BIRTHDAY BLISS!

I love birthdays and I love cooking special occasion food and most of all I love to please people with food so this year's birthday celebration for my husband was an eating extravaganza!

We started with...

BLUEBERRY STUFFED FRENCH TOAST

Ready to go into the fridge for the night.

You know I like "do-ahead" food. This breakfast treat is put together the night before and then baked next morning. It was rich and delicious and would make a fantastic holiday breakfast. I cut the recipe in half and it was still huge. I am going to give you the full recipe. The recipe calls for baking in a 9x13 pan which would have been much better than the deep dish I used. It cooked without a problem, but did not look that attractive when served. If you use the 9x13 pan you can cut into squares. I dusted the top with cinnamon before refrigerating overnight. The recipe did not call for it, but I think cinnamon and blueberries are a natural pairing.

Even though the French Toast does not look that great, my husband does!

Ingredients:
12 slices day-old bread, cut into 1" cubes (I made a special oat bread for the occasion so cut 6 slices into cubes since I was halving.)
2 (8 oz.) packages cream cheese, cut into 1" cubes (I used Neufchatel.)
1 cup fresh blueberries (I used a cup even though I was cutting in half.)
12 eggs, beaten
2 cups milk
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/3 cup maple syrup

Blueberry syrup:
1 cup white sugar
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 cup water
1 cup fresh blueberries
1 Tbsp. butter (I did not make the blueberry syrup, but used maple syrup instead. Delicious!)

Preparation:
Lightly grease a 9x13" baking dish. Arrange half the bread cubes in the dish, and top with cream cheese cubes.

Sprinkle 1 cup blueberries over the cream cheese and top with remaining bread cubes.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, milk, vanilla, and syrup. Pour over the bread cubes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
Remove the bread cube mixture form the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cover and bake 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking 25-30 minutes until center is firm and surface is slightly browned. You can test done-ness the way you would a custard by inserting a knife in the center. If it comes out clean, it is done.

To make the blueberry syrup: In a medium saucepan mix the sugar, cornstarch and water. Bring to a boil. Stirring constantly cook 3-4 minutes until the blueberries burst. Stir in the butter and pour over the baked French Toast. This is more like a bread pudding than a stuffed French Toast, but really very yummy! I served with crispy bacon.

We did lunch out (KKaties Burgers in downtown Plymouth--not an ordinary burger! http://www.kkaties.com/burgers.html) , but for dinner I made Jerry...

LOBSTER RAVIOLI in LOBSTER CREAM SAUCE

Ingredients:
LOBSTER CREAM SAUCE-
2 oz. unsalted butter
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 Tbsp. finely chopped shallots (Or use onions if you don't have shallots on hand.)
1 cup cooked lobster cut into chunks (I used two 1 1/4 lb. chix which was enough for both filling and sauce.)*
2 oz. Dry cream sherry (For cooking I like to use Fairbanks Medium-Dry California sherry. It's not bad for sipping either!)
Salt/Pepper
Pinch of hot pepper
1 Tbsp. chopped Basil
1 cup heavy cream (I used Half and Half.)
5 oz. tomato paste
Lobster broth (from the cooked lobsters) to thin the sauce as needed.

* I cooked and shelled the lobsters the night before which made assembly a little smoother, but this still is a dish with lots of steps.

LOBSTER FILLING-
Remaining lobster, chopped finely
3 Tbsp. ricotta
Splash of sherry
Salt/Pepper

PASTA DOUGH-
2 cups flour
5 eggs
Water, as needed
Pinch of salt

Preparation:
For the lobster sauce: In a large saute pan, add the butter and melt. Add garlic and shallots and saute until golden brown. Add tomato paste, cream, seasoning and simmer gently for about 30 minutes. Add lobster and basil and saute 5 minutes. Add sherry and reduce for 2 minutes. The long, slow cooking will thicken the sauce and deepen the flavors. Thin it with the lobster broth if it gets too thick. Remove from heat and cool. Blend the sauce to make very smooth.

