Comfort levels

There's a lot to be said about comfort level. First of all, it's one of those things that you don't quite appreciate until something happens to challenge it, or take it away.

Saturday night with friends...

We had our two regular families over for dinner on Saturday. A great time, but a little sad since one of the couples is moving on to another town this summer. I'm sure the husbands will still see each other (especially during hunting season).

Which brings me to our menu tonight. We had smoked wild turkey breast that my husband had soaked for 24 hours in a brine. This afternoon, he put the breasts in the smoker and then finished them on the gas grill. Great job, Pete! He got his spring gobbler last Saturday while he was hunting with Rich. And to hear my husband tell it, it was the best hunt ever (and they were done by 8 am). I can't even think of starting anything before 8 am, much less being finished and totally happy about it. We also had some margaritas since it was Cinco de Mayo! Rich also made a Mexican shrimp dish with the best ever rice. His recipes were from Rick Bayless. I was the dessert person and I made the fruit tart and the chocolate cake.

The kids played forever and it's amazing how much fun they had. And you know what that means. When the kids are playing and having fun, it means the adults can actually carry on conversations and enjoy their meals. Yep, good times were had by all.

Here are the husbands eating the turkey.


And here are the kids actually eating some turkey, too.

And the desserts tonight


And here are the kids and dads playing football. The kids were exhausted by the time the night was over.

Success!!!!

I did it! Here is the crust after it baked for about 10 minutes. I should have taken pics of the step by step process--maybe on Saturday I will. Tonight was the trial run. So, it turned out awesome! I used fresh raspberries and blueberries instead of strawberries. The custard (pastry cream) was perfect! I feel like I have really accomplished something!


And here is the final product.



And here I am relieved and happy that this thing didn't flop. Kendall was pretty excited too. She helped put the fruit on top. She did a great job. Clayton put the last raspberry on the custard. He was upset when we finished without him. I took a raspberry off so he could feel part of the team effort.

And just one more picture of the inside of this thing.


A little bit of Heaven here on Earth....

Feeling smug...

Just imagine Bruce the shark in Finding Nemo, in his Australian accent, saying, "I'm having fish tonight.."

I'm having strawberry tart tonight. I just put the custard in the 'fridge to chill. It's looking promising. This recipe is from Ina Garten and I found it on line from FoodTV.com (think that's right). Anyway, it looked like something I could handle. It called for 5 egg yolks so that means I had 5 egg whites left over. Um? What's a girl to do? I got some meringue in the oven right now. I think the meringue cups will be great with vanilla ice cream and strawberries or raspberries. Decisions, decisions....

Pictures will follow. But first, I must make a run to the grocery store for some fresh fruit. Yummy!

Custard a no-go

The custard never set up. I found another recipe (more like the one I saw on TV that got this all started). I'll try it tonight or tomorrow. I am determined (and disappointed). Oh well.