Amber and I caught the end of raspberry season in September, when she made the trek from Madison to Milwaukee to hang out with me, and then we turned around and went to Cedarburg, Wisconsin, to pick raspberries, drink coffee and eat pastries.

We picked a raspberry or two.

I forgot my camera (!) so I was unable to document our picking adventure or our subsequent stroll down Cedarburg’s main street.  When I met Nicole Freedman (Boston bike czar and former professional cyclist) a year ago, she remembered Cedarburg from her time on the pro circuit and said it was the most archetypal American town she’s ever seen.

Its pretty disgustingly cute.  We split a pretzel role (something I *must* learn to make) and a brownie, stopped in a cookie store (seriously.  nothing but cookie cutters, pastry cutters, cookie dough, etc), and then got a coffee at a local roaster’s (meh).  Here is a photo that I didn’t take of the main drag:

Back at my parents’ place, we set to work  on the raspberries.  At the time, I intended to give step-by-step instructions on how to make a raspberry-ginger tart, which is what we made, but instead I will just impart these valuable lessons:

– chill the dough.  We had to bust out the tart after only a few minutes in the fridge, because Amber had to get back to Madison, which made it a lot harder to keep the whole thing together.

– ginger glaze = awesome.

– this is an ideal recipe for people (named Amber) who are lactose-intolerant, but I would definitely make a custard base for it if I were to make it again

– that said, things made of butter, sugar, and fresh raspberries can’t fail to be delicious.  Look how happy we are!

This is an excellent time to note that Amber’s triumphant return to the Midwest is now 100% official: she just accepted a job offer from an environmental consultant in Madison.  Holler! Congrats Amber!