, after I made peach cobbler (a recipe for another time), I still had 7 peaches left in the basket.  I turned to the recipes I pinned to use up the rest of these gems before I lost the mold battle.
This is what I picked:

I present to you now Peach Sorbet: