Cherry Pie

I was lucky enough to spend my Forth of July weekend in CT staying at a friends parents' house. It's a gorgeous property overlooking a staggering view of National State Park and owned by the loveliest people you could hope to spend time with. I felt very honored to be invited. A wonderful weekend filled with all the good things you hope Summer weekends should be; friends, love, laughter, food and swimming!!

Since we were there for three days, I made three desserts! A Cherry Pie with homemade vanilla ice cream, a Victoria Sponge in red, white and blue (strawberries, blueberries and cream!) and a Tarte Tartin with homemade bourbon ice cream. All seemed appropriate for our American Holiday, with a little British touch thrown in by the Victoria Sponge, independence from the British is what 4th July is all about after all and a little nod to the French with the Tartin as it was the French who gave the American's the Statue de la Liberté even if it was only to spite the English. Ah, good times :)

Here are the photographs of my Cherry Pie. The recipe came from the July 2011 edition of Martha Stewart Living and although I can't find the exact recipe online, this is close. RECIPE. I hope you all had wonderful July 4th weekends and even if this is not your holiday to celebrate, I believe we should all take a moment to celebrate our independence! Life, love and liberty to all.

Rhubarb and Strawberry Crumble

Crumble you mumble? Isn't that quite tricky to make? Oh no, I cry, it's so simple, give it a try! Chop the rhubarb and strawberries, sprinkle with a tablespoon or two of sugar to taste. Chop 170g of cold butter into 2 cups of flour and 1 cup of sugar. Rub it through your fingers until it becomes sand like and fine, like making a basic pastry mix - of course you can also do this in the food processor too for speed, but I like to make it by hand because it makes the whole process so old school! Arrange the fruit in a pie dish and spoon the crumble mixture on top, bake at 375F for 35-40 minutes. Leave it to cool before serving, too hot crumble is no fun, serve with chilled cream and revel in the fact you just made pudding grandma style.