Fruit Slinger

Tarts are great. But the light sweetness of the pastry cream and the intense, concentrated flavors of the berries were enough to make me not want to bother with a crust.

Here's how to make crème pâtissière with Cointreau.

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• 4 Tablespoons sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 Tablespoon Cointreau

In a mixing bowl, dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and then remove from the heat.

Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of the boiled and still hot milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly.

Return the remaining milk to a boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, whisking constantly.

Continue whisking until the cream thickens. Remove from the heat. If some of the egg has curdled, pass the pastry cream through a strainer. Beat in the butter, vanilla and Cointreau. (You can add a bit more than a tablespoon of Cointreau if you'd like; I probably did.)

Pour the pastry cream into a shallow bowl or container. Press plastic wrap directly against the surface to prevent it from developing a skin. Chill immediately, from one hour to overnight.

* * *

I got to the farm Wednesday evening. Lupe and I unloaded the truck.

"There's a bicycle in the barn if you want it," Lupe said.

"Oh, yeah. That would be great."

"You can use my truck if you want, but I thought maybe ..."

"Yeah, definitely. The bike's a great idea, Lupe. Thank you."

He filled the tires with air.

The next day, I was off to the neighbor's house on the bicycle to check on a hot tip about wild strawberries. It didn't pan out.

This morning, I was on the bike again.

I rolled out of bed with the sun still lingering on the horizon. I grabbed my camera and hopped on the bike.

It's not often I see a sunrise at the farm. I either leave before it or try to sleep through it.