Today is the first installment of my Twelve Days of Christmas Gifts from the Kitchen.

For the next five weeks I’ll be posting gift ideas for you to make for your friends and family.

The First Day of Christmas Gift is a byproduct of any recipe calling for peeled tomatoes. It is made from tomato skins, which would otherwise be tossed away.

Tomato dust or powder is so simple to make that a recipe isn’t really needed. Plus it’s a fun little thing to have around the kitchen.

I first tried to grind the dried peels in a food processor, but that did not get them into the fine dust I wanted. A spice grinder was the perfect fit.

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The tomato tart recipe I am about to give you is probably different than the tomato tarts you are used to. Generally a tomato tart looks something like this.

It makes for a light refreshing summertime meal.

The tart recipe I’m about to give you is for the fall and winter. Hearty and immensely flavorful! It may seem like a bit of work, but the steps are leisurely and all steps can be done ahead and then assembled just before you’re ready to serve.

It makes two 8-inch square or 8-inch round tarts. Alternately, you may make individual tarts, as pictured below. The dough will make about 10  individual tarts and you may have a bit of filling left over. The oven temperature and baking times remain the same, no matter the size.

As an added bonus, tomorrow I’ll be giving you a “recipe” using the tomato peels. It will be my first installment of “The 12 Gifts of Christmas” – so do not throw out those peels!

Also, I will apologize in advance for the photos – I was having some camera issues and didn’t know it until I loaded the pictures onto the computer.

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When you read all the recipes on here, do you ever think to yourself, “I wonder if Linda ever makes something that tastes just horrible? Or if she tries a recipe that just doesn’t turn out?”

Um… Yeah! Of course, it happens!

Let’s say I create a dish and it just isn’t all that. Well, guess what? We eat it but it doesn’t show up here.

Or if I see something on the web, let’s say on Pinterest, and I think, “Oh that looks So Good! I’m going to give that a try and post it for my readers.”

The same thing, if it’s good, I share.  If it’s not, I don’t. Well, that’s about to change…

Let me share with you a little story about yesterday’s epic fail:

I’ve been planning on doing a series of recipes called “The 12 Gifts of Christmas” – you know, food gifts from your kitchen. There was this particular recipe I saw on Pinterest and it appeared to be the perfect fit.

Here is the LINK to make Maple Cream, also known as Maple Butter. Go check it out and then come back here.

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It’s rather late in the day for me to be posting, but it’s not too late to remind you as if you need it if you’re hosting, that Thanksgiving is next week!

I know! Wasn’t it just last week Halloween?!?  It’s early this year, so don’t let it sneak up on you.

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After working for two solid days on the “Treasure Party” – aka our neighborhood yard sale, I am beat! Dead tired! I didn’t get out of my PJ’s all day on Sunday. In fact, as I type this post, it is 7:30 on Sunday night and I am back in bed.

I went to sleep at 8:30 on Saturday night (the sale day) and didn’t wake up until 8:30 on Sunday morning. Twelve hours was still not enough sleep and I had to take a nap on Sunday afternoon. I never nap. Naps are for wimps. So, yes, I admit, much to my dismay, I am now officially a wimp.

We set up all the treasures on more than 3 dozen large (8-ft, 6 ft, and 60-inch round) heavy folding tables. We initially had to squeeze all those tables under the back patio and in the garages (because of rain) and then I got up before the crack of dawn and we moved them all into the yard and spread them out on the open patio for the sale.

Then there was the 4-hour sale itself. At times there were lines of people at the checkout and other times it was just the neighbors hanging out and chatting it up.

Next, it was time to clean it all up and break down the more than 3 dozen tables. Then Connor and I hoisted all the tables that were left at our house into the back of a truck and hauled them around the neighborhood to return them to their rightful owners. Finally, I put my yard back together – moving all the furniture that had been pushed to one end of the patio, to make room for everything else, back to their correct spots. By the late afternoon, I was feeling like a wrung-out dirty dishrag.

