Todays Creation in the Kitchen - Banana Chocolate Pudding Pie.

Sliced Bananas lined bottom of cooked
pie shell

 Well I had some pie crust left over in the fridge from my tarts the other day and I needed to make something with it. I didn't feel like making an apple pie as apples are not in season right now and I just didn't feel like peeling all those apples.

Chocolate Pudding over the Bananas

I glanced over to the fruit basket in the kitchen and noticed the bananas. I thought banana cream pie! Well, I checked my pantry and found vanilla and chocolate pudding mixes. Vanilla or Chocolate, mmm, both are great with banana. I chose chocolate. I also noticed I had one package of whipped topping mix.

Finished Product.

I got the crust rolled out. Baked it in the pie plate. Lined the bottom with sliced banana, made the pudding, four cups of milk later, wow, and then topped it off with the whipped topping. The kids loved it and so did I, I must say. Very simple to make and oh so yummy! You could use a graham cracker crust if you like and use any instant pudding mix. Quick and easy desert.

The Best Pecan Tart Recipe

The original recipe was for Butter Tarts but I changed it as I am not a big fan of raisins.

• 2 tbls. Butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg well beaten
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 cup corn syrup (optional)
• 1 cup pecan halves or peices

I place pecan peices in tart shells so that each shell has the same amount of pecans. Mix the other ingredients together. The optional corn syrup makes them more on the runny side, so it is really your personal preference. I always use the corn syrup. Tablespoon filling into each tart. Enough to make a dozen. Bake at 425 degree oven for 10 - 12 minutes.
*Another alternative would be to use 1/2 cup chopped walnuts with 1 cup raisins instead of pecans*

Best Pecan Tarts Ever!

I made these pecan tarts yesterday. I started out by making my own crust which I have had enough experience with that it is perfect every time. It really is easy, you just have to follow the recipe exactly. I am really surprised now adays that younger people don't have a clue about short forms for Tablespoon (Tbls) and Teaspoon (tsp). They know all the lingo with the shortforms for texting which is great for their social media, but what about something that is useful when cooking in the kitchen? Oh right, these younger folks really don't do cooking in the kitchen. It has to be prepackaged and heat it up in a microwave!

I got my recipe from my mother who always had perfect crust. I thought it had secret ingredients that made it so perfect but low and behold, I bought a no name brand pound of lard and there printed right on the box, the exact same recipe!

I tried several times to make these tarts and repeated was frustrated with the results. It wasn't that they didn't taste good, it was that I could never get them out of the pan. Visually they were a mess! I finally figured out what the problem was and the fix was rather easy.

Knowledge is everything, isn't it?!

I was putting too much filling in the tarts. The shells shrink when they cook and the filling expands, hence my problem with filling overflowing and sticking to the pan. I tend to want to overdo things and always think more is better when cooking but it really isn't.

If you want one, just ask :-)

Now to go and enjoy one of these with my tea. :-)

Wonder if your content is being copied and pasted from your Blog?

I have recently come across a website http://www.tynt.com/ that keeps track of your copy and paste from your blog. There is a bit of controversy over copy writing other people which is bad, but if they keep the original post that links back to your site then its good. Tynt does this for you. When someone copies your content from your blog and pastes it into theirs it adds a link "if you want to know more or read more" which brings the reader back to your blog. A neat little trick. You have to add a bit of HTML coding into your template but trust me, I am not very knowledgeable about such things and I did it without a problem. Tynt walks you through the process. Check it out, its free. Please leave a comment if you have used it as I have only just started using it today.

My Most Quotable Movie Is....

I absolutely love quoting from movies! My oldest daughter and I quote all the time to each other. It brings back memories and times that we have shared together and also brings relevance to some situations that we find ourselves in, usually with great hilarity. I think from our last visit together we started watching our favourite movie and it is so bad now that we know every line in the movie. I won't bore you with what movie it is, unless you figured it out from the photo, or you could ask me ;-)

My Jenna is 6, she is a princess and I love her!

I love my Jenna girl and when she kept bugging me to try out her new beauty kit last night I said ok ok. Keep in mind it was a long day of prep work even with the wonderful help from my mom and daughter Alicia. The house was finally quiet and just the two of us sat at the table and went through her beauty kit one item at a time. Lip gloss, nail polish, fake nails, pony tails and clips, princess toe separator, earings, bracelet, body stickers and body glitter spray. It sounds like a lot but it probably only took about 30 minutes. I was tired but did this for my Jenna, cause that's what a mom does. It really surprised me how just 30 minutes with my daughter made her soooooo happy! She felt and looked like a princess. She was so proud of how she looked. I am very fortunate to be able to be with my children as a stay at home mom but even if I was working the one on one time, even a small amount like 30 minutes can really make a difference in your child's life. I read somewhere that children are raised on love and praise. I think we tend to forget that sometimes. 
I do feel that making time for those special moments is something that I learned from my mother. By the time I went to kindergarten I could knit, sew and crochet. All because I wanted to do what my mom did and she loved me enough to spent the time to show me how. I learned many things from my mom and I try to pass that on to my kids. 
I hope that the tradition passes to the next generation. I can see, when my daughter Alicia has the patience that she too can spend that quality time with her little sisters. Maybe when she is a mom one day that quality will really shine through. 
So getting back to today - My Jenna is 6, she is a princess and I love her!

Jenna is 6 today!

Picture collage customized with Smilebox