Today I can’t decide which recipe to post. The one that uses the rest of the duck that I received back on Tuesday of last week. Don’t worry, I’m not just now using the duck – nearly a week later! I’m just getting around to posting it. Or the recipe that uses up the leftover homemade marshmallows from the S’Mores Party…  OK, decision made – I’ll put up the yummy duck recipe today and use the marshmallows tomorrow…

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I’m in Tucson today visiting Marissa and her fabulous roommates, Kaley, Petra, Kelsey, and Paige. They live in a cute 5 bedroom house with a pool! I came down to check out the decorating and make them dinner.  I’d seen it in July before they moved in, but it was empty and stark, now it’s so cute with all their things in place.  There were 11 of us for dinner, I made a mixed green salad topped with a savory tart for the first course.  Unfortunately, in the rush of trying to get 11 plates out to the table at the same time, I forgot to take a picture, dang it!  Maybe, I’ll remake this at a later date and get a picture up, because it was pretty and tasty too. Eight of the co-eds are pictured above with their Cucumber Martinis, which I promised Marissa I’d make for her back on the August 24 post. Missing from the picture are Blake and Graven, who arrived just minutes after this was taken.  Sorry guys!
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asparagus bicycle tart

Savory tarts are a beautiful and delicious way to show off seasonal vegetables. In the Patisserie windows of France, not only are there gorgeous glazed fruit and nut tarts, chocolate éclairs, and croissants to drool over, but perfect vegetable tarts as well. In the fall and winter, they are filled with leeks, potatoes, and squash and in the spring and summer, the fillings are tomatoes, zucchini, peas, and asparagus. This fabulous tart is one that I have been making for years every Easter and for just about every brunch I’ve ever done. It is a variation of a recipe originally from Barbara Fenzl, owner of Les Gourmettes Cooking School, here in Phoenix. Trust me, your guests will be very impressed and will not guess how foolproof it is and how quickly it goes together.
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