Finnish Blueberry Squares

More portable than pie but just as delicious, these treats are well worth the effort. They're perfect for picnics and summer parties.

Hands On: 45 minutes
Total time: 2 hours, including chilling & baking time

For the pastry:
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 C granulated sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 3/4 C all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt

For the filling:
1 C granulated sugar
3 T cornstartch
2 T lemon juice
3 C fresh or frozen blueberries
Confectioner's sugar, optional

For the pastry: In a mixing bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg and vanilla. Stir together the flour and salt, then beat into butter mixture until just combines. Scrape onto a a sheet of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap in the plastic. Chill 1 hour (don't over chill or it will be difficult to roll out!)

For the filling: In a saucepan, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Stir until no lumps remain. Add the lemon juice and blueberries and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until all of the sugar is incorporated into the liquid, about 4 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook, stirring constantly, until mixture boils and thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside.





Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter the bottom of a 9 x 13" pan or baking dish. Press half the pastry into the bottom and 1/2" up the sides of the pan. Place the pan in the refrigerator.

Roll out the remaining dough between 2 sheets of wax or parchment paper. Using a flute pastry wheel or a knife, cut the dough into 1/2" wide stripes. Slide the dough and wax paper onta a cookie sheet and place in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes. Meanwhile, spread the blueberry filling over the bottom crust. Arrange the pastry strips in a lattice pattern over the filling - no need to interweave them, though. If the strips break, just overlap the edges slightly; they'll bake together.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until pastry is lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before cutting into squares. Sprinkle the tops with confectioner's sugar, if desired.

Watermelon Salad

This recipe is courtesy of the June 2008 issue of Cooking Light Magazine.

1/2 cup chopped red onion
3 T fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
4 C cubed seeded watermelon
1/4 C pitted kalamata olives
1/4 C finely chopped fresh parsley
1/4 C finely chopped fresh mint
1/2 C (2 oz) feta cheese, crumbled

Combine onion and juice in a medium bowl; let stand 10 minutes. Add watermelon, olives, parsley, and mint. Cover and chill 1 hour. Sprinkle with cheese.

Yield: 12 servings (serving size: about 1/2 C salad and about 1 1/2 tsp cheese)

Ligita's Quick Apple Cake, continued

more photos to walk you through this production:

woops: hadn't had this happen in years!! I was busy stirring in the butter so that it wouldn't burn, and this little critter took a notion to roll off of the counter and onto the floor!

Here's the cake, ready to go into the oven.

And here it is after it had finished baking. I was worried that those little apple slices that hadn't gotten covered by the batter might be tough, but they were nice and soft and sweet.

It really is a good and quick apple cake, with only 348 calories per serving. Enjoy!!

Ligita's Quick Apple Cake

This recipe was posted in John Kessler's article in last Thursday's Atlanta Journal and Constitution. Kessler is one of my favorite food writers and I was pleased to read his article about his two favorite cookbooks. Unfortunately, somehow the first part of the section got separated from the recipe, so I do not know from whence this particular recipe came. I do recall that Kessler said that the Joy of Cooking was one of his two faves. I've had my copy for 36 years, how about you????

OK, so here goes:

This cake makes 8 servings, takes 10 minutes "hands on" and one hour total time.

It calls for:

1. 3 medium tart apples, peeled, cored and thinly slice (about 3 cups)
2. 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
3. 3/4 C plus 3 T sugar
4. 2 t ground cinnamon
5. 3/4 C unsalted buter, cut into pieces
6. 2 lg eggs
7. 1 C sifted all-purpose flour
8. Vanilla ice cream for serving (I have ommitted that, and lived to tell about it, so it is not necessary!)

Preheat oven to 350 (I used convection at 325). Generously butter a 10" tempered glass pie pan.

Toss the apples in a bowl with the lemon juice, 2 T sugar and the cinnamon. Spread the apples evenly in the prepared pan:

Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook until lightly golden, about 7 minutes. Watch carefully to avoid burning. Pour the clear, browned butter into a bowl, leaving any sediment or foam in the pan.

(here's the butter cooking away, and it did take just 7 minutes to slightly brown it!)

Stir the 3/4 C sugar into the butter. Gently stir in the eggs; stir in the flour until blended. Spoon the batter evenly over the apples and spread into a layer. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar.

Bake until lightly golden and crusty, 40-45 minutes (it took 35 in the convection oven).

Cook in the pan on a wire rack. Cut into wedges and serve from the pan warm or at room temperature with ice cream.

YUMMMMM!

Jeesh, this blogsite is worse than my other one! I could only post two measly old pictures here!!! I'll post a pic of the finished product above.