Hungarian Crepes or Palacsinta

These Hungarian Crepes make you happy and sorta make me feel like a kid. Maybe it's because my Grandma used to make these for us when she came over to hang out with us after school before my folks got home from work. My Grandma taught me a lot about gardening and cooking. She was wonderful, funny and very kind and sweet.

I grew the strawberries in this photo. Strawberries love acid soil, so  I've been pouring day old coffee and spent coffee grounds on the soil around my strawberry plants. The plants love it and have been producing strawberries every day, even in this heat wave. Coffee and coffee grounds acidify the soil and add extra nitrogen. Or maybe it just wakes the plants up so they get to work making strawberries. Either way, if you're growing berries, don't throw the coffee grinds in the trash. 

  Here's how to make Hungarian crepes, Granny Style:  In a mixing bowl, 1 cup flour (I used whole wheat pastry flour because I like to pretend that I'm being super healthy when I eat my butter and jelly), 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 2 tblsp melted butter, 2 eggs, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1 1/2 cups milk. Whisk until smooth. Pour 1/4 cup of the batter into a hot skillet coated with melted butter. Swirl the pan to coat the bottom and flip. These are thin so they cook quickly. Spread with jelly and roll up. Dust with powdered sugar. 

Apple Berry Turnovers

I made these yesterday because I still had a disk of pastry dough in the fridge leftover from a few days ago when I made Soyrizo Empanadas. It was time to use it up or toss it. I hate throwing away food.

I cheated a little on the filling by using a can of apple pie filling that my hubby brought home last December. I mixed the pie filling with some frozen raspberries and blueberries, which I rinsed and squeezed the excess water from. The berries added a much needed tartness to the too sweet pie filling. Easy.

For the pastry dough:

In a food processor, combine 8 oz cream cheese, 2 sticks (8 oz) butter and 1/2 tsp salt. Pulse until creamy. Add 2 cups sifted flour. I used a combo of whole wheat pastry flour and organic unbleached all purpose flour.

Once you add the flour, pulse until just combined and a dough ball starts to form. Then turn the dough out onto a clean work surface and knead it together a few times. Form the dough into a disk, cover and refrigerate for at least an hour.

One the dough is rested and chilled, roll it out and cut into circles. Fill with a little of the pie filling and seal the edges. Bake at 375 for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with powdered sugar and share with your neighbors. Yum!

This is Sugar The Pup. She is very funny.

Mango Tangerine Yogurt Pop

Here's another low calorie treat. These yogurt pops taste so amazing! I think you'll love them. Use any combo of fruit and yogurt you can think of. If you're vegan, try soy yogurt or just make sorbet pops. Yum!

In a food processor, combine 1 small container plain, fat free, Greek style yogurt, 2 tblsp honey, 1/2 a mango. Pulse till the mango pieces are combined with the yogurt.

In a freeze pop mold, pour fresh tangerine juice halfway, add the yogurt fruit mixture and then top with a bit more of the juice. I like to swirl the 2 together so it looks pretty. But I take pictures of my food. If you don't take pictures of your food mix it all together any way you like. Freeze and enjoy!!

Apple Raspberry Crunch

This was always my favorite dessert growing up. My Mom would make it often. I love the simple prep and the crunchiness of the oatmeal. 

Preheat oven to 375

Peel and slice 5 Granny Smith apples and squeeze 1/2 lemon over them to prevent them from turning brown. Pour the apples into a buttered baking dish, and sprinkle with a few shakes of cinnamon. Add 1/2 cup frozen Raspberries and combine.

In a mixing bowl, combine 4 tablespoons butter with 3/4 cup oatmeal, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour, 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, a 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg and a sprinkle of salt. Work this mixture till its nice and crumbly. It's good to use your hands for this. Once it's properly mixed, it wont stick to your fingers. 

Top the apples with the oatmeal crunch and bake for 20 minutes to 1/2 hour until the apples are cooked and the crunch is crunchy. Serve with ice cream or a slice of cheddar cheese. Yum!