Raspberries

We received a call from our neighbor ("Neighbor Jim" as Amelia calls him) to come pick raspberries!  So...we did.

Amelia quit after she got pricked by a thorn.  After that she ran around telling me which ones to pick. 

And now I will admit...I never have made anything with fresh raspberries...never.  Thank goodness for Pinterest and All Recipes :)  I had to whip up something fast as it was getting late and desserts late don't really go over big with Amelia.  Correction...they don't go over big with Mom and Dad who like to go to sleep early. 

So, here is what I came up with: 

 One for us and one for Neighbor Jim.

I already had a pie crust in the fridge that I was just about to put in the freezer.  

Raspberry Chocolate Tart

1 pie pastry (for a 9 inch pie)

1 cup semi sweet chocolate morsels

2/3 cup sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups raspberries, rinsed and dried

Sifted powdered sugar

- Divide your pastry into 2 balls (you wouldn't have to unless you were giving one away like I was) and roll into circle.  Fluke edges anyway you wish or just tuck under like I did. 

- Prick pastry with fork

-Bake in preheated 425 degree oven for 10-12 min or until golden brown. 

- Cool completely (I always have a hard time with this as it requires patience).

- Microwave chocolate and condensed milk in medium, microwaveable bowl for 1 minute. Stir.  Microwave at additional 10-sec intervals stirring until smooth.

- Stir in vanilla.

- Spread over COOLED crust and refrigerate for a few minutes until chocolate is set. 

- Arrange raspberries over chocolate and sprinkle with powdered sugar.  

Ta da.

p.s.  I saw heart versions of the above using the whole pie crust...however, I was on a time restraint AND making two and really didn't think Jim wanted a heart shaped dessert. :)

So, Amelia got her dessert...and....she took off all the raspberries and ate the now Chocolate Tart.  Thankfully, and unlike her aversion to all veggies, she likes ALMOST all fruit.  Lil' stinker. 

 Now we are I am hooked on raspberries and when another neighbor stopped by (we will call her Neighbor Renee), I told her of Jim's raspberries.  She and her husband are my main source of gardening advice for our arctic climate and she said she had TONS of them and would I want a few plants.  Would I want a few plants??? OF COURSE!  

Walked down, picked them up (chatted a lot of course) and planted that day!  Now I am in the midst of making a "The Raspberry Patch" sign.  Found a great spot in the garden and had a few extra blocks from our steps that I used. 

Here they are on a cloudy day (not sure when the sun would be out so snapped a couple pics regardless).  Couldn't go much lower to get a better shot as that is where the "wilderness" of fireweed is and a steep slope.

More happenings: 

Thanks to another new favorite blog,  Cozy.Cottage.Cute. for mentioning these AWESOME books (Printsagram) that I immediately ordered for my favorite Instagram pics.  They came today and I LOVE THEM!  I bought the spiral bound, the 3 mini's and 2 sets of stickers. Perfect little book of your instagrams! 

Seriously, that small and cute.

Very easy to order as well and they have lots more designs and products that I will now go back to and order more.

Lastly,  Rob was gone for a few days to the North Slope (aka Prudhoe Bay on the Arctic Ocean) brrrrr.

Whenever he goes somewhere we have a camp out.  This time we actually broke out the sleeping bags!  Amelia LOVES sleeping bags...hers is still out in front of the TV.  Did our nails, ate popcorn, watched Bugs Bunny and gave ourselves tattoos :)  

One word:  Fun.  

Have a great Labor Day!  We plan on no labor that day :) Well...except my raspberry sign.