Summertime and berries, is there anything better? I don't think so. Being from the Pacific Northwest, and now living in Texas, I miss experiencing all the roadside cherries for sale, and picking my own strawberries with those pine covered mountains in the distance. But I can't complain, there are still a lot of lovely berries available in Texas. And I had just a couple handfuls of fresh, beautiful berries left that needed to be eaten or used and was craving a quick dessert, so galette to the rescue!

What you will need:

1 pie crust dough (our recipe makes 2)
2 cups fresh berries (this time I used 1 1/2 cup fresh pitted cherries, and 1/2 cup fresh strawberries)
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 sugar

Egg wash

What you will do:

Combine fresh fruit, orange juice and sugar into medium sized saucepan (We used Nordicware's new FLARE with Fin Technology which we review below!) and bring to boil. Once boiling turn heat to low and allow to simmer for 10 minutes, or until fruit is just becoming soft. Immediately remove fruit with slotted spoon, and set aside. Allow fruit juices in saucepan to simmer on medium low heat until thick, stirring often, 10-15 minutes. Once juice thickens pour onto softened fruit, and allow to cool 10 to 15 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400f and place parchment on a baking sheet, set aside.

Roll out your pie dough into 10-12 in circle. (You don't have to be exact with this galette, that's half the fun!) Gently place rolled dough onto prepared baking sheet.

Take your cooled fruit compote and carefully place in center of rolled out dough. Now start gently folding the pie dough sides onto the fruit, just enough to cover edges, about a 2 inch crust (again, there is no set way to do this, if it seems a bit sloppy, that is ok! Just make sure you have all the corners folded in so that you don't lose all of your flavorful compote juices. Some of the juice may sneak out anyway, not to worry!)

Brush dough liberally with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar.

Place in oven and bake at 400f for 15 minutes. Turn heat down to 375f for 30 minutes. Galette is done when crust is golden brown and fruit compote bubbling.

Remove and allow to cool for ten minutes. Serve warm, with vanilla ice cream. And of course, a nice cup of coffee....

Flare with Fin Technology Review

What is Flare saucepan with Fin Technology you ask? A quirky and cute saucepan, that at first glance reminds me of a bundt pan that is also a saucepan. I mean really, look at it! I am allowed to call this pan cute.

A bit of information on it: It is cast aluminum for even cooking (and lifting!) The inside is made from PFOA-free nonstick coating (that made simmering my fruit compote incredibly easy, and the clean up of the sticky cherry and strawberry syrup?? Rinsed off with water! I think that is one of the best things about this pan for me. It was a hectic Saturday afternoon when I made this galette and I had 3 small children running circles around me, had to stop what I was doing in the kitchen more than once, for the kids, and the chickens getting stuck out back, and by the time I got to clean up, to say I was done is an understatement. Did I want to clean-up? No. And had my FLARE saucepan been sitting on the stove for longer than 30 minutes, with all that sticky fruit syrup still on it? Yes, yes it had. I thought I'd have to let it soak in water for quite awhile! But that was not the case, at all. I actually had an extra five minutes, and I sat down...until the kids found me...

But anyway, a quick rundown:

*FLARE saucepan heated quickly and evenly
*FLARE saucepan is very easy to clean
*Flare saucepan is cute

I have just begun to touch the surface of my FLARE cooking, and I am excited to use it for many more projects. It is oven safe to 400f, so I will be testing that out next!

So far, one of my favorite saucepans, and that's saying something because I collect saucepans like my son collects Thomas the Trains.

You can check out FLARE's full U.S.A. line at www.flarecookwareusa.com

Thanks for taking the time to read about FLARE and always, for supporting our tried and true sponsors, friends and American companies.

NordicWare

www.nordicware.com

Finex

www.finexusa.com

Ball Canning