Fireflies in the Garden

Here come real stars to fill the upper skies,
And here on earth come emulating flies,
That though they never equal stars in size,
(And they were never really stars at heart)
Achieve at times a very star-like start.
Only, of course, they can't sustain the part.

Robert Frost

Another reason to love summer

So, I did some experimenting tonight and had some pretty sweet results...literally. And literally the EASIEST dessert I think I've made.

So, if you have peaches or - as in my case - berries laying around and this looks like something you might like, I say give it a try. Here's the recipe I came up with after some slight modifications to others:

Summer Berry Tart crust:
- 1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt ( I just thew a couple pinches in)
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 stick of butter

So, basically, you just chop up the butter into small-ish cubes and dump everything into a food processor (I'm sure a blender would work as well)....and pop the whole thing in the freezer while you make the berry mixture/filling

Filling: 1-2 cups of berries, or sliced peaches, or a combo. In my case, I combined a bowl full of raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries with enough flour to coat (about 2 tablespoons) and 1/4 cup sugar. Then, if you have one - zest a lemon, an orange would work well too.

So by now, your pastry stuff is pretty chilly. Take it out of the freezer, and get ready to blend - but be careful not to over mix - should never be blended for more than 15 seconds. Start pulsing, just seconds at a time until it looks like coarse meal - then slowlyyyy add ice COLD water (use 1/8-1/4 cup) until dough just begins to stick together when pinched. Form into a ball, and pop into fridge for 1 hour.

I did this before dinner so all I had to do after was form the dough into a greased tart pan - but pressing it into a cake pan and building up the sides a bit would work if you don't have one - and baked it at 400 degrees F for 25 min. until golden brown and berries are bubbly.

Serve with vanilla ice cream, and you cant go wrong.