Finely chop the rest of the cooked lobster. In a large bowl, combine lobster and ricotta and mix well. Splash in a little sherry, salt and pepper.

Lay out the first piece of pasta dough and place a heaping tablespoon of stuffing 2 inches apart. My complaint about Lobster Ravioli in a restaurant...they never use enough lobster. Using a pastry brush, brush egg white around each bit of stuffing making the dough moist, but not wet. Take the second piece of pasta and cover the bottom piece with the stuffing. Press around each ravioli being careful not to squeeze the stuffing out. Using a round ravioli cutter, cut each ravioli round and put on a sheet pan sprinkled with semolina (semolina is flour made from Durum Wheat; excellent for making pasta-I like Bob's Red Mill)...or use fine corn meal or flour.

As you can see in top of photo, you will have left-over pasta. I re-rolled and made both fettuccini and spaghetti.

Notice I forgot to dust my tray with semolina...bad mistake. The raviolis stuck, but I was able to lift them up to cook without breaking. Nervous moment...!

Place ravioli in gently (gentle is key as these are delicate pastas) boiling water and cook for 8-10 minutes or until al dente. Reheat the lobster cream sauce and put a generous portion on each plate. Top the sauce with raviolis and basil. Enjoy!


ON TO DESSERT...MY HUSBAND'S FAVORITE PART OF ANY MEAL
This year Jerry requested a Boston Cream Pie which was one of his favorite desserts as a child. It really is more cake than pie, but I must say this was one of the best Boston Cream Pie's either of us has ever had.

HOW DID THE BOSTON CREAM PIE GET ITS NAME?
The pie originated in the same spot as its sibling, the Parker House Roll. Well, that's sort of true — the Boston Cream Pie as we know it today originated at the Parker House Hotel in Boston.

The Boston Cream Pie was originally a pie consisting of white cake with a custard filling or topping. That cake/pie had its origins in the early days of colonial history, and was sometimes called a Pudding-Cake Pie, although there have been references to a similar English custard cake, so its true origins probably hark back to Britain. If, in the early days, it included a raspberry jelly filling, it was called Mrs. Washington's Pie. In any case, this recipe is a WINNER! And, as some of you may know, the Boston Cream Pie is the OFFICIAL DESSERT OF MASSACHUSETTS!

BOSTON CREAM PIE

Ingredients for Cake:
1 cup plus 2 Tbsp. sifted cake flour*
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp. cream of tartar
Pastry cream, aka Crème Anglaise (recipe follows)
Ganache (recipe follows)**

* I don't always, but this time did use cake flour and think it made a difference.

Ingredients for Pastry Cream Filling:
2 cups whole milk
1 tsp. vanilla
6 egg yolks
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter

Ingredients for Ganache:
8 oz. semisweet chocolate
1 cup heavy cream, boiling

** My neighbor, Karen makes the best chocolate ganache I have ever tasted. She and her husband were over for dinner recently and brought her famous ganache. I froze the leftovers so thawed for this occasion.

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture. Add milk, oil, egg yolks and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on low to medium speed until combined. Beat an additional 3 minutes on high speed and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, beat egg whites and cream of tartar on medium to high speed until soft peaks form. Hint: Egg whites at room temperature whip faster than cold eggs. Pour the egg yolk/flour mixture over the egg white mixture and gently, but thoroughly fold together. Pour batter into a 9 inch greased pie pan. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the top springs back when lightly touched. Invert the pan onto a wire rack. Cool completely. I made the cake the night before, kept covered on the counter.

