When we moved into our first house in September of 2017, we were gift a calamansi tree from Queenie’s breeder. Admittedly, after falling into our care the tree didn’t bare any fruits for several years, and when it did, they only grew to the size of dimes, rotted, and then fell to the ground. With a little time and TLC, we got a better handle on caring for our tree. This year, we had our first true “harvest” and were able to make something with it for the first time.

With our mini harvest, we decided to make some tarts and send them back to Queenie’s breeder as a thank you for the tree.

About the time that our fruits were ready, we had also seen an Eater video of a couple in New Jersey who grows their own Yuzu for high-end restaurants in their area. What a cool idea! And why not? We have always talked about how nice it would be to live in a warmer climate so that we could grow a wider variety of food. I just saw my cousins’ kids harvesting oranges in their backyard the other day. Couldn’t that be us?! This video got us thinking that maybe our climate really isn’t the restriction we think it is. Plus, growing citrus locally could be a way to reduce the carbon footprint associated with getting these fruits from all over the world. Inspired, Megan and I have started saving any citrus seeds that we can get our hands on, fingers crossed this might develop into something more – a future post, at least!

Pictured above: the tart. It’s nothing fancy really – a pre-made (it was last minute, don’t judge us!) tart shell, filled with a calamansi curd and topped with a torched meringue to finish. We used a basic lemon curd recipe and did a straight swap of calamansi juice for lemon juice. Simple & delicious!