Strawberry Tart

This is an old Williams Sonoma recipe and it's the best... I love my long and rectangular tart pans.

Tart shells:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup butter
1 t. almond extract
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
2.5 cups flour

Cream sugar, shortening and butter together and add egg, extract and flour. Mix and press into tart shell. Bake 10 minutes at 350

Filling:

1 cup milk
1/4 cup sugar
1.5 T. cornstarch
2 egg yolks
2 T. butter
1 t. vanilla
pinch salt

Simmer milk. In mixing bowl stir sugar, cornstarch and salt. Gradually add hot milk to sugar mixture whisking constantly. Pour back into saucepan and cook on medium heat until mixture boils and thickens, 7 to 10 minutes. Whisk in egg yolks and cook stirring until thicker, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Let cool to room temperature. Add vanilla. Makes 1.5 cups.

Fill tart pan(s) and place fresh fruit on top.

Salad Beatrice with Poppy Seed Dressing

Because I can't get enough fresh pineapple lately, here's the Salad Beatrice recipe. I understand that red onion on top of the fruit sounds odd, but try it. It's awesome. This may be the prettiest salad I've ever seen.

1 head Boston lettuce
1 pint strawberries
1 fresh pineapple
1 sliced red onion

Assemble lettuce on bottom, strawberries on one side, pineapple on the other, red onion on top. Dress with the following:

Poppy Seed Dressing:

1.5 cups sugar
2 t. dry mustard
2 t. salt
2/3 cup vinegar
3 T. onion juice
2 cups oil
3 T. poppy seeds