Gluten-Free Blueberry Tart {A Sabbath Dessert}

There's been some radio silence around here. I, to put it simply, have been very busy. I started a second job a couple of months ago--a job I'm so in love with, but definitely adds another level of complexity to my life. Most hours of my day are accounted for, which is making it harder and harder to take a sabbath--a day of rest.

It's started to ware on me a bit. I'm finding myself making mental To-Do lists when I need to be focusing on the friend who is across the table from me, sharing her heart. My prayer life has suffered, too, because my brain is quite full, and this is the main reason that I've needed to figure out a new Sabbath plan.

I spent some time awhile ago figuring out that to have a day of rest does not mean that I have to do absolutely nothing, rather things that are restorative to me specifically. This has always--and hopefully will always--include baking. Not the over-the-top-conquer-the-biggest-baking-project-ever baking, but baking that is relaxing and somewhat easy.

I've been dreaming up a blueberry tart ever since blueberries became in-season, and the arrival of (yet another) cook book in the mail, "Sinfully Easy Delicious Desserts," was what it took to make it happen.

This book is full of recipes that show you can make and present something beautiful, with out spending an entire day making in happen. The blueberry tart in the book is not the one that I made, but understanding that making a lovely tart didn't have to be an ordeal, and could instead be a way to spend a bit of my restful time, helped me to get it done.

Now, go ahead and rest . . . and maybe do some baking!

Nutella Chocolate Chip Pie

Last month, my home community had a "childhood favorites" potluck. The house was filled with mashed potatoes, macaroni and cheese with cut-up hot dogs, and Nutella.

Now, I never liked Nutella as a child. We were strictly a peanut butter family, but this "weird" brown spread showed up at friends' houses after school. I thought it was gross.

Thankfully, as I grew up, I came around to this delicious hazelnut chocolate spread. And, even though I didn't like it as a kid, I still deemed a Nutella dessert appropriate for the theme "childhood favorites." I am certain I was the anomaly.

So, here we have Nutella Chocolate Chip Pie. This cream cheese-based pie has a buttery chocolate chip cookie and hazelnut crust and is topped with fresh whipped cream. It's good. It's really good. And I'd like to think that even my 8-year-old self wouldn't have been able to resist it.