Pastry Cream: In a medium saucepan, heat the milk and vanilla to a boil over medium heat. Immediately turn off the heat and set aside. Pull off the skin that has formed. In a bowl, whisk the 6 egg yolks and granulated sugar until light and fluffy. Add the cornstarch and whisk vigorously until no lumps remain. Whisk in 1/4 cup of the hot milk until incorporated. This step is important so your eggs don't get cooked when hit with the hot milk. Whisk the remaining hot milk mixture, reserving the empty saucepan.
Pour the mixture through a strainer back into the saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, whisking constantly until thickened and slowly boiling. This is a great upper-body work-out! Remove from the heat and stir in the butter. Let cool slightly. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the Pastry Cream to prevent a skin from forming. Chill at least 2 hours, but this can also be made the night before. I made it first thing in the morning, but waited to assemble the cake until just before serving.

Ganache: In a medium bowl, pour the boiling cream over the chopped chocolate and stir until melted. OR in the Search Recipe Box (top left) type in Karen's Chocolate Ganache for a super, rich recipe.

To assemble the Boston Cream Pie: remove the cake from the pan. Cut the cake in half horizontally. Place the bottom layer on a serving plate and spread with the Pastry Cream. Top with second cake layer. Spread chocolate ganache over the top. It's OK if the chocolate drips down over the sides. Keep in refrigerator until ready to serve.
 

Happy Birthday Dear Jerry!

I have lots more food I want to talk about, but Thanksgiving is less than a week away so next time we will talk about some of the new treats I am going to include in our Thanksgiving feast, such as Oysters done 3 ways, Cranberry-Almond Biscotti's, and a Mile-High Apple Pie.

UNTIL THEN, AS ALWAYS...

 

HAVE FUN WITH YOUR FOOD!

RELAX AND ENJOY YOURSELF IN THE KITCHEN!

www.cookwithcindy.com

Chickie's Birthday Bash!

I know I promised to share my recipe for Umbrian Lentils, but in the meantime, two very important things have happened.
#1. This past weekend I made my sister-in-law, Chickie an over-the-top Birthday dinner...and #2. I just found out this afternoon that I am one of the top 50 candidates for the position of Chief World Explorer for Jauntaroo. Umbrian Lentils coming soon...

First, Jauntaroo's Chief World Explorer...out of 3000 candidates, I was selected in the top 100. Thanks for voting for me!! Next assignment was to create a 3 minute webisode about your home-town. From there, Jauntaroo selected 50 candidates to move forward. Next, I ask your help in again viewing and 'LIKING' my 3 minute video to get me into the final 5. We will have about a month to vote. Here is the link. I cannot thank you enough for your support. I am very excited about this opportunity! I'll keep you posted...

http://www.bestjobaroundtheworld.com/submissions/view/6515

Now on to the Birthday Bash! I'm going to start with Chickie's dessert...DOUBLE FUDGE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES with HOMEMADE ORANGE SHERBET and RICH CHOCOLATE SAUCE.

DOUBLE FUDGE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Ingredients:
1 stick unsalted butter
6 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line an 8" baking pan with parchment, leaving overhang on all sides. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Melt butter and chocolate over very low heat. Place the chocolate squares on top of the stick of butter and let it melt and drip into the butter. Stir from time to time until smooth. Remove from heat and whisk in sugar. Whisk in eggs, 1 at a time, until combined. Whisk in cocoa and salt (I sifted my cocoa as it had gotten kind of lumpy). Fold in flour until combined.

Pour batter into pan. Bake until set and a toothpick comes out clean-about 30 to 35 minutes. Let cool slightly in pan on a rack-about 15 minutes. Gently lift brownies by parchment out of pan and transfer to a wire rack. Let cool completely. Cut into 9 squares.

These may be the best brownies I have ever eaten; delicious with a delicate crust and moist, rich interior. Very easy to make.

For our Birthday Bash dinner, I made an orange sherbet to go with the brownies. Note the color of the sherbet. No food coloring so it is not bright orange, but very flavorful. Both the sherbet base and brownies can be made in the morning. Churn the sherbet about 2 hours before you want to serve.

ORANGE SHERBET

Ingredients:
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbsp. finely grated orange zest
1/2 tsp. sea salt
2 cups freshly squeezed orange juice (I used prepared juice from the store.)
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups whole milk

Preparation:
In a blender, add sugar, vanilla, orange zest, salt, orange juice and lemon juice. Pulse until the sugar is dissolved, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and whisk in the milk. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator until very cold, about 2 hours.

Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker and proceed according to directions of your ice cream maker. For me, that was about 22-25 minutes of churning.

Transfer the sherbet to a tupperware type container and freeze for 2-3 hours. The longer you freeze, the harder it gets. I thought the consistency best at 2 1/2 hours.

Top this scrumptuos brownie with the orange sherbet and the best chocolate sauce you will ever taste. I first experienced this sublime sauce at a dinner party. It's our neighbor Karen's specialty sauce and is great on just about everything or anything. She has given me a double recipe, but it freezes very well so it makes sense to make a double batch so you always have it on hand. I think what sets it apart is the use of evaporated milk, rather than heavy cream as most ganaches call for.

KAREN'S CHOCOLATE GANACHE

Ingredients:
2 sticks butter
5 oz. bittersweet chocolate
1 1/2 (14 oz.) cans evaporated milk; 21 oz. all together
2 cups sugar
1 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
Melt butter, chocolate over low heat stirring occasionally until combined. Add evaporated milk, sugar, and vanilla. Stir until all ingredients are shiny and thoroughly blended.

I am going to close with the full menu and promise I will share the Butternut Bisque, which was super yummy and Umbrian Lentils next time.

Starter:                        Butternut Bisque with Ginger and Orange Zest
Main:                          Shrimp and Mushroom Risotto
Accompaniments:       Steamed Asparagus
                                    Roasted Red Peppers with lots of garlic
Finale:                         Double Fudge Brownies with Orange Sherbet and
                                    Hot Chocolate Ganache

I had so much fun putting this meal together for Chickie. What a fabulous birthday celebration we had. Happy Birthday Chick!

As always, thanks for sharing my passion for cooking.

TUNE IN AGAIN SOON FOR ANOTHER EPISODE OF:

 

www.cookwithcindy.com

 

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT OF MY RUN FOR CHIEF WORLD EXPLORER!

Sweets!

I am not generally a dessert person. My idea of the best way to complete a meal is a cheese tray and glass of fine port, or possibly an after dinner cognac, but lately I have been having so many dinner parties that I feel compelled to complete the meal with a sweet. I am going to share some of my favorites and hope you enjoy them, too for a special occasion or an any-night treat!

First, I will start with a complicated dessert I made a couple months ago as the finale to a very special Czech meal I put together for a very special Czech lady visiting us from Chicago. Helen was born in Czechoslavakia in 1926 and this was the first time in our home so I wanted to pull out all the stops. I created a multi-course lavish Czech meal and even printed the menu in Czech.

The dessert I selected to end this meal was not necessarily Czech, although the Czech's do love their baked treats, but Helen's husband was a baker so I thought she would enjoy this ending to a fun and festive Sunday dinner.

ECLAIRS
This recipe has several steps, but is not really hard to make. I was a  bit apprehensive as I am NOT an expert baker and Helen's husband was a professional baker, but I gave it my best shot and they came out pretty good. I served them with a Czech flag thinking if they didn't taste that great at least I
would score some points with the "cute" factor.

This is her son, Dennis (and my good friend!) serving his Mom

 Choux Paste (pate a choux)
1 cup white flour
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup milk
1 stick (8Tbsp. butter), unsalted
1/2 tsp. salt
4 Eggs

Preparation:
Combine the water, milk, and salt in a small saucepan. Bring it to a boil. Stir in the flour and while mixing, cook another minute or 2 to eliminate excess moisture. Transfer to a bowl and let cool 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Beat in one egg at a time. When they have all been beaten in and the paste is smooth and shiny, set aside to cool completely. The paste may be used immediately or covered and refrigerated for later use. (That is what I did as I had so many other things to prepare for this meal, making the pastry in the morning helped with the timing of things.)

