Cherry Tarts!

Let's start with the filling. We have this amazing orchard that's just up the road from the house and Cherries galore have been piping out of it like none other for the past month or so. Of course, my roommate and I had to get our hands on some fresh cherries and and see what thing we could come up with...unfortunately we ate most of them on our way home, so we had about half a pound left after the three minute drive home! So we took half of that and made some cherry tarts and the other half for a cherry pie [which we had to improvise with the pie filling as we didn't have enough].

Anyhow, let's start with the filling for the cherry tarts as it will need to simmer while you make the dough.
1/4 lb. Cherries
1 1/2 Tbs. Sugar
1 Tbs. Water
1 Tbs. Flour
Pinch of salt

Pitt the cherries if you have them fresh. [It's a bit messy, but super fun!]

Then throw all of it into a frying pan to simmer on low heat till the juices come out and you can smell the cherries.


Now for the dough.
2 1/2 cups Flour
24 Tbs. Cold Butter
3/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 to 3/4 cup Ice Cold Water


Cut in the cold butter till it looks crumbly and like most of it is mixed in. Add the ice cold water a Tbs at a time, mixing it with the pastry scraper. [Do not knead the dough!] Add enough for the flower and butter to be completely mixed. It will be sticky, but that smooths out as you roll it.


Use your hands to pull it all together once it looks like the above photo. Then roll! Only roll it one way, up and down. Take the top and the bottom and fold them over...in thirds. Turn it so the open ends are facing up and down and roll out again, fold and turn again.

Just keep repeating this till the dough is smooth. Plus, the more you do this the flakier it gets! But that doesn't mean you need to do it an exorbatent amount of times. Once you are done, put it in the fridge for 30 mins. and then it's ready to be used.

Roll it out, stuff em with cherries and fold them over. Cook them at 375 for about 15 to 20 mins or till they are golden brown. Add a simple glaze [powdered sugar and a bit of water] to sweeten it up and serve hot or cold.

A refreshing lime drink

This is a drink that I came up with after a roommate asked me to try a variation on a old fashioned cherry cream soda that I love making. I'll post that one after a little while and put a link up for anyone who's interested.

So we made a trip to Wal-Mart, the only store within ten miles. We grabbed three things, which you will need if you don't have them on hand. And gathered the rest.

Ingredients:
2 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 limes [varies to taste]
1 to 2 liters of Sam's Kiwi Lime Sparkling Soda

All you really need to do is make a simple syrup out of the sugar and water...heat them together till it's clear. Let that cool and add the soda and syrup to a pitcher. Add the lime juice and throw in the limes so the rind releases some of it's flavor into the drink. Simple :D
[If you'd like, you can use the pre-squeezed bottles of lime juice, but it's not as good. I've done one fresh lime and some store bought juice, and it worked out fine, but fresh is the best!]

If you really want the lime to kick, I suggest pealing one of the limes and putting the green zest into the syrup as it's being made and let it sit in it while it cools. Squeeze the lime juice of the pealed lime into the drink after mixing the syrup and soda then throw it out. The white stuff on the lime will turn the drink completely bitter with an underlying ting of sweet if you throw it in.