fall tart

can you believe that your calendar says it's october already? even though time has flown by, we're so excited for the fall season, our favorite time of year. october is one of our favorite months for the cooler weather, changing leaves and all the wonderful fruits and veggies in season - by far the best season for eating! this tart celebrates the last bit of summer with strawberries and the beginning of fall with figs, all brought together in a wonderful nutty filling.

Fig & Strawberry Tart

(adapted from Martha Stewart Living)

crust:

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1/3 to 1/2 cup ice water

filling:

3/4 cup toasted hazelnuts

3/4 cup brown sugar

zest of 1 lemon

1 stick unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

2 eggs

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 figs, halved

8 strawberries, trimmed & halved

in a food processor, pulse the flours, sugar and salt to combine. add butter and pulse until mixture resembles a coarse meal. slowly add ice water and pulse until mixture just begins to hold together. press dough into a disk and wrap in plastic. refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. roll dough out to 1/8-inch thick on a floured surface to fit the tart pan you are using. fit dough into bottom and up sides of tart pan with a removable bottom and trim excess flush with edges using a knife. refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour. preheat oven to 350 degrees F. prick bottom of tart all over with a fork and fill with pie weights or dried beans in foil. bake for 30 minutes. remove weights and bake 5 minutes more. let cool.

to make the filling, pulse hazelnuts in a food processor until finely chopped. add sugar, zest, butter, eggs and vanilla and pulse until mixture is almost smooth. spread filling evenly into tart shell. top with figs and strawberries and bake for 30 minutes. reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F and bake until set and dark brown, about 30-45 minutes more. enjoy!

zucchini muffins

isn't the squash lovely at the greenmarket lately? we recently had lots of leftover zucchini from a shoot and i realized that it's been ages since i baked with zucchini. both of our moms used to make great zucchini bread and we grew up loving it but for this recipe i reached for a book off our much neglected cookbook shelf. this recipes is adapted from apples for jam, a beautiful book full of simple comforting recipes and chapters that are organized by color. we've made a few things that are delicious so far but just love flipping through the pages for inspiring stories and images.

we are taking a little vacation - happy to be in sunny CA & hot AZ with lots of morning walks on the beach, breakfasts here and fish tacos here. we'll try to post some of our eating adventures and travel pics from the road so stay tuned.

Zucchini Muffins

makes 12

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

1 tsp vanilla

zest of 1 small lemon

3 eggs

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

pinch of salt

3 zucchini, coarsely grated

2/3 cup hazelnuts, toasted, skinned & coarsely chopped

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. in a small bowl, beat sugar, olive oil and vanilla until smooth. add lemon zest and stir to combine. add eggs, one at a time and whisk until pale yellow and thick. in a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. gradually fold together wet ingredients into the dry just until combined. mix in zucchini and hazelnuts and stir. fill a greased muffin tin with batter and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean. if making a loaf, bake for 55-60 minutes. enjoy!

chocolate bark

it's homemade holiday treat time! this is such an easy candy to make - no boiling sugar, no candy thermometers, no complicated ingredients - just good quality chocolate and mixed nuts. for this recipe we used what we like and what we happened to have in the pantry - but use a combination of whatever you please. break it into pieces and wrap it up in a pretty little tin or glass jar to give to friends and family this year for a simple handmade treat. enjoy!

Chocolate Nut Bark

makes 2-3 gifts

12 oz dark or semisweet chocolate, chopped

2 1/2 cups mixed nuts such as pistachios, almonds & hazelnuts

melt chocolate in a double boiler, stirring often, until smooth. once melted, remove from heat and stir in 1/3 of the mixed nuts. spread evenly on a parchment lined 9x13-inch baking sheet and sprinkle with the remaining nuts. refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes. break into pieces and keep at room temperature for about a week.

nutella

we know it's been an entire week since our last visit but we really can't believe how quickly this week has flown by! lots going on and unfortunately, little time for cooking, baking and creating recipes. getting ready for a huge garage sale tomorrow since we are moving across the country in about 2 weeks - very excited but a little overwhelmed at the moment. our house, and kitchen, is overflowing with boxes and piles of stuff to sell, stuff to store and stuff to move - it's amazing to see how much junk we've accumulated over time! we had a cookie craving this morning and decided to make a bunch of these little gems to nibble on as we pack. who doesn't love nutella?! well, how about nutella sandwiched between two round buttery hazelnut cookies? um, yes please. when baking with hazelnuts, you usually toast them and remove the skins first. well, today i didn't have the patience to do that and the cookies still turned out fabulous, good to know. if you don't have any nutella in your pantry, these would be great sandwiched with your favorite jam or jelly as well. have a great weekend!

Hazelnut & Nutella Sandwich Cookies

makes about 36 cookies

1 cup hazelnuts

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup white whole wheat flour

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup nutella or jelly

in a food processor, grind hazelnuts until they are finely ground but not clumping together. in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until fluffy. add vanilla and combine. add flours, salt and ground hazelnuts and stir until well combined. divide the dough in half and press each half into a flat disk. wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.

preheat oven to 350 degrees F. remove one of the dough disks from refrigerator and let soften slightly. roll out the dough between two sheets of parchment paper until about 1/8-inch thick. using a 2-inch round cookie cutter, cut out dough and transfer to a parchment lined baking sheet. gather scraps and continue to re-roll until all the dough is used, returning briefly to refrigerator if the dough becomes too soft. bake cookies 14-16 minutes or until the edges begin to brown slightly. cool completely and sandwich with 1 tsp desired filling. enjoy!