Pastry Cream (Creme Patissiere)
1/3 cup sugar
2 Tbsp. white flour
3 Tbsp. corn starch
4 egg yolks
1 1/3 cups milk
3/4 tsp. vanilla

Preparation:
Combine the sugar, flour, corn starch, and egg yolks in a bowl. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 minutes until mixture is thick and pale yellow.

In a small saucepan, bring the milk to a boil. Gradually pour the milk into the egg mixture, stirring it as you do so. When fully combined, pour all of it into the saucepan and bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Boil for 1 to 2 minutes, then remove from the heat. Stir in vanilla and set aside to cool.

Press plastic wrap, wax paper or parchment on surface of cream to prevent a skin from forming. This cream may also be made in advance, and kept in fridge, covered with plastic wrap for a day.

Chocolate Ganache
3/4 cup heavy cream
8 oz. good quality semisweet or bittersweet chocolate

Preparation:
Heat the cream. Stir in the chocolate and continue heating and stirring until all of the chocolate is melted.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Form small logs (about 1 1/2 inches across and 4 inches long) out of the Choux paste on a baking sheet. If you have a pastry bag with a large tip, you can squeeze them out neatly or just form the logs using a spoon and your fingers. They do not have to be perfect.

Bake the pastries for 15 minutes at 400 degrees. Reduce the oven to 350 degrees and bake for another 10-30 minutes depending on the size of your eclairs.

When they are golden brown, turn the oven off. Poke a hold in the small end of the eclair and place them back in the oven for another 10 minutes to dry out. Remove the eclairs from the oven and let them cool.

To fill the eclairs, either use a pastry bag and squirt in the pastry cream (which is what I did) or you can slice the eclairs lengthwise and scoopy the filling inside and place the top half back on top. This kind of defeats the purpose of the fun puff pastry which when baked creates a very convenient cavity for filling.

For the topping, dip or dribble the eclairs in the chocolate ganache.

Side story about Eclairs:
My friend Aggie loved Eclairs. She used to go to her annual neighborhood block party in Boston with a big tray of Eclairs, which everyone raved over. She would get up early, go to Stop & Shop, buy fresh baked Eclairs at their bakery, bring them home, re-plate them. She never actually CLAIMED they were her own homemade treats, but did not deny it either. She graciously accepted all compliments!


CHRISTMAS BREAD PUDDING
Unfortunately I don't have a picture of this gorgeous bread pudding, but believe me it is as moist and delicious as it is beautiful. I got the recipe several years ago from my friend Francine and usually make it around the holidays when you can easily get the Panetone, but you don't have to wait until Christmas to make it. It is good all year round! The Amaretto gives it a nice, nutty flavor and elevates a traditional bread pudding into something quite special.

Ingredients:
1 Panetone (about 1 lb.) cut into1" pieces
1 Qt. Half & Half
3 Eggs (4 if they are not super large)
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. Almond extract (or use Amaretto is you don't have the extract)

Preparation:
Preheat broiler. Arrange bread pieces on 2 baking sheets and toast on both sides until lightly browned. Set aside for an hour.

Place the toasted Panetone in a large bowl. Pour Half & Half over the bread making sure all pieces are moistened. Set aside for 1 hour until all liquid is absorbed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Generouslly butter bottom and sides of a 9x13x2" baking dish (I like to use a decorative baking dish so it can be served right from this container.) In a medium bowl whisk eggs with sugar, vanilla and almond (or Amaretto). Stir into soaked bread and transfer to baking dish. Bake in middle of oven for 1 hr. until pudding is just set and top is golden brown. Cool.

Amaretto Sauce
Ingredients:
1 stick Butter, cut in pieces
1 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Amaretto*
3 Egg Yolks

Preparation:
Melt butter gently. Whisk in sugar until creamy. Add Amaretto and then egg yolks, one at a time. 
Cook, whisking constantly until consistency of honey; about 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

Just before serving, preheat broiler. Spoon Amaretto sauce  over the pudding and broil 3-4" from heat until just browned. The sauce can "catch" quickly so make sure you don't over-broil.

