butter tart mini-muffins

I had grand plans for a baking spree today until I realized that I have only 3 eggs in the house. Fortunately, the first thing on my list to make only required two, so these got made. The dad says that they are winners - they definitely get you right in the sweet tooth. Everyone loves butter tarts (especially me), but I am an absolute failure at pie crust. I even managed to fail that part of my Quantity Foods class in university. These taste like tarts, but without the pie crust. Perfect. Even I can’t fail.

There are only 6 ingredients and it takes just minutes to mix up. The batch I made this morning are already gone and the dad is requesting that I make them again. He is planting the garden this weekend without my help, so a trip into town to buy more eggs is the least that I can do. This started with a recipe for Pecan Pie Muffins, but a few changes morphed them into more of a butter tart muffin.

• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2/3 cup butter, melted (but not hot, allow to cool after melting so it doesn’t cook the eggs when you mix them together)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Generously oil a mini muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, stir together brown sugar, flour and walnut pieces. In a separate bowl beat the eggs then add the vanilla and butter and whisk until smooth.

Stir into the dry ingredients just until combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Cups should be about 2/3 full. Depending on the size of your muffin tins, this should make between 18 and 24 mini-muffins. If you are making larger muffins, you may need to adjust the cooking time.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 12 t0 15 minutes. They should be starting to brown around the edges, but remain a little soft on the inside (not uncooked, but a little softer than normal). Allow to sit in the muffin tin for a couple of minutes before attempting to remove. Cool on wire racks when done.

grilled balsamic asparagus

We’ve been eating our weight in fresh asparagus for the past week thanks to neighbours who are harvesting more than they can eat themselves. This is our favourite way to prepare it (even the small squeaky kid admits that this is tasty - and nobody can argue that asparagus is exciting to kids).

This, a baked potato, steak and a big glass of wine just might help you get through the weekend when your husband thinks it’s a good idea to allow the children to invite 3 friends over for a sleepover. And then they spend 24 hours giggling, screaming and breaking the odd window.

• 1-2 lb fresh asparagus
• balsamic vinegar
• olive oil
• kosher salt
• fresh ground black pepper, to taste

Rinse and snap off the tough ends of the asparagus.

Place asparagus spears on a platter or cookie sheet, drizzle with balsamic vinegar and olive oil (a couple of tbsp of each or more, depending on the amount of asparagus). Sprinkle with salt and pepper and roll the asparagus around in it until well coated.

Heat grill to high heat and grill for a few minutes on each side or until asparagus is done.

Linked to Frugally Sustainable, Wildcrafting Wednesday

signs of spring

Our bulbs have all come out – hyacinths, tulips, daffodils, and some other things whose name only my mother-in-law (the serious gardener) knows.

Asparagus from a neighbour’s garden on the grill (no, I didn’t pinch it under cover of darkness – it was a nice present).

And finally, the dad, out cultivating the vegetable patch at 8 o’clock at night. He has been itching to get it planted.