Guys. Start blasting your DJ Jazzy Jeff and shake your head at my bad joke cuz it’s finally SUMMERTIME and it’s time to make this blackberry clafouti recipe.

I’m so excited for the weather to be this good. It’s been ideal to start triathlon training (although not ideal to realize how terrible of a bike rider I am). It’s made going outside (or weekend road trips) a regular requirement. And when I go to buy groceries, I’m flooded with pint boxes on pint boxes of berries. And you best believe I’m on a mission to eat all of them.

Summertime also means I’m one month away from shipping out to PARIS for two weeks to study advanced pastry at Ferrandi Cooking School. It’s a little unnerving how close I am to actually pursuing this passion. We spend so much of lives dreaming of the day we’ll stop doing whatever is making us unhappy and start pouring our hearts into something that fills it right back up. I feel like I’m on the meniscus of that dream, almost at the brim. 

There are still a few moving pieces left, most notably my ability to pay the pastry school tuition. It’s out of my current financial ability, but thanks to my crowdfunding campaign, I’ve been able to fulfill nearly all of it! I have $250 left to go—if any of you feel ready and able to contribute, it would be a huge help in allowing me to meet the expenses I need to make this pastry training happen. The link is here; I’m so close!

Basically, there’s a lot about to be going on this summer. There’s a lot already going on now. But desserts remain a staple, this time with something light and fresh that utilizes summer produce. I’ve been dying to make ice cream, but this blackberry clafouti recipe just felt right. It’s a classic French dessert (pronounced KLAH-foo-tee) with just enough egg to hold everything together, and just enough time in the oven to bake quickly. Eat it warm, at room temperature, or chilled for breakfast; it’s good all the time.

So here’s to summer, to berries, to Paris, and of course, to DJ Jazzy Jeff.