Fly Away, High Away...

This year I'm going to watch the air show from my roof deck in Chicago.

Here's how it went last year. It was a nice morning. We were told if we got to the air show at around 9 AM we'd see a water ski demonstration. We took the bus (as suggested) because there'd be no place to park. Then we walked the rest of the way under Lake Shore Drive and over to the lakefront at North Avenue Beach. That was about a half a mile. By now the temperature was rising. I was a tad on the sweaty side.

We found a good place to sit on the rock wall along the lake. We couldn't see much of the water ski show from there, but we knew the real show was going to be the air portion, so that was fine. The trick was the air show was not scheduled to start for two more hours.

Down the way there were porta-potties, and booths were being set up with various kinds of really greasy junk food. Nothing worth buying to burn up some time while we waited. The rock wall made your butt sore, but at least we were sitting. It was in the sun, however, and it was getting warmer. People watching was fun for a while, but that got old too. The guys were glad they had hats with brims.

The show started with parachutists. We could see most of that quite clearly. That was fun and impressive. Old, trick planes were next and some planes that the military wanted to show off came after that. In some cases, there were pretty long delays between performances. By 1 PM it was time for lunch. And now it's really hot out.

What's for lunch? We started to walk north toward the Grand Stand. I think we found a burger at some booth. Frankly, I can't even remember, so the food must have been pretty mundane. And it was a long walk.

The Grand Stand area was a zoo! Over a million people come to see the air show in Chicago. It really is quite a spectacle and, if you are by the Grand Stand, you can hear the live announcements that describe what you are looking at as it flies overhead. As for the people, you could swear they were stacked three deep--on top of each other. Okay, so that's an exaggeration, but most of the people in this area were in swimsuits, had gone swimming and then laid in the sun. They were hot, sweaty and not very fun to stand next to. I know because I stood amongst several of them for about an hour waiting to go to the bathroom. I won't even describe that experience.

By then, I was sweaty and tired and my feet hurt. Bad combo. The show was going to be going on for about two more hours, so we decided to head back to our place and see if we could see any of the air show from our roof deck. It took us about an hour to get home. We didn't bother waiting for a bus. Once we got to a good street area, we splurged on a cab.

In the building, up the elevator and out onto the roof deck. And HOLY COW! The Blue Angels were flying right over the roof of our place! Zoom, swoop, spin and twirl. We could see the whole thing and, in some respects, we were closer to it on our roof than right by the Grand Stand. You see, when they are flying near the crowd they have to stay out over the lake. When they do a return to come flying back over the crowd, they sweep over the city. Our place is nineteen blocks from the lakefront. They were flying right over us to come back around and go toward the lake! We could have had front row seats AT HOME and didn't even know it.

So this year, I don't think I need to go to the trouble of going to the lakefront. I think I'll stay at my place with the good food and the clean potty. Now there's a plan.

I might even make this tart. It's quick and easy, and the apricots are still in season. If you make this cool tart and the apricots aren't in season, canned apricots will do in a pinch.

Apricot Cream Tart

1/2 cup sugar (divided)
1 pint fresh apricots (or canned) (Cut the apricots in half and take out the pit.)
1 pre-made piecrust (Pick this up in the grocer's refrigerated section.)
8 oz cream cheese, room temperature (Light or regular will both work.)
2 heaping Tbl sour cream (Light or regular)
1 tsp vanilla

Before you begin your tart, you need to prepare the apricots. Put the cut apricots in a bowl with one-quarter cup of the sugar. Stir them around so the sugar is coating the apricots. Let this sit on your counter or in the refrigerator for about 2 hours. This process is called macerating. You're getting the apricots nice and sweet, and the extra sugar and juice from the apricots will make a little sauce.

Now take your piecrust out of the refrigerator and let it sit on your counter for about 15 minutes. This will make it easier to unroll.

Roll it out and put it in a 9-inch tart pan. The edges will hang over. Just fold them back inside and crimp so you make a rim on your tart. Bake the tart at 400 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

In a medium bowl, put in your cream cheese, the sour cream, the vanilla and one-quarter cup of the sugar. Beat until fluffy. Let sit until the piecrust is baked and it has cooled off.

To assemble your tart, spread the cream cheese mixture in the bottom of the cooled tart. Place the apricots one by one on top of the cream cheese, cut side down. They will look like little orange bubbles on top of the cream cheese. If you want your tart to look fancy and symmetrical, start with one apricot in the middle and then work your way to the outside. Throw away the rest of the juice that has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl. Believe me, this tart will be sweet enough.

Chill the tart until ready to serve. Keep leftovers in the refrigerator. It will stay in pretty good shape for about 3 days. The cool tart on a hot day will taste wonderful. This also makes a lovely dish on a brunch table.

Enjoy!