Serve with a generous dollop of fresh whipped cream. Do not add vanilla or sugar to the cream for a nice off-set to this sweet pudding. It is also delicious served with a tiny glass of Amaretto!

*Did you know that 1 nip of booze equals 1/4 cup? This is handy if you don't want to buy a whole bottle and need just a bit for flavoring.


CARROT CHEESECAKE WITH MARZIPAN CARROTS
I LOVE cheesecake. It is one of my all-time favorite desserts. It is so versatile, easy to make, and usually better after it sits a day, so falls into my make-ahead category of simplifying fancy meals. When cheesecake sits overnight it becomes more dense so if you prefer it lighter and fluffier, bake and eat same day. I made this dessert for our Easter celebration this year.  Here is the Carrot Cheesecake still in its springform pan, decorated and ready to plate.

FOR THE CHEESECAKE
1 Tbsp. unsalted butter
2 medium carrots, peeled, finely grated
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 packages (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
4 large Eggs, room temperature
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg (or the stuff out of the bottle)
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. freshly grated ginger (need the real thing here)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

FOR THE CRUST
1/2 cup toasted pecans
8 graham crackres, finely ground
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
3 Tbsp. sugar
1/4 tsp, salt

Preparation:
Make the crust: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Pulse pecans in a food processor (or other blender type) until finely ground. Place in a medium bowl with graham crackers, and stir in melted butter, sugar and salt. Wrap the outside and bottom of 9 inch spring-form pan in 2 layers of foil. Press crumb mixture firmly into the bottom of pan. Bake until golden brown around the edges and firm; about 15 minutes. Let cool on wire rack. Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees.

Make the Cheesecake: Melt butter in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add carrots and 1/2 cup sugar and cook, stirring often, until carrots are soft, 3-4 minutes. Transfer with pan juices to a bowl and let cool.

Beat the cream cheese and remaining cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 4 minutes. Add eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add carrots and pan juices, nutmeg cinnamon, ginger, salt and vanilla, and beat until incorporated. Pour into crust.

Set springform pan in a large roasting pan. Fill roasting pan carefully with enough water to reach halfway up the sides of springform pan. Bake cheesecake until set, but still slightly wobbly in center, 80-90 minutes.

Lift springform pan out of roasting pan and place on a rack, remove foil. Let cool. Refrigerate uncovered at least 6 hours or overnight. Run a hot knife around edges of cheesecake to loosen, then remove sides of pan. Decorate with marzipan carrots just before serving.

MARZIPAN CARROTS
I cheated on the marzipan. The original recipe (a Martha Stewart) called for what sounded like a fairly complicated way to make this decoration. I simply bought a tube of marzipan paste at the grocery store. Made the little carrots by pulling off a small piece of marzipan and forming with my fingers and then rolled the "carrots" in orange sugar. Since the marzipan (almond paste) is not real sweet, the colored sugar added just the right touch. I then decorated the tops with small pieces of mint and added a few jelly beans in the center just for fun! Here is the cake on its serving platter.

Next, I'm going to tell you about my Nanna's Lemon Sponge Pie, which is really a pie/cake/pudding combination all in one. I wish I had a picture of this pie, but don't. I usually decorate the top of the pie with small violets or pansies whose color (and flavor!) contrast nicely with the deep yellow of the pie. I like almost anything lemon and this pie dressed up with flowers is a lovely dessert for company. It is also very yummy served with an ice cold small glass of Limoncello.

NANNA'S LEMON SPONGE PIE

1 cup sugar
3 Tbsp. butter
Yolks of 2 large Eggs, save the whites
Beat these 3 ingredients together.

