Heavenly Lemon Cream Tart

My Homemade Lemon Cream Tart

Lemon Heaven

Lemons don’t grow here in Calgary but, happily for me, as soon as the first lemons of the season are picked in late January in California, bags of them start flowing into our local grocery stores. To me, lemons are like a taste of sunshine, and no more so than when I get my hands on that first fresh bag of lemons in mid-winter, as the bracing winds are still swirling the snow around—it’s a promise of the coming of spring. Isn’t it something that we have such easy access to something as amazing as a fresh lemon?

Making and enjoying a homemade Lemon Cream Tart is the perfect way to brighten up any day. Because the pastry loses some of it’s crispness after a day, this tart is best on the day you make it (not that that’s stopped anyone around here from devouring any meager leftovers). Sweet, lemony and creamy, this tart is definitely a crowd-pleaser.

A special thanks to the Danbo Brothers who enthusiastically zested lemons for this tart.

Everbearing Optimism: Planting Strawberries

The first baby strawberries from my first ever crop of potted strawberries.

 

“An optimist is the human personification of spring.”

~Susan J. Bissonette

Potted Strawberries

This is my third season growing strawberries in pots in my balcony garden here in Calgary, Alberta. The strawberry plants are a wonderful addition to my little garden, with their perfect white blossoms and beautiful lush green foliage. And, of course, we get to enjoy their sweet, succulent little fruits. If you love fresh strawberries and have a small south-facing space in your yard or on your apartment balcony, do try planting a few strawberries in pots. They are easy to grow, fun to harvest and delicious to eat. One bonus of growing strawberries on a highrise balcony is that the birds and squirrels cannot pilfer the ripe berries before you do!

The Danbo Brothers’ Zest for Life

True happiness comes from the joy of deeds well done,
the zest of creating things new.

~ Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

If life gives you lemons…

I’ve been enjoying the company of the Danbo Brothers immensely since they returned from their last (rather unexpected) lengthy winter sojourn. They never fail to surprise and delight me. Last night, just before I went to bed, I found them sitting together on the couch, happily watching their favourite movie, Ratatouille, on my iPad.

A Fishy Story

One of the early incarnations of my balcony garden, complete with a little pond.

A Surprise in the Reflecting Pool

We are having a gloriously early spring this year and I am starting to prepare my highrise balcony for the yearly planting of my container garden. I’ve been small space gardening up here on my balcony for many years—it’s one of my favourite summertime joys. Who says you can’t grow a garden in the sky?