Two Inventions..one a recipe, the other a tool!

Today was busy!  Elizabeth and I baked!  Well, to be totally honest, she did a lot more baking than I did. I suppose that today I was the "helper" and she was the head chef.  All in all, it was a most fun day.  Whenever the two of us get together on a project, we do seem to get a good bit accomplished but also chat and giggle a good bit as well.  Our baking not only included the usual sweet tidbits but also some of the most delicious things ever invented!

Several years ago, she and I were flipping through cookbooks hunting for something a bit different to serve on Christmas Eve.  Folks would be dropping by to share a bit of the warmth of Christmas and although we had mountains of homemade cookies and candies, we still wanted something else.  Perhaps something savory to balance out all of the sweetness.  She spied some seafood quiche about the same time I came across a recipe for tarts.  Aha!  Being ones who can never leave recipes alone, we combined the two and came up with something fantastic! Multiple things were changed to suit what ingredients we had on hand and soon we had our tarts filling platters on the table! Yes, there are other recipes out there but I do believe ours are the best crab and shrimp tarts ever invented!  (I might be just a tad biased but hey..I have a right to be...my daughter came up with this recipe!)  When guests started arriving at the Little Bayou House, each and every one commented on the crab and shrimp tarts.  Platter after platter of the tiny goodies disappeared!    We were elated but also thankful that we had made so many!

The tarts are made with a simple dough that is formed to fit mini muffin pans.  This was always the hard part. It was so time-consuming to shape the dough just right.  Smash it to far and you would have a hole in the bottom...not press hard enough and the dough would be too thick to add the delightful filling.  This year was easier!  Elizabeth and Robbie bought me the neatest tool!  If you ever do a lot of baking (like we do!), I highly recommend getting yourself a Mini Tart Shaper!  This small tool is so simply designed that it is one of those "Why did I not think of this?" things but it is also a wonderful time-saver!  And in our kitchen, that is important!  Being as we make hundreds of cookies, candies and now tarts, anything that can save us a few minutes is welcome!  The Mini Tart Shaper is designed to just fit most of the mini muffin pans and makes bite-sized tarts!  This is the same pan that I use to make the Pecan Tassies so the tool proved to be handy there as well!  Like I said it is one of those items that you wished you had invented...