Fresh Raspberry Tart = The Reason Vanilla Ice Cream Was Ever Invented

This raspberry tart is incredibly simple and even more delicious. The ingredients:  a rectangle of home-made puff pastry; a pint of local organic raspberries; some sugar over the berries, some butter to dot the whole, a very light touch of fleur du sel. Bake at 400 for about 35 minutes.

The heat of the oven brings out the intense tartness of the raspberries. They keep their shape above as their undersides become slightly jammy and fragrant. I coated the berries with about a tablespoon of sugar before before popping the tart in the oven and after baking all they kept saying was, "You want to pucker with me?" It took a scoop of vanilla ice cream to quiet them down and keep their freshness in check.

Another Tree Frog by Lang

From a 9.5" square of medium thickness  O-Gami luster. Got a bit tight at the finish, but still worth sharing I think.

Origami Bridal Bouquet

For whatever reason the past months I've been lacking patience with my camera. As a result I have a winter length of projects that I've neglected to document. Some examples: A beautiful batch of lemon turnovers. A couple of loaves of apricot walnut bread. Several roast chicken dinners. A very large dutch windmill quilt. 

This bridal bouquet I made for a friend. (All the flowers I've been making the past year were a prelude to this main event.) Since I wasn't happy with the pictures, and was too lazy to borrow a pair of female hands and take the bouquet out for a stroll in the sun and capture some better images, I ended up delivering it to the bride as a solution to my frustration. Out of camera range, problem solved. Only I immediately started to regret not having a couple of good images to share. Hence this posting, and the best of a mediocre bunch.

And here it is on the big day, in action and out of focus. 

Money Turtle by Lo Yu (Origami Tanteidan 17th Convention)

This fine little creature begins with a 1:2 sheet of elephant hide (4"x8").