Happy Valentine's Day!!!

I got this neat little mold at Target last month titled "raspberry pocket pies" and thought I would try it out for a Valentine's dessert. It's pretty basic, so I'm certain it could be done with any cookie cutter, if you're crafty enough.

1 (15oz) pkg refrigerated pie crust dough OR 1 recipe of pastry for double crust pie
1/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 tsp cornstarch
1 cup fresh raspberries
1 egg, beaten
Heated oven to 400 degrees

 Ingredients, prepped and ready to begin.

Step 1, roll out dough, cut shapes.

Step 2, press shapes on each side of mold.

Step 3, fill one side with 2 Tbsp raspberries, top with 1 Tbsp sugar/cornstarch mixture.

 I don't know what 2 Tbsp raspberries is in Target land, but i could squeeze 5 berries inside perfectly. I also did a less than 1 whole Tbsp of the sugar mix....it seemed like way too much. I've probably completely ruined Vday by now.

Step 4, Use pastry brush to brush edges with beaten egg.

Step 5, Fold pie press, squeeze to crimp. (Cookie cutter users, you'll have to improvise. Good luck)

Step 6, Brush tops with egg and sprinkle with sugar. Bake 15-20 min, until golden brown.

 As I don't own a pastry brush because I find them virtually useless, I used my fingers. Also, this photo is evidence that I completely forgot the sprinkled sugar toppings...great, if I didn't ruin Vday earlier, it's def over now.

The photo on the front of the package showed little heart holes on the pies...those weren't included on the mold, so I cut mine with a knife. I had a bright idea to cook the little mini hearts along with the pies...pretty sure those are currently burning in the oven. I also opted to NOT reuse my remaining pie dough. You know, I'm generally one to use everything to the last drop, but seeing as how I paid who-knows-what for perfectly rolled 9-inch pie rounds, I feel I deserve to throw them away. I paid for that luxury, didn't I?

So...I learn by trial and error. 1 pie crust round only makes 2 mini pies, and my box of dough came with two rounds. On my SECOND round of pies, I pureed the raspberries...for as you will notice, the whole berries are peeking out of my heart hole. I also opted not to do the mini hearts...over it. Oh, and I DIDN'T forget the sprinkled sugar this time, haha. However, the pies didn't puff up...i suppose because the insides were flat on round 2...and some raspberry filling oozed out...oh well. I did get to taste the oozed filling, though, and YUM!!!

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Called it...burned the mini hearts!

Nearly Freebies

I love smart online shopping. Last week I received a coupon for The Limited -- $20 off your purchase. No minimum buy required, online or in-store, valid for 1 month.

You just have to be SMART! First, I check the sales racks. The Limited is always so expensive -- iInever shop there and really don't know how I got on the mailing list. But there are wristlets, rings, and tanktops in their sale listing for under $20...nothing good there today. So here's what I picked:







This watch is originally $42.90. The Limited is currently having a 40% off jewelry sale taking it down to $25.74, plus my $20 off coupon making this a whopping $5.74. SOLD. Lets just hope it fits.

Another website I ALWAYS use when shopping online, without fail, is www.retailmenot.com
You're pretty much a failure if you know about this site and don't use it. You go to that site, search for any online shopping site (for example, I searched thelimited.com today), and it brings up a list of all the current coupons available. Free shipping, $10 off, buy one get one, etc. There was nothing there for the Limited today that applied to me, but I've saved SO much money using that site. ALWAYS check it, no matter WHERE you're shopping online.

Another trick I use is signing up for all the email subscriptions from my favorite shopping sites. Yes, it's a little annoying having to delete all those emails, but I get tons of coupons in them. If I've been eyeing something to buy, it's only a matter of time before an awesome discount comes in through my email.

Lastly, another site I shop on is RueLaLa.com. This site offers discounted items for 3 days at a time only -- vacation packages, clothes, shoes, toys, food. A lot of it is designer, expensive stuff, but definitely not all. If there's something you're wanting, it will probably eventually show up on Rue! And the discounts are HUGE. Sometimes they have items marked down as much as $800, like Rolexes, and things like that. I've bought a watch from there, a pair of Puma shoes, ski goggles, tons of stuff. I'm currently waiting on this Fossil bag to show up...its $218 at Macy's, but it will be under $100 on Rue.

It's all about shopping smart!