Goodbye blueberries...

... hello apples

The beginning of fall means the end of almost all summer berries, no more strawberry tarts, no more blackberry crisps. Granted you can get berries almost all year round in California, fall's not the season for them.

This past June, I made Blueberry Crumb Bars for my friend's birthday when blueberries were ripe, sweet and in abundance. I packed them up in parchment paper and tied a purple ribbon to match the beautiful blueish purpleish jam the berry oozes out when baked. What a surprise it was to her. She absolutely loved it, every last crumb..

And so here comes Fall. Tis the season for all things apple, pear, and pumpkin - crisps, pies and tarts.

I have a thing for tarts, a more elegant and delicate version of pies, in my opinion. Last weekend, we went to a bbq at Tomales Bay Oyster Company, and of course I had to bring something - something light, crispy and in season! I looked up my latest issue (oct 09) of Bon Appetit and found a wonderful recipe for a Crispy Braeburn Apple and Almond Sheet Tart. Perfect! The combination of phyllo, almond cream and apples and the sweet glaze was a perfect intro to fall desserts. In this tart, I subbed the Braeburn apples with Golden Delicious, which turned out just as delish.

If it wasn't for the heat, I'd serve it with a dollop of fresh cream or just plain vanilla bean ice cream. Yum!

A night to affogato...

... and of course chocolate-dipped pistachio biscotti.
















Last Friday I broke in my KitchenAid mixer... the first stick of butter creamed, the first cup of sugar poured in, the first dust of flour mixed in and a sprinkle of perfectly roasted pistachios, all into my beautiful bowl of stainless steel. The theme - simple Italian dolce.

We had friends over for our version of affogato, simple vanilla ice cream drowned in a rich hot espresso. We havent used our espresso machine in a while and a friend of mine decided to make a night of it. So earlier in the day I had my first attempt in making biscotti, an Italian twice-baked cookie. The reason for baking it twice, interestingly was so they could keep for longer, but that doesnt stand true for my house or friends. And of course I first looked up one of my go-to's FoodNetwork and found Tyler Florence's pistachio biscotti and the raving reviews. The only thing I tweaked, I added a half teaspoon of almond essence, my favorite flavor of the year, and I dipped some of them in some melted semi-sweet chocolate. My husband who wasnt totally convinced of the yumminess of biscotti or a fan of espresso for that matter immediately wanted his very own glass of the beautiful marriage between the warm bitterness and the cold sweet ice cream.

Now, if only I had a nice clear glass to give justice to this beautiful cream and dark colored after-dinner treat. Maybe I should look into getting more barware, just for nights like this.

Cheers to new beginnings...

.... and a brand new addition to our family, a KitchenAid mixer!!!



I first thought about what I would blog about and it came to me... what do I spend most of my time doing... looking up recipes to try and discovering new and old bakeries in the San Francisco Bay Area with my wonderful husband.


This blog will be all things sweet though sometimes savory, it'll be about the yummy treats that'll make any tummy happy.