Summer Fruit Galette

I'm going to be honest and tell you that this is the very first fruit galette I've ever made.

I have wanted to try making one for years, but just never got around to it. With all the gorgeous summer fruit in the markets now, I decided to give it a try.

Blackberries and raspberries are the fruits I used, and I just love the way it turned out. The one tip I have is to thoroughly let the galette cool before cutting into it. That way all the fruit mixture has thickened, and will be firmly set. This doesn't have the firmness of a regular pie shell, so I think this is important.

And I really treasure a recipe that is fairly easy to make, but is impressive enough to serve at a dinner, or to bring to someone else's home. This is definitely one of those recipes.

Recipe for Summer Fruit Galette

Ingredients for pastry crust:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1 large egg yolk
3 tablespoons ice-cold milk


Combine first 3 ingredients in a large bowl. Mix in butter with a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk together egg yolk and milk, pour into flour mixture, stirring just until dough starts to form a ball.
Press together with lightly floured hands, and form into a flat round. Cover with plastic wrap, and place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.


Ingredients for fruit filling:

2 cups fresh blackberries
1 cup fresh raspberries
1/3 cup sugar, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
3 tablespoons corn starch
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons of butter, cut into pieces
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine blackberries, raspberries, 1/3 cup sugar, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
Remove dough from refrigerator. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface into an approximate
10-inch round. Place on a large, lightly greased baking sheet. Scoop berry mixture into center of round, top with butter.
Fold about 1 inch of dough all the way around to form a rim. Combine egg and milk, brush outside of tart with the egg wash. Sprinkle all over with 2 tablespoons of sugar.
Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool on pan 10 minutes, then move to a wire rack to finish cooling.
Can be served with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream,

Makes 6-8 servings.


Enjoy!!

Refuel This Summer With Dr Pepper and Snickers® 2-to-go Snacks

I am a member of the Collective Bias® and Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for Collective Bias and its advertiser.

I'm so happy that summer has arrived here in the Pacific Northwest. That means my family and I can do some beach exploring, a little camping, and maybe a road trip. I love bringing along my favorite ways to refuel on these excursions, Dr Pepper and Snickers® 2-to-go.



I've always been a big Dr Pepper drinker, and we like to buy it by the 12-packs, and try to keep the fridge stocked with it, especially in the summertime.

When I was at Walmart a few days ago, and checking out, I saw these handy 20 oz. bottles of Dr Pepper by the registers.

Already cold, and with a re-sealable top, they were perfect to drink on my drive home. I really like these kinds of tops because with all the little kids (and the big ones) drinks are forever getting spilled and wasted.

We are so lucky to live where we have so many beaches to explore. One of our very favorite things to do is to pick a new beach where we have never been, and make a day's road trip out of it.

We pack up our beach towels, a picnic, and Dr Pepper and Snickers® 2-to-go snacks to enjoy on the road.

I'm always looking through my favorite travel books and magazines for ideas about places to go, and great travel tips.

Time and budgets always factor into our travel plans right now, so local trips are pretty much what we are doing. But I love this, and we have lots of great family memories of camping and road trips with our large bunch, and many funny stories, too.

One of my daughters gave me this cute red tote that is insulated to keep everything nice and cold.

Just stick a little ice pack in it, and it's perfect. Of course we take a big cooler too, but I love having this purse size tote next to me whenever I am on the road.

It's so handy, and saves so much money to be able to pull out a nice cold Dr Pepper when we are driving.

I found the 2-piece Snickers® 2-to-go bars in the candy section by the registers at Walmart. They come in regular flavor, and Almond and Peanut Butter.

I was pretty stubborn about not trying these new kinds, because really, how do you improve on a Snickers® bar???

But yes, the Peanut Butter is super fabulous, trust me.

So if you are like me, and would love to refuel this summer with Dr Pepper and Snickers® 2-to-go,
there is a great coupon offer that lets you save money on both.

Just purchase (2) Snickers® 2-to-go and (2) 20 oz. bottles of Dr Pepper and receive $1.00 off.



