ham and cheese tarts

Simple and classy table decorations I also whipped up with help from Amahli and Jared before the party.

I've had a few requests of recipes that I used in my canape making extravanganza ( ok so it wasnt THAT big a deal, but still) so I thought I would post a few on here... the ones I picked were really simple but amazingly tasty.

I cook almost as well as I sew... I love to do it but nothing seems to come out quite the way I planned ( I once made a chilli prawn dish to impress my now husband... I ended up with chilli chunks in my eyes and he ended up with a lettuce and tomato salad) so I was very surprised when these canapes worked AND tasted good :) Most of the canapes I made, I was able to make the filling during the day, so it wasnt a mad rush just before the party. That was the best part of it all :) These tarts below, incredibly easy, and I made them during the day and put them in the fridge. Once guests started to arrive, I put them in the oven to heat up.

(Unfortunately I didnt get many "process" photos as I wasnt sure how it would turn out plus I had my hands and half my arms in egg mix.)

Ham and Cheese Tarts

Ingredients (serves 18)
2 sheets ready-rolled frozen shortcrust pastry, partially thawed
2 eggs
1/2 cup Cream
1 tsp American mustard
125g sliced ham, finely chopped
100g (1 cup) cheddar cheese, grated

1. Preheat oven to 200°C. Grease 2 patty pan trays. Using a 6.5cm round pastry cutter, cut 20 circles from the pastry. Line prepared trays with pastry rounds.
2. Whisk eggs, cream and mustard in a bowl until combined. Add ham and cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon 1 tablespoonful of mixture into each pastry case. Bake for 15 minutes or until pastry is golden and the filling is set.

Really it couldnt have been easier. Jumeirah helped me to cut out the circles (we used the top of a glass as our cookie cutters are covered in playdough) and then whisked up the mixture and even helped me fill the cases so its a great activity for kids. You could add really anything to this mixture... bacon, tomato, peas, and as they were small in size they are also great for little ones to eat too.

Before (this is where I had a mild panic as the mixture looked very runny to me..)

After!!



I must say, I did skip and prance when I saw how these looked :) Its ok my kids know Im nuts anyway.
I also made a bacon and chive version of these ( this recipe is at Taste) and it was just as good.




Try them for dinner! Let me know hows yours turn out :)


And so whilst I was busy preparing, my three little monkeys helped for a bit then dissapeared outside. I could hear them laughing and playing on the trampoline for awhile, then the sound of water being sloshed around made me take a quick dash outside to see where the water was coming from.....

One little cherub was sitting in the blue pool (which was half full of sand) FULL of rain water, two little cherubs happily filling it with bark.

Took that "stop and take a breath before you yell" moment and realised that really, they were having a ball and completely entertained with this wonderful new sensory pool ( looked like something out of one of those exotic day spas brochures).

Jared, realising that Amahli wasnt getting into trouble, quickly joined her.




Looks like fun!!!