I've been getting back into cooking since being grounded by the neck problem. That's probably why I planted my garden so early; I want some fresh veggies and herbs to work with as soon as possible. My plants survived the freeze this weekend - hooray!

I cooked dinner for company last night; I like making mouths happy. Here is what I made - everything turned out yummy:

-grilled salmon with fresh rosemary and garlic
-grilled roma tomatoes with a basil and balsamic vinegar marinade
-baked zucchini tossed with penne pasta and parmesan cheese
-and for dessert, strawberry kiwi tarts with custard

Oooooh YUMMMMMM!!!

The tarts turned out just like what you see in the bakery. There was a near disaster with the custard since I wasn't stirring it while it was cooking, but the mixer restored its smooth consistency. I assumed that the grocery store would have some pre-made frozen tart shells but I did not find anything, so I improvised. I tried a couple of pastry options with the tarts: Pepperidge Farm pastry shells, and regular pre-made pie crust (it comes in rolls). I cut the pie crust using a large biscuit cutter and shaped the dough in muffin tins. I rolled out the leftover dough so that one pie crust made a dozen petite shells. After baking, the shells had just enough room to hold a layer of custard and five or six small pieces of fruit on top. Like this:

Dessert went over very, very well. I will have to make these for a potluck this summer.