We all know how much the price of gas can affect our summer travel plans. You can enter to win 1 of 250 available Walmart gas/giftcards.

SNICKERS® Dr Pepper Refuel Sweepstakes

Purchase (2) SNICKERS® 2-to-go and (2) 20 oz Dr Pepper bottles, then text or email your receipt to refuel@drvusa.com and be entered for a chance to win 1 of 250 available Walmart gas/gift cards. 
You can find full instructions here: http://drvsusa.com/refuel/


So what are your summer travel plans, and what is your favorite way to #Refuel2Go? Leave me a comment, because I would love to know.

#CollectiveBias

Chocolate Coconut Cookies

Are you a cookie lover like me? I'm always on the lookout for a yummy cookie recipe, and this combination of chocolate and coconut is my new favorite.

This recipe calls for almost two cups of coconut in it, so you know it's packed full of coconut goodness.

These cookies were a huge hit with my grandchildren when we sat down to eat them with a cold glass of milk. This recipe is definitely one I'll me making again, especially since my family likes them so much.

Recipe for Chocolate and Coconut Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut
1 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a bowl. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat the butter until fluffy and pale yellow, about 2 minutes. Add the granulated and brown sugars, and beat until well combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla, scraping down the sides of bowl as needed.

Add the dry ingredients, and beat together until just combined. Add the coconut and chocolate chips, stir until combined.
With dampened hands, shape the dough into 1-inch balls, and place on baking sheet. Bake until the cookies are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Let cookies cool on a wire rack.

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Making a fruit crisp is one of my very favorite ways to enjoy the summer season.. Whether served plain, or with a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top, it's always a delicious dessert my family and I love.

While I'm not really a big rhubarb fan, I do like the unique flavor it gives to this crisp. And this was one of my favorite dessert growing up, so it has a bit of nostalgic meaning for me.

I like this dessert best when it's still warm from the oven, with that scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it. But it's also great for breakfast. Either way, it's pretty yummy.

Recipe for Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Ingredients:

For the fruit filling:
1 pound fresh strawberries, cut into slices
6 cups rhubarb, cut into 1/2 inch slices
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 teaspoon lemon zest

For the topping:
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup brown sugar, well packed
2/3 cup old-fashioned oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, toss together the strawberries, rhubarb, sugar, cornstarch, zest, and ginger. Place the mixture in a shallow 8-cup baking dish. Loosely cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

While the fruit mixture is baking, make the crisp topping. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, brown sugar, oats, salt, cinnamon, ginger and butter, until the butter is distributed evenly.

After the fruit has baked for 30 minutes, remove the foil and cover with the crisp topping. Return to the oven and bake, uncovered, for an additional 30 minutes.
Serve warm, or at room temperature. Top with vanilla ice cream or whipped topping.

Makes 8 serving.

Italian Sausage and Kale Pizza

The thing about pizza is that it's pretty much perfect anytime of the year. During spring and summer, there's even more veggies to pick from to put on top of them.

I made this really delicious pizza with my super easy pizza dough. Along with Italian sausage, I used bell peppers, red onions, kale, and mozzarella cheese.

I just really love this easy to make pizza dough, and the recipe easily doubles to make two pizzas. You can also use half regular white flour, and half whole wheat flour to give it an extra healthy boost.

Recipe for Italian Sausage and Kale Pizza

Ingredients:

 For pizza Dough:

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 package all purpose yeast
1 cup warm water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1/2 pound of Italian sausage
1/2 bunch kale, sliced thinly
1/2 medium red onion, chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cook sausage over medium heat, breaking it up as it cooks. Cook through thoroughly.
 In a medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in flour, salt, and oil. Stir until smooth. Let dough rest 5 minutes.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and pat or roll into a round. Sprinkle with extra flour if the dough is sticky. Transfer crust onto a lightly greased pizza pan.
Spread a medium layer of pizza sauce on dough, and lay on kale, red onion, bell peppers, and sausage. Top with cheese.

Cook in the oven for 20-22 minutes.

Makes a large size pizza.