Chocolate Tart Recipe

I spotted this recipe in Food Magazine and loved the look of it, but the taste is even better. The cocoa in the recipe makes all the difference and the organic cocoa I found at Whole Foods is amazing.  I made this tart the first time for a 4th of July dinner, not with pears as the recipe suggests, but with strawberries and rhubarb I was saving in the freezer.  It was delicious, but the berries gave it a shorter shelf life. The second time I tried the pears when I made it for my garden's summer potluck. It dissapeared pretty quick.  Today I'm going for broke with fresh peaches.  Really almost any fruit would work.

The recipe also calls for almond flour or making your own in a food processor, which I substituted with wheat flour without any problem. 

Sweetie's Pie Diner

I can't explain how excited I was to see the words "pie diner" decorating the door of a building being renovated at 19th and Spring Garden streets and they finally opened a couple of weeks ago. The place lives up to the name, they not only are a diner that specializes in pie, but local sourced gourmet pie with the most unusual and delightful combinations. I got a day old sample of an apple cake that was fabulous, then came back later that day with coworkers to taste a lemon pie. They also had plum, chocolate, pumpkin, more kinds of pie than I could remember. It was a memorable experience.

What I also love is that they have items like beet salad, savory pies for lunch, weekend brunch and get their supplies from local farms. It's a pie diner done right and the morning crew is really sweet. I stopped in again last week for coffee and tried a ginger scone. I think this might become a regular stop for me.

Oh, and the prices are so reasonable in comparison to other neighborhood coffee places! $2.25 for a slice of pie!