Catching up

Some things you know, but you just don't catalogue them efficiently. At least, I do (and don't).

One of those is our wedding anniversary, June 27, which is incredibly close to the fourth of July, but I never seem to remember that. The fireworks catch me off guard every time.

Another one is David's birthday, May 22, and Memorial Day. I never realize that these two go together, either. Maybe next year I will.

When I get hit with a double whammy that I wasn't expecting (even though I should have been), it takes me awhile to get it together and do something about it. Hence, I am posting about David's birthday and Memorial Day nearly a month late. But they do say, "Better late than never." Don't they?



David is big on healthy eating. Not that this is particularly healthy, but, I guess, compared to chocolate mousse or creme brulee, it gets a few points. Some people call it fruit pizza, but we call it Fruit Tart, just because it sounds nicer. (For a bigger, more mouth-watering view, click on the picture...)

If you want to know how to make it...

1. The Crust

1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. lemon extract (don't skip this)
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
2 cups flour

Soften butter. Beat all together in a large mixing bowl with an electric beater (do the first five ingredients first, then sift together the dry ingredients and beat in). Spread in a 14 in pizza pan with high sides. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes, until lightly golden brown in spots. Cool before proceding.

2. The delicious layer

Soften 6-8 oz. cream cheese.
Beat with 2-3 Tbsp. frozen orange juice concentrate.
When smooth, stir in about 1 cup of Fluff (marshmallow creme).
Spread on the cookie crust.

3. The fruit

Wash and cut up a bunch of your favorite fruit. Arrange beautifully on the tart (or "pizza"). I am allergic to kiwi, or I would use it, because it adds a nice color contrast to most fruits. For this pizza, I first laid down a layer of bananas and mandarin oranges. Then I heaped on fresh strawberries, because they are delicious and they happened to be on sale that week. I garnished with fresh raspberries and blackberries.

4. The finish

Buy a carton of pre-made glaze for strawberry pie (at Wegman's, you find this in the produce section, right next to the berries). Pour it over all the fruit. It is delicious. I know it isn't particularly healthy, but it is worth it. I also have a recipe for making a glaze, but you have to boil it to thicken with cornstarch and then pour it hot over the fruit and chill it forever while praying it will actually set up in the end. It is tasty, but time consuming and unpredictable. I go with the store-bought strawberry glaze now. It works every time. I think you could also try using a can of lemon pie filling.


A happy birthday boy. Augh. He is EIGHTEEN.


The Memorial Day Story

Jonathan is in mandatory marching band (this is middle school). They march in the Memorial Day parade. All our kids have done this. It was our last year of it this year.

Shawn and I set out for the parade, late as always. About halfway there, we realized we had forgotten the camera. I figured that if we went home to get it, we would miss the parade entirely. So I called Shannon (mind you, the older kids were all sleeping in). She said she would bring us the camera. To make a long story short, with all the hitches and roadblocks that had been set up to accomodate the parade, it took her so long to get to us, all I got was a shot of the back of Jon's band marching off into the distance...


Oh well. She did her best. And it proved that I had been right not to decide to try to go home and get it myself... that would have been disastrous. At least I saw Jon marching and playing, even if I didn't get a photo of him.