Chocolate and Ginger Tarts

One of my favorite shows is "The Great British Baking Show" produced by the BBC. I used to think I was a pretty good baker until I started watching this show. Now my hobby is learning to convert US baking into UK (i.e. Celcius, grams, pints, etc...). There are also a lot of products in the UK that are commonplace that are very difficult to find here in the US (i.e. jam sugar, stem ginger, golden syrup, etc...). Thankfully, Amazon has most of what I need and if I get desperate I can go to Colorado Springs to The British Pantry for supplies.

BBC.CO.UK/food has a lot of recipes from the show (and more!) so this is one of the first ones I tried. I absolutely loved these tarts, but I found out after baking that the hubby is not a fan of ginger. I think it's an awesome combination with the chocolate, but I know now that this recipe will be used as a give-away. Note to self: make sure the recipient likes ginger. :)

https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/chocolate_and_ginger_92855

Blueberry Ginger Kombucha

It only took me 6 months to overcome my fear of making Kombucha. Initially, I got a scoby from a generous neighbor, but kept putting off creating the final product. I even made a few new batches before finally knuckling down and following through. The hubby's body has been wanting Kombucha for a while now and so I decided it was time to stop paying $4/bottle at the store. I'm so happy I found this as the first recipe on Pinterest. The hubby loves blueberry and ginger combined with the probiotic value of Kombucha is a winner! I loved the flavor. So excited to keep this ball rolling. Currently the recipe only makes 1 gallon, and in this elevation, it takes about 2 weeks to get the perfect flavor. I think the hubby will probably drink all of this in less than a week, so I'll probably make 2-3 gallons in the future. I used passion fruit black tea for that extra berry flavor and in the next batch, I used mango black tea. Really excited for another recipe to try. Kombucha really is the miracle cure for intestinal health.

The finished product is in the quart jars and the new batch is in the gallon jar.

Here's the recipe that I followed for: 

http://fithappyfree.com/blueberry-ginger-kombucha/

Ahi Tuna

Friday nights are date night, which is usually stay home, cook a higher end dinner and watch a movie. This week, the hubby bought ahi tuna steaks. This marinade was so delicious. I added a little pepper and we had Beet and Russian Kale With Goat Cheese (a recent addition to our household recipes) on the side instead. I added some rice to the rice cooker. Thumbs up!

http://muybuenocookbook.com/2015/08/seared-ahi-tuna-salad/

Key Lime Pie with Gingersnap Crust

I've been with the hubby for 7 years now and had never made him Key Lime Pie, even though it's his favorite. I had also never eaten Key Lime Pie in my 39 years of life. I made a similar (easier/healthier) version a couple of weeks ago, but he stated it was "good" but not the same. So, I took to google and discovered that gingersnap cookies are a popular crust for this pie--another favorite of his. I quite enjoyed this recipe, but again, he wasn't a fan of the lime zest (noted for next time). The link is for "Santa Cruz Organic" and pushes their lime juice, but I just bought the key lime juice off the shelf at the store. I think it made the pie a little sour so maybe I won't use quite so much next time. Overall, I would use this recipe again, omitting the lime peel. Also didn't use the whipped cream topping. It was just fine without it. Probably would go great with lime sherbet. :)

http://www.santacruzorganic.com/recipes/desserts/classic-key-lime-pie-with-gingersnap-crust