“If you want to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” Dr. Carl Sagan 

I found the basis for this easy, yum and all round nice recipe in Cooking Light. I’ve had a difficult week both on the work as well as on the insomnia front, so I wasn’t going to make my own pastry, obviously. I changed it a little –the original asks you to microwave honey at full power, and that makes honey lose all its beneficial qualities. Think of it like a very quick way to accompany your coffee with something sweet that is not going to end up on your thighs (well, not 100% of it at least), and as a way to use your apples. Quick and Thin Apple Tart 6 servings

• ½ package refrigerated pie dough
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 800 gr. Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
• 2 1/2 tablespoons honey

Preheat oven to 280 K, 425 F. Place dough on a lightly floured surface, roll into a circle. Place on a tart dish. Combine sugar and cinnamon. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar mixture over dough. Arrange apple slices in a circle moving towards the centre. Sprinkle apple slices with remaining sugar mixture. Bake at 280 K, 425° F for 30 minutes. In a little cup, thin honey with one teaspoon of water. Brush honey over warm tart. This pie was baked while listening to the Smashing Pumpkins’ song "Appels and Oranjes".

The gypsies would drive from neighbourhood to neighbourhood in their open trucks and sell watermelons, just a few years ago in Athens. I think they still do it in rural areas. And in the early afternoon, you’d hear their voices through the loudspeakers in their cars, shouting “karpouziaaaaaaa”, because karpouzi is what we call a watermelon in Greece. If you wanted to, they would carve it open for you so you could testify to the freshness of the fruit. Today I buy my watermelons from the supermarket, or the open market, every Wednesday in my area. But I still miss the gypsies. I found this recipe in Veggie Life , the printed version. I adapted a bit and here it is. I have never found the magazine in Greece, but my good friend Gina, sent it to me from the US. So this recipe is for her. I wish we could have some of it together Gina.

For 6 servings

• 5 cups watermelon chunks (try to seed the chunks as much as you can)
• 6 tablespoons non fat milk
• 1-1 ½ tablespoon sugar

In a food processor combine ingredients and liquefy. Place a sieve over a bowl and strain out remaining seeds. Press with a spoon so as to get as much pulp through the sieve as possible. Discard seeds and excess pulp. Put liquid into ice cube trays and freeze. When ready, whirl cubes in a blender or food processor, to make it look like a sherbet. Serve in glasses. You are a happy person.

I made this for my birthday and it was seductive and enticing.

Because it is easy to make, it doesn’t mean it is harmless. When people ask me “is it too fattening?” I simple answer “it doesn’t have any added sugar”. And it really doesn’t. What does it need sugar for? But I have another question: Who HASN’T woken up in the night to eat nutella from a jar? The winner gets a jar of pickled cucumbers.

You’ll need

• 350 gr digestive biscuits

• 200 gr butter

• 200 ml double cream

• 200 gr cheese cream

• 100 gr chocolate with 70% solids, melted (see note on how to melt it)

• 400 gr nutella or other chocolate spread

• Cocoa powder

Crumble the biscuits in a blender, put them in a bowl, add butter, whisk using a mixer until everything comes together. Line a tart mould with the biscuit-butter mixture and pat until it is uniformly spread. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. Put cheese, double cream, nutella, melted chocolate and 2-3 tablespoons of cocoa powder, in a mixer bowl and whisk everything (best with an electric whisk) until smooth. Taste the mixture to see if you want it bitterer. I usually do. The more cocoa powder you add, the bitterer it becomes. Spread it out on the tart shell and put it in the freezer for 30 minutes or until the filling looks solid. You can simply refrigerate it but it’ll take longer. But if you are going to forget it in the fridge, then do refrigerate it! Before you serve, sprinkle with some cocoa powder.

Note: How to melt the chocolate

Place pieces of chocolate in a bowl (not a plastic one). Place the bowl in a pan. Fill pan with water and place on low heat. Allow chocolate to melt and don’t cover. When most of the chocolate has melted, stir until smooth.

You can do it in the microwave oven: Place pieces of chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave at medium power (50 percent) for 1 1/2 to 4 minutes, until the chocolate turns shiny. Remove the container from the microwave and stir the chocolate until completely melted.