Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries

A Trifle Sweet…

Over the weekend we had our latest Cookbook Club dinner, and it was tasty as usual. The chef of note was Tyler Florence, and while we found a number of good recipes, the consensus was that Tyler needs a better cookbook editor. Nearly all of our recipes left a lot of room for interpretation—a novice cook might have trouble following his instructions to get the desired result.

That said, we made some really great tasting dishes. I made one of the favorites, Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries. It is not only a great hot weather dessert, it looks beautiful in the glass bowl with it’s red, white and blue colors. This trifle screams to be a contribution to a 4th of July Potluck.

This recipe for Lemon Curd Trifle with Fresh Berries feeds a crowd, and utilizes the sweet and juicy summer berries that are at their peak right now. I opted for plain pound cake instead of lemon at the request of my daughter who likes lemon but not that much lemon.

One option is to do individual shortcakes if you don’t want to make a big dish. I think I will try that next time.

We had A lot left over…but breakfast the next morning was pretty good 🙂 Read more…

Perfect Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Living the Pie-Life
I believe my family needs to enter a 12 Step program. For the last two months we have been obsessed (Obsessed I tell you!) with strawberry-rhubarb pie. I’m not sure if our addiction has hit rock bottom yet… but the last time we finished a pie I left the kitchen for a minute, and when I came back I caught one of my boys licking the pie remnants from the pie plate—desperate for one last taste. He tried to deny it, but the tell-tale glob of strawberry goodness was still clinging to his face. We’re in pretty deep. (There may even be some hoarding going on…but you didn’t hear that from me.)

We generally don’t eat pie at all. Thanksgiving is the time when we remember that we like it, and indulge. This is one of those sad stories you hear about. It starts with a dime-jar of gateway compote from a friend, and before you know it you’re huddled around the oven impatiently waiting for the crust to brown and the filling to bubble as the timer slowly winds down.

I might understand it better if it were apple or pecan or some other normal pie. But there is something about strawberries and rhubarb that have cast us into our own whacked-out, flaky version of the Hunger Games.

There is no better marriage of ingredients in the culinary world than strawberries and rhubarb. Like Forrest and Jenny, they go together like peas and carrots. I have tried the two in pies, crisps, turnovers and strudels. All are fantastic.

Rhubarb season is in full swing and strawberry season is taking off. Now is the perfect time to start your own obsession…and may the odds be forever in your favor!
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Birthday Strawberry Pavlova

Birthday Week
This week is the busiest week of my year. On top of numerous Little League Baseball playoff games, I also have the following: Mother’s Day, the boys’ birthday on the 12th, my birthday on the 14th and finally my daughter’s birthday on the 17th. All of these things happen in a 7 day span. It’s kinda nuts.

When the boys were born ten years ago, I realized that the days of celebrating my own birthday were numbered. Two years after that, the birth of my daughter pretty much sealed the deal. Don’t get me wrong, I think it is more important for the kids to have their special day, and I try to go all out for them ’cause birthday gifts and birthday parties are two of the best things about being a kid.

I am actually okay with not having a big to-do for my birthday. Besides, I stopped counting birthdays after I reached 26. I still like to acknowledge it somehow, usually with a nice dinner or an awesome dessert.

As I celebrate turning 26 every year, I notice I tend to shy away from the usual birthday cakes. More and more I go for the lighter, fruitier types instead of the Death by Chocolate creations I used to love. For example, we all gathered at my sister’s place on Sunday to have a family party. The kids got red velvet cupcakes, and I got a fabulous white cake with a champagne strawberry filling. It was darn tasty and exactly what I wanted.

Speaking of what I wanted, my sister gave me a copy of the cookbook The Canal House Cooks Everyday, which I have been wanting for some time. It includes the recipe below—perfect for celebrating the big 2-6 next year!

P.S. Check out the Canal House Blog and especially sign up for The Canal House Cooks Lunch. Both are food porn at its finest. Read more…

Lemon Tart with Walnut Crust

Easy Peazy Lemon Squeezy
This past winter, I thought for sure I would lose all my citrus trees during that long stretch of sub-freezing temperatures. There was a lot of frost damage, and I had to cut them way back. But if you walk into my back yard right now you would never know it.

The trees are in bloom, and the scent is phenomenal. When combined with the fragrance from my honeysuckle it almost smells like Hawaii, without the beach, or the guy with a Mai Tai.

As wonderful as all this is, unfortunately I will have to wait months for the fruit. And I’ve got a wicked craving for all things lemon: lemonade, lemon sauce, lemon cake, preserved lemons…well you get the idea.

To tide me over until harvest, I picked up some beautiful Meyer lemons downstairs in the store, and made a tart from a recipe from the August/September 1997 issue of Fine Cooking magazine—which I bought years ago. It is easy, and so tasty, and a great way to end a Spring meal. Read more…