An Anniversary, A Giveaway, and A Strawberry Tart

On the eve of the anniversary of Darjeeling Dreams, I was not sure if it would continue past the year. When I started blogging, I had graduated with my second degree. Somewhere in the future, another degree awaited (and still awaits) me. After writing because I had to, I wanted to write because I wanted to. And I needed a little journal, a place to catalog my favorite photographs and photographers, a small memory book of things I did not want to forget. I soon began to add recipes, because a blog seemed like a nice, tidy way to record and recall them. And those aspects - writing for the joy of it, challenging myself with new recipes, and my budding interest in photography - coalesced into this food, or more accurately, dessert blog format. Creating or modifying recipes, photographing them, telling a story, it is a wonderful creative outlet. Yet, it asks for more confidence than I have. It asks that I put myself out there, little me into the vast cyberworld. I second-guess every post I write, all of the photographs I take, and question every recipe I create or tweak.
And, I can't give up my little site. I have thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of blogging. Which is why I want to continue blogging. Being able to write, and to write as you want, is lovely. And since I am sharing my dessert making adventures, I am forced to continue experimenting and making new things. So I've stopped making meyer lemon shortbread every week, and discovered how very much I love tarts. Oh, and cupcakes aren't as bad as I thought they were either. As for the photography,  I now have a record of my ever-growing interest in photography. If you go back to Friday, June 25, 2010, you can see the first 'real' photograph I ever took. I unwittingly created a photography journal of my efforts. Perhaps best of all are the wonderful people I have 'met' and all of the beautiful, interesting, inspiring sites I've come across. I had hoped that I might meet a few like-minded people, people who find beauty in the everyday, and maybe people who enjoy food. I wish I could give each and every one of you something, but I cannot possibly afford it. So instead, I am going to leave you with a simple and simply delicious strawberry tart. It is definitely the easiest tart I have featured here - the crust comes together quickly, the pastry cream takes no more than 10 minutes over the stove top, and slicing strawberries is the most time-consuming step. And I am also going to leave you with a 'tea and cookies' giveaway.

Strawberry Tart
1 10-inch tart crust (see HERE)
2  baskets of strawberries, preferably Chandler or Seascape
Pastry Cream:
1 cup whole milk
4 egg yolks
1/4 cup sugar, sliced
3 tbsp cornstarch
pinch of salt
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
Prepare/bake tart shell.
While tart shell cools, prepare pastry cream. Pour milk into a heavy medium saucepan, and bring to a simmer. In a medium bowl, combine yolks, sugar, salt, vanilla (if using). Slowly pour hot milk by 1/4 cupfuls into yolk mixture, and whisk mixture while pouring. Use a spatula to get all of the mixture into the pot. Heat over medium heat, while alternatively whisking and scraping the bottom of the pot. Heat until the mixture just begins to bubble, or until it is very thick. Allow it to cool thoroughly before spreading evenly over tart shell.
Layer strawberries in desired pattern over the pastry cream. You may sprinkle a bit of sugar over the strawberries if they are not sweet enough. Slice and serve.

And now the tea and cookies giveaway. I got the idea for what to give away from a few of my dearest friends on Twitter. I have discovered it is a very nice way to connect and get to know each other. And because of this, I am allotting extra entries if you follow me on Twitter.
The giveaway includes:
-a copy of Chewy Gooey Crispy Crunchy: Melt-in-Your-Mouth Cookies, by Alice Medrich.
-a batch of Fleur d'Oranger Biscotti OR Milk Bar's Blueberries and Cream Cookies (winner can choose)
-a package of Fukamushi Sencha
For each entry, please leave a separate comment. There are three ways to enter:
-leave a comment telling me you'd like to enter
-follow DarjeelingDream on Twitter
-Tweet the following: I entered the tea and cookies giveaway on Darjeeling Dreams {http://tinyurl.com/3d2shsj} @DarjeelingDream
Sorry, since this giveaway includes food items, it is only open to residents of the U.S. and Canada. The giveaway ends at midnight, Tuesday June 7.