When Life Gives You Lemons....

We all know the old adage about when life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade, right? I suppose it's great that we have these motivational thoughts that inspire us to pull ourselves up by the bootstraps and make the most out of a bad or unjust situation. But am I the only person willing to admit that sometimes, as hard as we might try to make lemonade, there always seems to be someone or something that wants to cut those lemons in half and rub them in our eyes? Having the sneeringly cynical attitude that I do, sometimes I doubt that it can be as simple as adding sugar to make the world right again. And while I may be a die hard cynic on the inside, I also know when it's appropriate to subscribe to the theory of group think and go with the flow...

So when I saw that life my refrigerator was on the verge of giving me lemons-gone-bad, I realized that I wasn't in the mood for a refreshing glass of lemonade but instead a nice slice of lemon tart. I found a recipe called Down Under Lemon Tart on allrecipes.com and decided it didn't seem too daunting to try on this "life gave me lemons today" day. I made only one minor change to the recipe - it called for lemon zest to be mixed in with the other filling ingredients and then strained. I hated the thought of just tossing the zest, so I mixed it in with the crust ingredients. I decided to dig into the tart a nanosecond after it had finished cooling and honestly thought I was going to suffer the fate of having lock jaw for the rest of eternity because it was so, so, so sour! However, the flavors seemed to meld the second day and the tart had the right balance of sweet and sour. I had a jar of raspberry dessert sauce in the refrigerator and added a drizzle just before serving.

So when life gives you lemons and you aren't the least bit thirsty, make the world right again by making a tart instead!

* Exported from MasterCook *

When Life Gives You Lemons Tart

Serving Size : 8

Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method
-------- ------------ --------------------------------
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
7/8 cup butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1 egg yolk
1 tablespoon cold water
4 eggs
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons minced lemon zest
3/4 cup lemon juice
1/2 cup cream

DIRECTIONS:
1. Place flour, butter, lemon zest and confectioners' sugar in food processor; process until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add egg yolk and 1 to 2 tablespoons cold water, and process until mixture forms a dough. Mold dough into 2 flat shapes, wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 20 minutes. Store the other crust in your freezer to make a second pie later!
2. Roll out pastry to 1/8 inch thick and line a 9 inch pie plate, and freeze for 20 minutes. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
3. Line pastry with foil, fill the foil with a little raw rice, and bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove foil and rice, and continue baking until pastry is a light golden color.
4. In a mixing bowl, mix together eggs, granulated sugar, lemon juice, and cream. Do not over beat. Place pie plate on a baking tray, and carefully pour lemon mixture into baked pastry crust.
5. Bake for 20 minutes. The filling will be runny in the center, and will set when cool; don't over cook, or cracks will appear. Cool. Drizzle with raspberry coulis if desired before serving.