4th of July and my beautiful disaster

Well, we have finally moved to Boston, which is why it has been so long since I've posted anything. We've been packing, moving, unpacking, packing, flying to Colorado, unpacking and finally trying to get settled. It has been a crazy few weeks, but we are really beginning to love our new home. I will try to write more about our move and our new apartment/home when I get a chance (which could be awhile!).
For now I wanted to post about our first IFH party. We moved in on the 22nd and hosted a party for 40+ people on the 4th of July. I was a little nervous planning such a big party only a few weeks after moving in, but it is tradition to have a 4th of July party on the roofdeck of our house and I couldn't stop a tradition! So, I decided to give it my best.
I've been wanting to make a fruit tart for quite some time (ever since I became good friends with Julia and have seen her make tart after tart like it's no big deal). I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to make a tart and how hard could it be? Simply make a crust, fill it with custard and top with fruit. Not so simple. I began my work at about 9pm on the night before our party. Making the crust was no big deal, just throw together a few ingredients and pat in the pan. Two hours later my crust is finished and it is perfectly patted in the pan. Tart pans are different from regular pans. They have a pop out bottom so that you can beautifully present your tart without breaking the crust. Brilliant, huh? Not so brilliant if you forget when you are taking it out of the oven. As the crust is baking I am whipping up the custard no problem. As I'm getting the cold milk ready to heat, a little gets mixed in with the custard and just like that my custard is curdled. Mental note: cold milk curdles custard. Ok, I guess we'll start over with the custard. Time to check on the crust. I look in the oven and I have a beautiful golden brown crust. Yes! Time to pull it out. I take the pan from the bottom (forgetting about the pop out bottom feature) and SPLAT. All over the kitchen floor. I almost start crying, but instead I just laugh and start the whole process over again, because now I have learned how to make a tart, not by reading, not by watching, but by doing, because that is how I'm wired. . . . and unfortunately how Micah is wired too. Poor kid! Fortunately it only took me about 45 minutes to make the second tart, so now I am a tart expert. Call me for all your tart needs.

Two crusts, two custards and a bad burn=beautiful fruit tart



Here are some of my other festive contributions: