EASIER THAN PIE--A RUSTIC FRUIT TART AND MY SUMMERTIME GARDEN!

I absolutely love my life. I really do. I am such a contented, happy homemaker.....I adore everything having to do with all things domestic--cooking for my family and friends, keeping my house tidy (yes, I really enjoy cleaning--gasp!), decorating and gardening. I especially love gardening when things go my way--no deer chomping on precious flowers and stems and no 40 below temperatures (we get that cold here, really!) to kill even the hardiest of perennials. My husband says we haven't had such a deer "problem" (I know, I know, they were here first) here in the Adirondacks this year because the woods are just chock FULL of berries for them to eat, due to our mild winter and rainy spring-- this theory might explain why we haven't even seen one single black bear yet, either. Hmmmm. Anyways, I'm loving our warm and humid summer this year...and so is our garden. Here are some of the plants that have been doing quite well, thus far.....

Shasta Daisys....love 'em!..............

Yarrow--so great for drying.....

Cheerful Sunflowers......

Lush ferns....mine have doubled in size!............

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Hey, I have an announcement to make today.....the winner of my Margarita Mix giveaway contest from last week is.........MY MOM AND DAD!!! Ta daaaaa........

I mean really, don't they deserve all the margaritas they can drink, after raising MEEEE??? The box is in the mail, folks......

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So last night I made one of my family's favorite summertime desserts, a Rustic Fruit Tart. Still loving up on peaches around here, and I found some gorgeous blackberries on sale, so I threw them in. But really--any fruit will do--I'm thinking apples and cranberries this fall........yumm.

You won't believe how incredibly easy this tart is to prepare.....I had some frozen homemade pie crust left over from last week's Georgia Peach Pie, so all I had to do was thaw it out a little bit and I was in business. My personal philosophy (well, one of hundreds, actually...)? When you're going to the trouble of making any kind of homemade dough, from scratch, you might as well double it and freeze some. Then you're less tempted to buy the pre-made stuff from the grocery store, which can be full of preservatives. Anyways, you can get my awesomely simple and perfect pie crust recipe by clicking HERE. Once I rolled out my crust into about a 14 inch circle......

Preheat the oven and prepare these gorgeous summertime fruits........

Peel and slice the peaches, and rinse the berries...............

Mix together cinnamon, cornstarch and sugar and toss with fruit. Place fruit in center of pie dough, which should be placed on a parchement or silicone liner, on a RIMMED cookie sheet (or fruit juices will ooze all over your oven, causing your smoke detector to go off and annoy the heck out of everyone, not that I would know anything about that).............

Fold up edges of pastry over filling, leaving center uncovered. This should NOT look perfect--key word here: RUSTIC!! When you've completed this step, brush folded pastry with a little milk, then sprinkle on sugar..................

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until crust turns golden brown, and filling is bubbly. Carefully slide to a wire rack to cool................

We like ours served A La Mode, with vanilla Ben and Jerry's.....such a wonderful and impressive summertime dessert!...........

Wanna bite? Here's the recipe.......

RUSTIC FRUIT TART

Serves 6

One prepared pie dough recipe.....click HERE

Aprox. 3 and 1 / 2 cups fruit of your choice (for this recipe, I used 2  ripe peaches and about a cup of fresh blackberries...blueberries would be nice, too)

1 / 4 cup sugar

1 tblsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 tblsp. milk

additional sugar for dusting on tart crust

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry into a 14 inch circle. Transfer to a parchment paper or silicone lined rimmed cookie sheet. For filling, combine washed, peeled  and sliced fruit in a large bowl. Combine sugar, cornstarch and cinnamon. Add to fruit, tossing gently to coat. Spoon over pastry to within 2 inches of edge. Fold up edges of pastry over filling, leaving center uncovered. Brush folded pastry with milk, sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden and fruit is bubbly. Carefully slide tart onto wire rack to cool. Serve warm or room temperature.

TODAY I'M SO THANKFUL FOR.....

*My wonderful friend and primary care physican, Mark, who is helping me out, once again. He can NEVER, EVER retire!

*Movie night last night with the fam....fun!

*The gorgeous summer rain that is falling as I type this, along with the thunder and lightening. The perfect excuse to not go for a walk and to not have to water the lawn!