Recipe: “Rustic” Cherry Tarts

By rustic I mean ugly.   But they still taste pretty good.

To reiterate my earlier statement:  I believe in dessert!

So when an incredibly convincing saleslady hawking cherries on the street sent me home with a kilo of the fruit, I was eager to put them to use in some kind of summery dessert-related way.  I had lately been eying these beauties from The Smitten Kitchen (if you are at all sensitive to food-related imagery, by the way, DO NOT go to her blog, because the gorgeous photography is unbelievably addictive and drool-inducing.  Also: if I could die and be reincarnated in blog form I would definitely want it to be as The Smitten).

The recipe is very, very loosely based on Smitten’s instructions.  I filled the tarts with cherries, rather than rhubarb, and also (for lack of cornmeal) just made the dough with regular flour.  I’m sure her version is better, though I think mine still came out pretty good (albeit barely sweet — you can sweeten them more if you prefer).  They are ideal served warm with ice cream.

Nutella wants to join the dessert-for-breakfast game

My friend and Bunsofsteal fitness blogger Julia Neyman points out the tragically manipulative marketing techniques used to encourage parents to serve Nutella to their children for breakfast:

I was changing in the Reebok Sports Club locker room the other afternoon, absentmindedly listening to the TV in the background, when this sentence snapped me out of my daydreams: ”As a mom, I’m a great believer in Nutella…”

So began a 30 second spot, in which Nutella attempted to sell the message that chocolate hazelnut spread is a healthy snack for kids: ”Moms, Nutella is a healthy snack for your kids! Spread it on multigrain bread, and they’ll love it!” Really? Nutella? The Nutella that contains 200 calories, and 11 grams of fat, per a 2 tbsp serving?