Blackberry Italian Soda

August brought by Marlana

Blackberry Syrup
* 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 1 cup water
* 2 cups frozen or fresh blackberries

1. Combine sugar, water, and blackberries in a small saucepan, and bring to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
2. When mixture boils, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove the pan from heat and let mixture steep for 15 minutes.
3. Strain blackberry syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Refrigerate until cold, and store covered in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Italian Soda:
* 8 fluid ounces carbonated water
* 1.5 fluid ounces flavored syrup
* 1 fluid ounce half-and-half cream

1. Fill a tall glass half full with ice. Fill to 2/3 with carbonated water. Pour in flavored syrup, then float the half-and-half cream on top. Stir when ready to drink.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

2 cups frozen corn, thawed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 green pepper, seeded and diced
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1/2 red onion, sliced thin
1/4 balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. chili pepper
3 Tbsp. chopped cilanto or 1 tsp. dried cilantro

Combine all vegetables in a medium sized bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix dressing ingredients.  Pour over vegetables and toss until well coated.

Raspberry Cream Chocolate Tart - August at Tawnya's house

If you haven't seen it before, check out Phemomenon. It's a really fun baking blog! That's where this recipe came from.

Tart Batter

Ingredients:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 c. packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 t. salt
• 3 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 t. pure almond extract
• 3/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c. ground almonds (from approximately 3/4 cup whole almonds, processed in food processor or nut grinder)

Method:

Butter a 9-inch tart pan well. Set aside on a large baking sheet.

In a large bowl beat together the butter, sugar and salt for 2 minutes until light and fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, until well combined, stopping and scraping down the sides beating 1 minute after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture will look curdled. Add the vanilla and beat until well combined. Turn the mixer speed to low and add the flour and ground almonds or almonds until combined, then turn speed up and beat 1 minute until light and fluffy. Use a rubber spatula to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl and make sure the batter is well mixed and fluffy.

Scrape the batter into the prepared tart pan and use an offset spatula or the back of a metal spoon to spread the batter evenly across the bottom of the pan and up the sides of the pan, just to the top edge to create a rim for the filling.

Filling: Chocolate Layer

Ingredients:

• 1 c. mini chocolate chips
• 1 T. flour

Method:

Place the chocolate chips in a small heatproof bowl, add the flour and toss together to coast. Set aside while preparing the cream filling.

Filling: Fruit Layer

Ingredients:

• 1 container (6 oz) fresh red raspberries, rinsed and cleaned
• 2 T. all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cc. sugar
• 1 t. finely grated orange zest (optional)
• 1/4 t. salt
• 3/4 c. sour cream
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 t. pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 t. pure almond extract
• 1/4 t. ground cinnamon
• Confectioners' Sugar, for dusting
• One bar of good chocolate for decorating, if desired

Method:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

If you are using the orange zest, combine the sugar and orange zest in a small bowl and rub together well using your fingertips until the sugar is moist and fragrant.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, salt, sour cream, egg yolk, vanilla and cinnamon.

Sprinkle the chocolate chips into the tart shell, covering the entire bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the fresh raspberries evenly over the chocolate chips and then pour the sour cream mixture over and around the berries in the tart pan. The chocolate and berries will not be completely covered by the sour cream mixture, but will bake into a cream layer in the oven - don't try to spread it, just try to pour bits of it all around the pan so it can spread while baking.

Place the tart on the baking sheet into the oven. Bake for 35 to 38 minutes until the tart is puffy and golden. Let the tart sit for 10 minutes on a rack to cool a bit before cutting. Dust the tart with confectioners' sugar before serving.

To make an even fancier presentation when serving at room temperature or cold, use a vegetable peeler to shave curls of chocolate from the edge of the chocolate bar over the tart to decorate.

The tart can be served warm, at room temperature or even cold.

Strawberry Jell-O Salad

1 sm. box strawberry jell-o
1 sm. box cook n serve vanilla pudding
1 sm. box cook n serve tapioca pudding

Mix with 2 2/3 cups water, bring to boil, stirring, boil for 1 minute.
Pour into container, let cool room temp 1-2 hours, then refridgerate overnight. (I have done it in the morning, and just let it cool in the fridge all day).

Before serving, stir in

1 8 oz. cool whip
1 pint strawberries

You can mix it up too: orange jello with mandarin oranges, raspberry jello with frozen raspberries, and even double the recipe and mix jellos.

Lemon Bars

Crust:
2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners sugar, plus more for dusting
pinch of salt
2 sticks of butter, at room temperature

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 X 13 inch pan

Make the crust by combining flour, confectioners sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Cut in the butter to make a crumbly mixture. Press the mixture into the prepared pan. You may need to dip your fingers into a little flour or confectioners' sugar to keep the dough from sticking to your fingers. Bake for 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, mix the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Pour this over baked crust and bake for 25-30 minutes longer. Sprinkle confectioners sugar, if desired, when bars are done.