Lemon Tart-lettes to battle the EVIL Plans of Jenn McKinlay

Jenn, Jenn, Jenn...


Tsk, Tsk, Tsk... Shame on you...


Well, before I belittle her, I should introduce her...

Jenn McKinlay, accomplished decoupage hobbyist, as well as an accomplished mystery book author.  She is one sixth of the Merry Murderous Cooking Authors of The Mystery Lovers' Kitchen blog.  She has a series of books set in a cupcake shop, featuring as many cupcake recipes as you can stand before stopping reading and heading to the kitchen.   The Cupcake Murder Mystery Series has started with "Sprinkle with Murder", the first in the series (Don't miss it, fun read), available now from fine booksellers everywhere.  Mother of two children and a fun blogger to read.


And with so many things going for her, she wants me fat.


Why Jenn, Why???  What did I ever do to you???


Recently she posted a wonderful recipe for an Arizona Sunshine Pie.  It is an incredible recipe with more than a little hint of lemon.  It features a blended whole lemon... rind and all!  Here is what she posted...

Arizona Sunshine Pie
Ingredients: 
1 large lemon
4 eggs
1 stick butter, melted
1 tspn vanilla
1 ½ cups sugar
1 unbaked piecrust

Directions:
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut lemon into chunks leaving rind on.

Remove seeds. In a blender or food

processor, blend together lemon,

eggs, butter, vanilla and sugar until

mixture is smooth (should be

very watery). Pour into unbaked

pie crust. Bake at 350 degrees for

about 45 minutes. If crust becomes

too brown, cover edges with

foil and finish baking. Serve with

whipped cream!

Jenn, here is the problem.  I am weak.  I have no self control.  If I see a pie recipe and read that the pie could be sliced into 8 servings, I think, "why not 4 slices?".  Or since it is just my wife and I in the house, why not just cut the pie in half and be done with it?  Or worse, why not,  before your wife gets home from her inconvenient day job, eat the whole thing and tell Jackie she is starting to look a little "hippie" and that there would be no dessert tonight (for her own good)?


Jenn, you make me think evil thoughts.  You are trying to make my ass huge.  You want me to cheat my hard working wife of her just desserts.


Well, I say thee nay...


Nay I say... NAY


Portion control is my secret.  Secret to retarding an inevitable 3 pounds a year weight gain, secret to enjoying an occasional dessert, and secret to having dessert last past the taste testing stage before my wife gets home.  She deserves a taste of this recipe as well.


And what better way to portion control than to make a tart instead of a whole pie.  I can eat a tart, feel like I ate the whole thing and still leave the rest in the tupperware.  It works for me.


So, here is what I did to battle the EVIL plans of Jenn McKinlay...

Tartlettes!


Instead of 8 tiny slices that left me feeling guilty for slicing 4, I made 16 little tarts (almost a cupcake Jenn, your specialty).  I did "crumb" them up a little, by adding a crumbled lemon sandwich cookie (think lemon Oreo) to each tart.  Just ran them through the mini chopper and stirred them into the tart. and added some powdered sugar to make it pretty...

OH MY... These are so good.  Filled with amazing flavors.  Lemon like you would not believe!  Such a great recipe.  Jenn, love the recipe, love the book series, but I will continue to battle your evil plan!


Tartlettes, the easy way to achieve portion control...


Tartlettes, the easy way to keep my Rhode island size ass from growing to Pennsylvania size...


Tartlettes, the easy way to keep your wife from looking "hippie"...

....