tart

So I keep seeing these pinterest posts about these very prettied up tarts with icing and macaroons etc... and thought hey why not? And if they turn out good I can give one to my co worker who is always making me food lol

She's from Thailand and is super nice and always giving and I wanted to make something nice to give her in return..

I dont have the website i got the tart recipe from, pinterest wouldn't let me open it... one of the video pins...

But I made this in three parts starting with the tart obviously...

I didntI didn't have caster sugar, not even sure what that is, so I used regular sugar and creamed it together with the butter and vanilla extract.

then I added the flour...

now it's supposed to come together like a dough... and I dont know if it's because I used "not" caster sugar lol but mine just got crumbly...

And I mixed it for soo long and nothing happened, I decided to add some cold water just to see. I mean at this point what do I have to lose, right?

YAY! It worked!

I rolled them out and used one of my glasses to cut circles out that were all the same size in shape.

Put them in the oven, hoping they wouldn't spread.

The video I used didnt even give me a temp or time so I started at 350 for 10 mins... and I believe it took in the end about 25 mins.

They didn't spread! 

I felt very successful after making these. They ended up tasting like a sugar cookie and will definetly be my go to recipe from now on, even though they are tarts lol

Next step was the macaroon cookies that I wanted to make as decoration on top the tart.

only 2 ingredients sugar and egg whites. And whip it till stiff peaks..

oh and add your colouring, I did a pale blue.

Pipe them out and in the oven at 212 degrees for 1 hour, and yes the full hour lol I checked.... every 20 minutes just to make sure lol 

I did small rosettes and stars.

Third step and phew this is a lot of work! 

Icing...

I did a swiss meringue butter cream.. so you take the egg white and sugar over a double boiler until the sugar is melted 

then you whip it in a mixer for atleast 10 mins until it gets stiff, then add your butter in chunks one at a time until they are in incorporated

And add colouring... we want pretty remember? 

After you have all three parts assemble your tart...

and add the sprinkles!

instant pot casserole

I made a ham the other day... a huge stinking ham... for two people, cause why not? 

Does anyone else not cut their ham in slices, but dramatically tear it into pieces? No? Just me? 🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️

Well anyways I had to work the next day (today) and needed a lunch but did not want just a regular ham sandwhich (spoiler alert; tomorrow will just be a sandwhich), anyways I found this recipe for a casserole that can use any leftover meat as far as I can tell.

https://temeculablogs.com/instant-pot-casserole

Anyways you start by putting ham, noodles, your seasoning in the instant pot, cover it all in broth and let it cook for a quick 5 mins while you like shower or whatever.

Then you add your cheeses and saute for a couple of mins.

Tasted good, but was more soupy, and the next day for lunch it didnt taste quite the same... probably wouldn't make it again or maybe omit the cheeses cause I think that's where it went backwards for me....