More Blueberries and Lemon...

I seem to be on this blueberry and lemon kick lately-they're so fantastic together! This weekend I baked for no reason at all...for fun, I guess. On Friday I made blueberry + lemon cream streusel bars. A friend came over to help get rid of some (she's very selfless that way!) and felt I needed pictures of me working, so:




Finished product...




And after enjoyment began...

Congratulations Ashley!!!

My little sister graduated from high school last weekend! She accomplished a lot in 4 years-became a great runner and basketball player, wrote wonderful poetry, wrecked my car and was salutatorian of her class-she's very well rounded! (I joke, but I'm really extremely proud of her-she's an amazing girl).
She'll be going to Ball State (alma mater of David Letterman and "Papa John") this fall and rooming with one of her childhood friends. Instead of using her HS colors/mascot as a theme, we used Ball State's (red, white, black). I made a lot of red velvet cupcakes and frosted them with white chocolate frosting. Someone else made vanilla cupcakes and I frosted them with raspberry buttercream-the idea was to have red frosting, but I couldn't get it red without tons of food coloring. So let's pretend BSU's colors are white and pink-Dave would be proud. :)
Here I am with the lovely graduate:


In progress:




My best friend, the doctor-she guarantees this tub of raspberry frosting is good for you!


I expect Caution Hill to rock a song about cupcakes the next time I see them (don't worry boys, you have awhile!)

When life gives you lemons...

...make a really great French lemon cream tart!
But if you're impatient, just go with the lemonade. This is another recipe I wanted to try during my week off, which sadly ended on Monday...trust me, I'd much rather bake than study contract law. It's a tart filled with lemon cream; this cream is the creation of Parisian pâtissier Pierre Hermé (next goal: visiting his pastry shop in Paris!). I get really frustrated when something goes wrong in the kitchen so I wasn't sure how my patience would hold up in making this delicate treat! I made the tart shell in my new food processor, but probably wouldn't do so again unless absolutely necessary-I'm used to making crusts by hand and like being able to feel the consistency to know it's done. The cream required close monitoring, but it really wasn't hard to make. It's very tart, no sugary American cream here! It came out very well, if I do say so myself (and I do)!
I made this and the lemon meringue puffs that I've made before, for a friend's engagement party last weekend...here are the pictures:







Lemon Tart Being Enjoyed:


Sometimes I Have to Use a Little Force: