Today is National Cherry Turnover Day.

This isn’t a true way of making turnovers but it sure is simple and quick. You can make your own pastry and roll it out and cut it in triangles but buying these premade crescent rolls work just as well when you are in a pinch for time. Substitute other pie filling flavours if you want.

Cherry Turnovers

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Unroll the dough and separate into triangles.
3. Place 4 triangles on baking sheet.
4. Spoon 1/4 of the pie filling into the centre of one triangle and place a second triangle on top, sealing the edges.
5. Repeat with remaining triangles.
6. Bake for 10 -12 minutes or until golden.
7. In a small bowl mix together the milk and sugar and drizzle over the turnovers.

Today is National Raspberry Tart Day.

Raspberry Tart

1. In a saucepan over med heat stir together the water and sugar until it comes to a boil. Add the cherries and remove from heat. Let it cool 1 minutes then add the brandy.

Crust

1. In a hand mixer beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. In another bowl sift together the flour, and salt.
3. Beat the flour into the butter mixture until soft dough forms.
4. Using your own moistened finger press the dough into the bottom and sides a 11 inch tart pan.
5. Chill in the refrigerator 1 hour.

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Drain the raspberries, reserving the fruit. Sprinkle the raspberries in the bottom of the tart pan.
3. In a bowl combine the eggs, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, salt, sugar and 1/4 cup of the reserved fruit juice. Beat together well.
4. Pour the filling into the crust.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until centre is set and let cool.

Today is National Cherry Tart Day.

Chocolate-Cherry Tart

Fruit

1. In a saucepan over med heat stir together the water and sugar until it comes to a boil. Add the cherries and remove from heat. Let it cool 1 minutes then add the brandy.

Crust

1. In a hand mixer beat the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in the egg and vanilla.
2. In another bowl sift together the flour, cocoa and salt.
3. Beat the flour into the butter mixture until soft dough forms.
4. Using your own moistened finger press the dough into the bottom and sides a 11 inch tart pan.
5. Chill in the refrigerator 1 hour.

Filling

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F.
2. Drain the cherries, reserving the fruit. Sprinkle the cherries in the bottom of the tart pan.
3. In a bowl combine the eggs, corn syrup, butter, vanilla, salt, sugar and 1/4 cup of the reserved cherry juice. Beat together well.
4. Stir in the chocolate and pour the filling into the crust.
5. Bake for 1 hour or until centre is set and let cool.

Today is National Waffle Day, National Lobster Newburg Day and National Pecan Day.

Sometimes its just easier to take a shortcut. Most people don’t really care if everything you make is from scratch. And in this day and age anything we can do to give us a few more minutes in our day we grab at. That’s why for this recipe I used frozen tart shells. They are made and sold for a reason. You can definitely make your own pastry and form it into your own tins but really? Who will really notice a difference? And if they do say something, snatch the tart out of their hands and say “no more treats for you!”

Pecan Butter Tarts
makes 30 tarts

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
2. In a bowl cream together the butter and the sugar until fluffy.
3. Beat in the eggs one at a time. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Stir in the pecans.
5. Place the tart shell in each muffin tin hole and fill halfway with the pecan filling.
6. Bake in the oven 25 minutes until golden. Let cool.

Today is National Mincemeat Day, National Pumpkin Day, and National Pretzel Day.

Learning how to make your own mincemeat will add something special to your Christmas baking.

Mincemeat Recipe

1. Finely chop the apples.
2. Mix with the dried fruit, sugar and spices in a large bowl.
3. Add the grated rind and juice of the orange and lemon and the rum. Mix well.
4. Pack into large jars and press well down. The less air there is in the jars, the better the mixture will keep. Put lids on jars
5. Store in a dark cupboard. After about a week, open the jars press the contents down thoroughly and reseal. By this time the sugar will have drawn some of the water out of the apples and the mincemeat will have started to form its characteristic rich dark sticky juices.
6. Try to press all the fruit down so that the juices just cover the fruit, as it seems to keep better this way (the sugar liquid acts as a preservative in the same way as in jam).
7. Leave in a dark cupboard for 3-4 weeks to mature, then use in mince pies

This mixture will keep for at least two months if stored in airtight containers in a dark place.