That is a lot of physical labor and a lot of hard work!

Aside from all that, the sale was really fun and we did pretty darn well. The remaining items are shoved and smashed into the third stall of our garage awaiting the Salvation Army pick up later this week.

After eating take-out for the three or four days leading up to the sale, I thought I’d better at least make an attempt at dinner for my guys on Sunday night. Thankfully, Connor agreed to go to the grocery store and pick up the two ingredients I needed to make this crock-pot dish, the epitome of an “easy breezy” meal.

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This photo was taken during summer cooking classes. Although the two students in the foreground are fabulous – what I want you to focus on is the background. The view through the window behind the kids.

It is the view I’ve looked at every day for the last four years … ever since we did a complete remodel on our backyard.

In 2008 we expanded our backyard, taking down the existing block fence and pushing out to the back and to the west. Putting up a new block fence. In the process, as my neighbors probably recall, there was the unfortunate incident of hitting a gas line and closing down the street for a couple of hours with the fire department on hand. (Good times!)

We dug out the existing kidney-shaped diving pool, filled it in, and put in a new play pool with a spa, waterfall, and a swim-up bar that has you eating and drinking while watching me cooking away in the new sunken outdoor kitchen.

We tore off the existing patio cover and deck, and boarded up the two upstairs doors so that one of us didn’t somehow forget there was no deck to step out onto and fall to our death! Making the back of the house look like a tornado had come through. Then we put up a new patio cover, more than triple in depth.

Oh, and by the way, one very important note here – when I say “we” – I mean that “we” hired FANTASTIC contractors to do all that. (if you need a general contractor, a plumber, a landscape designer, an electrician, or a painter… let me know because I love those guys!) We only lifted a finger to write out the checks. So many checks! I

Here’s a very fuzzy zoomed in shot of what I see out that window. And it’s not the pool I’m focusing on today, it the patio furniture.

This is a photo of the remodeled covered patio, just after it was completed in April 2008.

Dave and I received the patio table and four chairs (along with 2 chaise lounges and a side table) as a wedding shower gift, in 1985.

Yep, the set is 27 years old. I’ve had it repainted and re-strapped twice, so about every 9 years… making it again due for a makeover.

And although it has served us well, it is time for it to move on to another family… along with many other items from my home.

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These bacon and olive-based appetizers aren’t the prettiest plate on the table but with their hint of curry, they are sure to be the most popular!

Many thanks to Barbara Fenzl, who demonstrated this recipe in her classes last month at Les Gourmettes. She agreed to let me share them with you.

Bonus  –  They are so Easy-Breezy!

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This is the tasty creation that I served at the Burlap Pumpkin Making class this past Saturday morning. We went through two double batches!

FYI: I purchased the cute numbered (1 -12) cocktail classes on One Kings Lane.

Many thanks to Tram and Sheila for the two photos!

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We had a creative and fun-filled extra long weekend. Our BFF’s from Illinois, Jeff and Jen, flew in on Thursday.

After years of them playing hosts to us at their gorgeous Wisconsin log cabin and at their beautiful home in Illinois, we were finally able to play hosts to them….for the first time EVER!

I know, that’s crazy, isn’t it?  Well, it was an absolute joy and just makes me wish they would come back at least once a month until we could pay them back for their more than a decade of hospitality.  Even at that rate, it would take us a couple of years to catch up!

On Saturday morning, I held the burlap pumpkin class that I threatened to hold in THIS POST … several of you expressed interest.

Thankfully, Jen and Shelia were two of the participants, because those two girls are super artistic and they were able to help the other participants make some really pretty pumpkins.

Peggy and I showed everyone how to put the pumpkins together, but it was Sheila and Jen who really lead the way, helping one lady after another, bling out their fabric squash creations.

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At the suggestion of the Sweet Salvage vendor, I turned the vintage French ephermera I purchased there, into wrapping paper.

Brilliant!

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