Someone's coming to breakfast!

One of our friends at work who recently transferred to another office because of a promotion is coming over tomorrow. I don’t know if it’s because she misses us or because of the picture of my mixed berry crostata that I sent her yesterday that prompted her to tell me she’s visiting us suddenly. She asked me what I’m making for our breakfast reunion tomorrow and I just said- “oh, something you’ve been missing” since you left us.

Anyway, I had to drop by farmer’s market after work to get fresh berries for my crostatas for breakfast tomorrow. I figured I should just make some since one of the girls didn’t taste it when I brought some to work yesterday. She had to be at a meeting/workshop and I just sent her pictures to tease her also “evil grin”...
I’m also thinking of making roasted vegetable lasagna over the weekend and I want to get my veggies there. I was so shocked to find out that berries are even pricier than the ones at the grocery stores. The vendor reasoned out that they were freshly picked this morning and I didn’t argue- they do look beautiful and fresh and I even tasted each one of the berries. He wasn’t lying.

I love going to farmer’s market because everything’s fresh and except for the berries- the rest of my purchases are reasonably priced. I even got fresh pita bread and hummus and grapes to snack on with cheese.
I was done in less than an hour but when I got home and unloaded my stuff- my grapes are missing!
Where are my grapes?
Apparently, I put my bag beside the berries when I was making my selection. And it’s too late to go back there to get it. I got a two dollar discount on my berries but lost my bag of grapes….grrrr…..
But the show must go on…with or without grapes! Aww but they’re so crunchy and sweet - the perfect partner for my Colby cheese.

So I made two crostatas for tomorrow. These are bigger than the ones I made the other day and they look even more delicious because I used fresh berries this time.

I was in a better mood last night so I made this bonus treat for our visiting friend. Strawberry napoleons- my third shot at puff pastry. These sheets are brushed with a mixture of whole milk and powdered sugar then filled with French vanilla pudding mixed with whole milk and whipped cream and fresh strawberries. Then in the double boiler came semi-sweet chocolate and butter with a little corn syrup which I melted and drizzled on top these pastries then dusted with powdered sugar.

But she was a no-show! I do understand why and all my efforts weren’t in vain because my co-workers enjoyed the treat and just to let her get a glimpse of what she missed, I did not forget to SMS her these lol....

Here's how to make them :-)

Strawberry Napoleons
Ingredients

½ package pastry sheet (1 sheet)
1 package (about 3 1/2 oz.) French vanilla instant pudding and pie filling mix
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups sweetened whipped cream * OR non-dairy whipped topping
1 ¼ cups sliced strawberries
Confectioners' sugar
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

Thaw pastry sheet at room temperature 40 min. Preheat oven to 400°F.
Unfold pastry on lightly floured surface. Cut into 3 strips along fold marks. Cut each strip into 4 rectangles. Place on baking sheet. Bake 15 min. or until golden. Let cool.
Dissolve pudding mix in 1 cup milk. Fold in whipped cream.
Split each pastry into 2 layers, making 24 layers in all. Set aside 8 top layers. Spread 8 bottom layers with 2 tbsp. pudding mixture each. Top each with 1 tbsp. strawberries and another layer. Spread with remaining pudding. Top with remaining strawberries and top layers. Drizzle with melted chocolate then sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar. Serve immediately or cover and refrigerate up to 4 hrs.

Chocolate glaze

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a double boiler over hot, but not boiling water, combine chocolate chips, butter and corn syrup. Stir until chips are melted and mixture is smooth, then add vanilla.

Note: For 1 1/2 cups sweetened whipped cream, beat 3/4 cup heavy cream, 2 tbsp. sugar and 1/4 tsp. vanilla extract in chilled bowl until stiff peak