Add juice and zest (make sure to grate only the yellow part of the lemon rind; the inner white layer can be bitter) of one large lemmon, and 3 Tbsp. flour. Mix all together. Fold in the beaten whites of the 3 Eggs and pour into a pie crust. I sometimes cheat here and buy a prepared, raw, ready to bake crust. Of course it is not as good as homemade, but this frozen version is often better than my own...as I said earlier, baking is not my strong suit! Bake 3/4 of an hour in a slow oven; just make sure the crust is nice and brown. As the pie cools, a pudding-type consistency forms on the top and the bottom of the pie is cakier because of the addition of flour. Interesting texture!

Don't you love the old recipes. They say things like 'slow oven' instead of 325 degrees; or measure butter by saying, 'add butter the size of an egg'.  Nanna often served this pie on Sunday when our whole family each week would gather for a big noon-time meal with Nanna and Grampa. We loved these visits!

The last recipe I will share today I made recently for my dear friends, Dennis and Diana on the 24th anniversary of their first date. I had never made it before, but will definitely make it again. Happy Anniversary Love-Birds!

FRUIT TART
Ingredients:
For the Tart Dough:
1 large egg yolk
1 Tbsp. heavy cream
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups white flour, plus more for dusting work surface
2/3 cup confectioners suger
1/4 tsp. salt
8 Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

For the Pastry Cream:
2 cups Half & Half
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch salt
5 large egg yolks
3 Tbsp. cornstarch
4Tbsp. cold unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

For the Topping:
2 large kiwis, peeled, sliced
1 cup blueberries
1 cup strawberries
1/2 cup raspberries
Or any fruit you choose

Directions:
To make the tart shell, whisk together the egg yolk, cream and vanilla in small bowl; set aside. Place the flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor. Process briefly to combine. Scatter the butter pieces over the flour mixture; process to cut the butter into the flour (this can also be done the old-fashioned way by drawing 2 butter knives through the butter/flour mixture until the butter is about the size of small peas--the food processor is much easier!) until the mixture resembles coarse meal, about 15, one-second pulses. With the machine running, add the egg mixture and process until the dough just comes together, about 12 seconds. Turn the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and press into a 6" dish. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 48.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Let stand at room temp until malleable (I like that word!). Unwrap and roll the dough out lightly on floured surface to a 13 inch round. Transfer the dough to a 9 inch tart pan and remove the excess off the top. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a large plate and freeze for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat oven to 375. Set the dough-lined tart pan on a baking sheet, press a 12 inch square of foil into the frozen shell and over the edge, and fill with pie weights. I used a 1# bag of dry beans which did the trick. All you are trying to accomplish here it to keep the dough from bubbling up as it bakes. Bake for 30 minutes, rotating halway through the baking time. Remove from the oven and carefully remove the foil and weights. Continue to bake until deep golden brown, 5-8 minutes more. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

To make the pastry cream, heat the Half & Half, 6 tbsl. of the sugar, and the salt in a saucepan over medium-high heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve sugar. Combine the egg yolks and remaining 2 tbsp. sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until the sugar has begin to dissolve and the mixture is creamy, about 15 seconds. Whisk the cornstarch until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 30 seconds.

When the Half & Half mixture has reached a simmer, slowly add it to the egg yolk mixture to temper (you don't want to scramble those eggs), whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula. Return the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds. Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla. Strain the pastry cream through a fine sieve set over a medium bowl. (You can skip this step, but it does make the cream finer, more velvety.) Press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold and set, at least 3 hours and up to 2 days.

To assemble the tart, spread the cold pastry cream evenly over the bottom of the tart shell. Arrange the fruit on top of the pastry cream as desired.

Happy Anniversary D&D...may you enjoy another 24 happy years together!

My teeth are starting to ache with all these sweets and I think I have gained 5 lbs. writing this. When we were kids, our hot-lunch lady, Mrs. Hayes, used to tell us she got fat on the smell of the food she cooked. I think I just got fat writing about it!

Desserts can and should be enjoyed; just not every day. When you do have them, I recommend you NEVER feel guilty as that spoils the flavor!

SEE YOU AGAIN SOON TO ENJOY MORE TASTY TREATS AND

DELECTIBLE DISHES!

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