There are starving kids in Africa....

....and there are, I'm not trying to joke about that. But my mom used to remind us to not waste things using this particular catch phrase and it's kinda stuck with me.

Last week we finished the week with a pretty little fruit pie and I mentioned that if you saved the crust scraps, I'd have a tender morsel you could make with that as well (we will get to that in a second). Then I got to thinking about all the other stuff I keep in my freezer and it dawned on me that I could HAVE A THEME this week. That's an exciting thought for someone like me--not only because I won't have to think of something new to post everyday but....yah, no, that's the reason it's exciting-I can't think of something new all the time.

So, in light of my moment of clarity, I declare this week on BB "Freeze It For Later Week." I'll be showing you stuff that you can hold on to instead of chucking and also a practical use for those little leftovers.

Today, we are talking about left-over scraps of pie dough.

When we were kids, Mom used to give us her scraps and we'd make little pies in old mayo jar lids....I'm sure we'll all find out later that that causes cancer because it would seem that all simple pleasures do. Mom taught us the basics of pie making with those little pies-how to treat your dough, how to use the pin, how to seal your edges. Fun and yummy learning. (Thanks, Mom, by the way).

So, if you have kidlings, this is a great little project for them. And if you don't have kids, these little tarts are a nice little something to snack on or pull out (all nonchalantly of course) when you have a bit of company.

Naturally, I have every little tartlet mold under the sun (and no mayo lids anymore....or at least none that won't melt all over my oven). You can use mini muffin pans too. Whatever you are using, spray the hell out of it because the sugar in your jam or jelly will caramelize at some point and it's no fun to scrap off.

You're oven should be at 350. Roll out the dough and cut with a cookie cutter that is slightly wider than the circumference of your mold and cut. Press lightly into mold and fill--not too much!!--with a bit of jam or jelly (whatever you have in the fridge. I managed to clean out the bottoms of 3 different jars doing this (hmmm, empty jar=time to make more jam......wha? oh, sorry, ADD)






If you have a smaller cutter, you can top your tartlets with a little crust. Then brush with a little bit of milk and sprinkle with sugar (try to keep the sugar on the crust and not on the edges, which will make it harder to get out of the pan later).

Bake for approximately 15 minutes (depending on size) or until golden, remove and cool.


(I filled these a little too full with the jam so some of them baked over. Also, if you happen to be using a "fruit butter" or a fruit filling, like Baker's fruit, you can fill them alittle fuller because that filling is formulated for such things.


*you can freeze these for later if you want--either raw in the pan to bake later or after being baked and cooled, separated by parchment in an airtight container.

This isn't the kinda of thriftiness that's gonna help you save for retirement but it is the kind of frugality that sets a good example for the kiddos or keeps you from eating a tub of icing later or from picking up some sad, store-bought thing for the breakroom.