 |
| Shelli Johnson |
Forty-year-old Emily Halley sits in a wheelchair in an abandoned lot of a silent, forlorn southern town. She reflects on her life that began in a short-order café that sat on this corner lot in the early 1960’s. She remembers and shares her love for the café that provided everything she needed and demanded nothing from her. As a teenager, Emily’s life at the café ends abruptly with her father’s untimely death. 
This weekend I wanted to make something simple, easy, but special for dinner and a recipe for lemon tart appeared in my inbox from a website I subscribe to. However, it didn't seem quite right, so I did a search on the internet and found this one by Raymond Blanc. It's a bit time-consuming, but aside from that it's quite simple, easy and absolutley delicious, though I did have a few problems with the pastry. It was 85F outside when I made it and despite air conditioning, the kitchen was too warm to allow for easy pastry handling. I've heard that you should ideally make pastry on a cold, windy day. Hopefully with winter drawing near, I might get a few of those and I'll make it again. If you love rich desserts and the taste of lemon (and you're not in a hot climate), give it a go and let me know what you think.
I recently read ‘The Help’, the bestselling novel about women living Mississippi in the 1960’s and if you haven’t read it, do so NOW! It’s the best thing I’ve read in months, or maybe even years. Several key scenes in the story are set in the kitchen (this is about women the 1960’s after all) with ‘the help’ making all sorts of delicious food, such as fried chicken, pie etc (there’s a hilarious episode about a chocolate pie, but I wouldn’t say what it is in case you haven’t read the book as it would spoil the story). 
