Garden Party with Tartelette, Dream or Realitiy?

Hosting a garden party for Tartelette? Someone pinch me or wake me up from a dream! Reality came true as last night together with several adorable food bloggers we spent a beautiful night visiting with Helen Dujardin who is absolutely a real live lady. She tells wonderful stories, is a great listener and is as down-to-earth as they come. She was candid and shared tips on every question that was asked her (including questions on macarons- no doubt she has heard them all!). Helen is completely comfortable in her own skin and makes everyone else feel at ease around her. I do wish my outdoor living room were big enough to have included everyone because each of you would have loved enjoying her easy humor and relaxing attitude. She only made us fall in love with her even more than we already were, and that is hard to do.

Each item on the menu was delicious and prepared with specific care with Helen in mind. Take a moment to visit these sites for the recipes. It is always charming to be with fellow bloggers and get a pulse on who they really are, these gals are dynamite! Personal thanks to Bonnie for flowers from her garden and arranging them in the darling white vases (thanks Susan!). Many thanks to Becky for the gift basket we gave to Helen filled with wonderful Utah products and to Maria who always keeps us locals in touch with the national and international celebrities. Having a party can be so much fun when everyone helps!

Maria-Two Peas and Their Pod http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com

Becky-Project Domestication http://projectdomestication.blogspot.com/ and Utah Loves Cupcakes http://utahlovescupcakes.com/

Bonnie-City Home, Country Home http://cityhomecountryhome.blogspot.com/

Barbara-Barbara Bakes http://www.barbarabakes.com/

Becky-Vintage Mixer http://www.thevintagemixer.com/

Jaime-Sophistimom http://www.sophistimom.com/

Dara-Cookin' Canuck http://cookincanuck.blogspot.com/

Holly-Phemomenon http://phemomenon.blogspot.com/

Brooke-Cheeky Kitchen http://www.cheekykitchen.com/

Because a picture is worth a thousand words, I’ll leave you with shots of the evening from Candace. Picture charming music lofting in the background with the air sweet with honeysuckle, really it could have been a dream.

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Our best to Helen as she speaks at The Evolution of Women in Social Media conference in Park City, Utah this weekend. Come visit us here in Utah anytime. My home is your home.

Simple as Pie? Confessions of a Pie Maker and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

How many times have you heard “Simple as Pie”? Well don’t believe that sentiment. Pie isn’t really simple. It isn’t hard, but it requires a few pieces of information that can be learned and from my experience practice is the best teacher. So why would someone like me who has honed a recipe for pastry try a new one?? I’ll tell you why. I went to a demonstration with some dear friends and several Utah food bloggers (Tiff, Barbara, Becky, Bonnie, Maria) to see King Arthur Flour give us the one two on how to make a great pie crust. Determined to give their recipe the good old-fashioned try I’ve now used it three times and well frankly I just can’t make it work to my satisfaction. Darn.

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Yesterday it was a special pie and I should have used all tried and true recipes for the birthday occasion, but I choose poorly on both the filling and the crust. It looked beautiful but the flavor and texture was poor.

Now I share with you my tried and true recipe for strawberry rhubarb pie. Amy, thank you for sharing it with me. It's wonderful!

Life Lesson: Practice new recipes on less important events.

(Oh, I hope I can remember this lesson- do you have any life lessons to share?)

The Great American Bake Sale & Decadent Choclate Pecan Brownie Bites

Being a part of a National Food Blogging event this past Saturday was energizing. I loved how it made me feel knowing that in pockets all across America tables were filled with delicious homemade treats baked with one purpose set out by Share Our Strength, we were soliciting funds to help hungry children. And that is what we did. What an awesome group to be a part of, thanks to Gaby, from What’s Gaby Cooking, for organizing the national effort and Maria from Two Peas and Their Pod locally in Salt Lake.

The bonus was visiting with the kind people that stopped to purchase the goods and rubbing shoulders with my fellow Utah food bloggers who only have grown higher in my esteem. Doing good for others is a great way to lift your own spirits, try it sometime if you haven’t done it recently. I wish that we had all been together for a picture on Saturday, but the only thing that stands together is our treats!

Here is the recipe for one of the brownies I made, Chocolate Pecan Brownie Bites. The recipe has evolved from one given to me several years ago, later found in a local cookbook and now tweaked by me. They are tasty morsels of goodness packed into a few bites just waiting to burst into your mouth.

Maybe you might think about making them for your next bake sale?

Great American Bake Sale & My Roots in Giving

My grandparents were dairy farmers who lived along Highway 89 in Spanish Fork, Utah. During the depression years they had a constant stream of out of work, down on their luck men and boys that stopped by their back door asking for an odd job that they could do for a meal. Grandpa and Grandma's policy was to never turn them away, regardless of whether there was a job to do. As long as there was food on their table, there was food to share.

Maybe that is where the roots begin for me to try and share with those in need. This Saturday, we all can make a difference, at local events being held nationally for the GREAT AMERICAN BAKE SALE TO END CHILDHOOD HUNGER.

Here are the details in my neck of the woods:

• Where: Foothill Village, in front of Dan's Market
• When: Saturday, April 17th
• Time: 10 am to 2 pm
• What: Baked goods from the very best local food bloggers in the Salt Lake Area
• Where can I go to find out who these bloggers are? check out Frieda's blog Lovin' From the Oven to see who will be making all the tasty treats. I'll be bringing some to die for brownies. First come, first served!

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Tiff of Food Finery and I participated last year and the most rewarding part was knowing that we were making a difference. It’s easy to feel that way, just stop by a bake sale on Saturday and purchase or donate some money to this worthy cause. For more information about where the funds are spent, go to Great American Bake Sale Funds at Work.

How do you give back?

MacTweets Spring Fling and Lessons Learned with Bonnie

You know, the macaron is the new cupcake. I keep hearing and reading it and so if it takes me 24 batches of macaroons to figure out how to get everything right I'm going to stay at it. Really.

Last week I made three batches--two bad and one GREAT. Oh, success is so sweet. I was invited to Bonnie's kitchen of City Home/Country Home to make mac's with her and was smart enough to say YES. Not only did we enjoy each other's company, but I also learned a few things that I missed in the first wonderful mac cooking day spent with macaron experts Barbara of Barbara Bakes and Tiff of Food Finery.

This is what I learned in Bonnie's kitchen:

• Use meringue powder, 1/2 teaspoon for every egg white
• Scrape down your bowl several times while you are whipping the whites and sugar
• DO NOT over whip the whites, something I have a problem with, but whip until stiff peaks form and you can turn bowl upside down (see picture)
• Add almond flour/sugar mixture in three sections, scraping down the bowl after additions
• When all the flour is mixed in, deflate mixture until a small dollop of batter flattens on a saucer (see picture)
• Use a cookie sheet that has an "air pocket"
• pipe macaroon's, decorate and let rest until a skin forms (in our altitude and on that particular day it took 30 minutes)
• After baking, let cool completely before taking off the pan

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Bonnie made delicious tangy lemon shells filled a perfect not too sweet Italian buttercream. My shells were made with homemade vanilla sugar (via Bonnie's pantry) and filled with Bonnie's Italian Buttercream with a spread of my lemon curd. Both were dyed yellow, but tasted so completely different. It was perfect. The very essence of spring!

Thanks Bonnie for the tutorial in your lovely kitchen. Check Bonnie's blog for her story of our kitchen escapade. For much inspiration and eye candy visit the blogroll of MacTweets for the Spring Fling MacAttack 5 .