strawberry tartlets (the dud) and my little dove

I was so excited when I went to the swap shop at our dump on Saturday - I found these dear little tart pans tied up with green twine, and a pretty saucer.  You had a feeling the person who lovingly dropped them off had cherished them.  But, we all are decluttering, and I would imagine tart pans might be one of those unused kitchen things that go reluctantly into the Swap Shop box for the dump.

Sunday night I made a nut crust from a Martha Stewart book, but halved it, as I only wanted a few.  Stuck it in the fridge, and yesterday prepared the tartlet pans.  Into the oven, let cool, and....disaster.  They would not unmold.  I took a tiny sharp knife to the edges and they shattered into buttery crumbs.  I had one out of nine that remained more or less whole.  Mostly less.

Today I tried again, with the last half of the dough, but this time I greased every ridge carefully, and did the bottom twice.  Chilled, then baked and....again.  Disaster.  Again, one survived.  All I can think is that somehow in making half a recipe, I made a mistake, because Martha's recipes are usually pretty foolproof.

This dessert was based on one I used to make with cream puffs.  I used the cranberry and dark cherry jelly I made a few weeks ago to glaze the berries, heating just until the jelly melted, then using a teaspoon to drizzle on the fresh strawberries. With the cream puffs, I dolloped whipped cream on top, but this dessert was to be a little plainer, because of the rich nut crust.  The surviving tarts were delicious, but clearly something went wrong when you lose 80% of your desserts.

In the meantime, Spring has sprung !  I have a sweet little mourning dove pair that hang around, sometimes both, but often just one.  The daffodils have wilted in the hot (HOT!) afternoons, but the violets are sprinkling the lawn with their beautiful color.  Hard to believe two weeks ago I was still filling the woodstove at night.  Enjoy these beautiful days!