Part One: Kindred[Celia and Rosalind, like sisters]
“I was too young that time to value her,
But now I know her. If she be a traitor,
Why, so am I. We still have slept together,
Rose at an instant, learned, played, eat together,
And wheresoe’er we went, like Juno’s swans,
Still we went coupled and inseparable.”
-William Shakespeare, As You Like It
Part Two: Lamentations
If I had listened more. If I had not left you out. If I had let you use the video camera, once. If I had trusted you more. If I hadn’t spied on you, constantly. If I hadn’t started a fist fight in Grandma’s bedroom. If I hadn’t always tried to make you laugh. If I hadn’t been such a tattle tale. If I had known when to hug, and when to walk away. If I had let you figure things out on your own. If I hadn’t tried to make you me. If I had just let go.
Part Three: Communion [or, walking to the Sea]
My sister is a moon: illuminated lighthouse.
A sparkle in the deep night.
My sister is a story: a well-formed theme.
A page turner.
My sister is a sea: tossing the deepest deep
into a hidden whisper
a whisper I have finally begun to hear.
Rustic Summer Tarts
adapted from America’s Test Kitchen
I didn’t change much. This is one of my most favorite summer desserts! The tart dough is made with a technique called frisage, and it guarantees a wonderful, flaky crust. If you’ve never used it before, I’ve included a link to a video tutorial to help you. I made this particular tart with plums and cherries, and a whole wheat flour/all-purpose flour mixture, but I have to admit I prefer it with just all purpose flour. It’s good both ways, however. And check your fruit for tartness/sweetness, and add sugar accordingly.
dough
3/4 cup all purpose flour* [see note]
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
10 tbsp butter, cut into small pieces
3-6 tbsp ice water
filling
1 pound stone fruit [peaches, plums, apricots] pitted and sliced into 1/2 inch thick wedges
1 cup berries or cherries, pitted if needed
3-5 tablespoons sugar, plus more for sprinkling
crust
Process the flour, salt, and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs, and the butter is the size of small peas. Add the water through the feed tube 1 tablespoon at a time, until dough holds together when pinched [about 10 pulses].
to fraisage the dough:
Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and gather into a rectangular shaped pile. Use the heel of your hand to smear the dough against the work surface. Continue to smear until all the dough has been worked. Gather into a pile again, and repeat. Flatten dough into a 6 inch disk, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for about an hour.
Roll the dough into a 12 inch circle [or 6 small circles, about 6 inches wide] on a piece of parchment paper, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Adjust your oven rack to the middle position and heat to 375.
fruit filling
Toss the fruit and sugar together. Mound the fruit in the center of your rolled dough, leaving a 2 inch border [or 1 inch border for tartlets]. Fold the outermost dough over the fruit, pleating it as you go [about every 2-3 inches]. Brush the dough with water and sprinkle with an additional 1 tablespoon sugar.
Bake until tart is deep golden brown and the fruit is bubbling, about 1 hour [less for tartlets – about 35-45 minutes]. Rotate baking sheet halfway through baking.
Cool the tart on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then use the parchment to transfer tart to a wire rack. Cool about 25 minutes. Serve.
26 Comments
Jen @ Savory Simple
Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 9:04 pmI really love this! The photos are so sweet and the recipe sounds lovely.
Sacha
Saturday, July 21, 2012 at 2:34 pmYou two really do look so much alike. It’s wonderful that you’re so close. This is such a lovely post. Rustic tarts are some of my favorites to make–the pinched dough catches all of those sticky, sweet juices. They’re the perfect thing for making and sharing with another person. And fraisage is probably one of the most fun techniques in baking. It’s like playing! Well, except when your kitchen is outrageously hot…:).
london bakes
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 9:16 amThis is another beautiful post (I feel like I say that every time but it’s true). What I think it does perfectly is to capture the sibling relationship which can often be so complex but so simple at the same time.
vanilla bean blog
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:33 pmThank you Kathryn! It is complex and simple, isn’t it. Sort of like life, ha.
Katrina @ Warm Vanilla Sugar
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 9:55 pmThis is stunning! Awesome job!
vanilla bean blog
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:33 pmThank you Katrina!
Melody
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 5:25 pmAs an adult, I’ve learned to appreciate my sister in so many ways. I’m so glad that our relationship now is not what it was like 20 years. Cheers to sisters!! Lovely photos and sounds like another delicious recipe.
vanilla bean blog
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:33 pmThanks Melody. I’m glad our relationship has evolved, too. So much better. Cheers!
Heidi @foodiecrush
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 4:14 pmI love the quotes you inserted, so inspiring and heart felt. Sisterly bonds are so special, but often taken for granted. You’ve inspired me to call mine. Thank you. XOXO gorgeous as always.
vanilla bean blog
Wednesday, July 18, 2012 at 2:32 pmThanks, Heidi. It’s hard not to take them for granted! Working on it. 🙂
Melissa // the faux martha
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:45 pmI love, love, love this Sarah. Reminds me of my sister.
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:57 pmThank you, Melissa. 🙂
la domestique
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:31 pmI have a little sister (2 years younger) and I just came back from a rare visit with her. This post is so beautiful, so moving, so true.
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:57 pmThank you. My sister is 2 years younger, too. And older sisters! We’ve got some stuff to work on. 🙂
Shanna | FoodLovesWriting.com
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:27 pmSo lovely. The understated way you talk about your sibling relationship, using poetry and in three parts, next to photos, communicates so well.
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:56 pmThanks Shanna. I tend to be dramatic, so getting things understated was a bit difficult. 😉 But it usually works better.
Anonymous
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 2:48 pmSo lovely, poetry choices are perfect.
Teary-eyed.
L
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:54 pmThanks, Linda. I got teary-eyed writing it. 😉
*kate
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 1:46 pmYou and your sister are beautiful.
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:54 pmThank you Kate. 😉
thelittleloaf
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 8:22 amWhat gorgeous pictures! Some of my best moments with my brother have been spent in the kitchen of our parents’ house in Tuscany – cooking, chopping, gossiping and putting the world to rights.
I adore the colour photo of cherries on the board too. So pretty.
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:54 pmThank you. We have only just begun to bake and cook together. I love it.
Helene @ French Foodie Baby
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:54 amLove the poetry, so soulful, I don’t have a sibling I grew up with, and this makes me think what a gift it must be to have one. I also love the contrast between the black and white and color photography, very creative. And those tarts look pretty good too 🙂
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:53 pmThank you Helene!
Dana @ Minimalist Baker
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:12 amYou girls are like twins! Beautiful, brown-haired twins!
Gorgeous recipe and photos. Loved the cherry pitting pictures : )
vanilla bean blog
Tuesday, July 17, 2012 at 3:53 pmThank you Dana! People often comment that we look like twins. We insist we are identical cousins, ha.