The "almost" turnover!

Ok, so the good news was that I did have a sheet of puff pastry in the fridge.

The bad news was that in my absent-mindedness, I didn't shrink or foil wrap it, so it semi dried out...it still puffed up just fine, but I wasn't able to fold the puff pastry prior to baking it.

I started with this french recipe for chocolate-strawberry turnovers with some modifications. Again, I couldn't fold the pastry since it was brittle even after it was thawed. I also didn't have any bittersweet chocolate, only some dutch-processed cocoa...and no fresh strawberries, only ones I had frozen earlier this summer. Not such a great start.

So...into the double boiler, I dumped:

3/4 c. Hershey's Dutch Processed Special Dark Cocoa
1/4 c. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 handfuls (~1 1/2 c?) frozen strawberries
1 handful (~ 1/2 c) frozen raspberries

This turned out to be absolutely delicious, I had to force myself to stop eating it. Luckily, the slightly runny mixture of chocolate sauce was about 3x more than I needed for my 4 puff pastry squares, so I saved the rest for the next time I have ice cream.

I baked the quartered pastries with a scoop of chocolate sauce on top at 400 degrees for about 12 minutes. They were awesome with a scoop of vanilla on top.

Next up, how to get rid of that box of cornmeal...

And Summer in Minnesota is over already! Can you believe it?

Now that the leaves are (barely) starting to turn colors and it's no longer warm and humid at night, I can (yes, I can!) turn on my oven at night without feeling guilty about our energy bills.

This fall's task is to bake and cook while using down my pantry as much as I can before we move in January. I'm not terribly worried about using up my spices as I want to use up the pile of liquids (vinegars, oils, syrups, sauces and marinades!) that fill my refrigerator door and cabinet above my stove.

I'm also working on clearing out the freezer because I really hate throwing food away.

So first on my list of goals...I have some leftover puff pastry and these beautiful strawberries and raspberries that we picked in August just sitting in the freezer...I think that sounds like breakfast turnovers to me...we will see!