When life gives you lemons...make pie.

Triple-digit heat calls for lounging poolside with a tall glass of ice, cold lemonade.

Or, if your me, scurrying about the kitchen turning those lemons into lemon pies. All while making your already stuffy apartment about a million degrees hotter. Whoops!

The sweet treat was worth the sweat. I was prompted into action to prepare for the birthday celebration of Melanie Jager, Sir Matthew's mom. Melanie and the Mercados love lemon, thanks to their mother, Lucy, who was obsessed with the yellow fruit. So I thought I would put my Bethie Crocker hat on and get to work whipping something up for the special occasion.

These raspberry lemon pie tartlets were adapted from a recipe in the Baking Bible, a behemoth of a cookbook given to me by my brother, Christian, for Christmas. The thing is huge! I have had a blast baking my way through that sucker. My goal is to complete at least one recipe a month and, I must say, I'm doing a pretty good job. I've made Irish Cream Scones, A New Years Bundt Cake, Fourth of July Cheesecake, and Lemon Ice Box cake, just to name a few. I've learned lots of new techniques and a few lessons along the way (like read the directions all the way through before you begin). I've never been great at following directions... surprised?

These lemon tarts were the perfect cap on a full day's adventure at the Getty Museum, another item I got to check off my "bucketlist" for 2015.

After emptying the shelves of Trader Joe's into our picnic baskets, we loaded into Matt's sister's car (four adults and two little ones) and made our way West. The weather was warm, to say the least, but it only accentuated the beauty of the gleaming travertine campus and gorgeous garden below.

I know this might sound like blasphemy with the Monets and Picassos above, but the garden is really the aspect I love most about the Getty. The open sky, lush green landscape dotted with colorful flowers, and that ornate fountain right at the center. It's breathtaking. We chose this locale as our first stop of the trip, finding a little shade to offer reprieve from the unwielding heat. The adults were ready for a break, but not the kids. Aaron, 3, and Claire, 1, wouldn't let the weather wane their desire to explore. We let them meander as we finished our meals and sought shelter in the air-conditioned buildings. A/C has never felt so glorious.

We made our way leisurely around a few exhibitions—one on experimental photography; another on the works of Andrea del Sarto, an Italian Rennaisance painter; another on animals (yes, I made a point to stop in this one); and yet another on Impressionism. After the adults got their time, we were pleased to find that the museum has a special room for the kids, filled with activities that involved interpretations of the art pieces we had viewed in some of the exhibitions. Aaron and Claire were pleased to have the space to roam free, and roam they did! It was pretty cute to watch those little towhead toddlers running in circles around the tiny room.

We stopped for dinner on the way back($1.49 margaritas, anyone?) and finally plopped down on the floor of the apartment to sing happy birthday and dig in to the tarts! I was a little nervous, to be honest. Pie dough is the trickiest! It's extremely easy to overwork and I really had no idea how it would translate to the tart pans (would it stick?) I was pretty pleased to find, however, that the pie crusts came out of the pan quite easily, and even more pleased to find that the crust and overall result was pretty flavorful! Even the little ones liked (Aaron enjoyed licking the lemon curd whipped cream off the top. I'll take it!) A prideful moment for the pastry chef.

The lemon curd in and of itself would have been delicious with a little dollop of whipped cream.

Here what you need to make it:

1. Three lemons

2. 1 1/2 cups sugar

3. 4 large eggs

4. 1/2 cup lemon juice (3 to 4 lemons)

5. 1/8 tsp salt

That's it! Recipe is simple: Zest your lemons and mix with your sugar. If you have a food processor, give these two items a spin to thoroughly combine. Cream the butter and add in the sugar mixture. Add eggs one at a time followed by the lemon juice and salt. Mix until they are combined.

Put this mix over low heat and stir constantly (so the egg doesn't scramble) for about 10 minutes. The mixture will start to thicken. Remove and refrigerate!

Feel free to take a spoon directly to the sauce pan or, if you are thinking, "hey, I've already invested this much, I might as well keep on going," here is another fancy addition—

Lemon curd whipped cream!

Set aside about 2/3 cup of the lemon curd you just made. Take 1 1/3 cup of heavy cream and beat, starting at low and gradually working your way up to medium high as the mixture starts to thicken. Continue to whip until "beater marks begin to show distintly." I was at first hesitant about this note, but you will know when your heavy cream has become a whipped cream, I promised. Add the lemon curd and mix until combined.

Drop this fluffy delight on your remaining lemon curd or add a little to the top of your pancakes or waffles... as we most definitely did at my house. The evidence.

But wait! There's more! If you are feeling even more adventurous, and have a tart or mini pie pan, or heck a full pie pan, make some pie crust and but the whole shebang together in one happy, tasty package. For the crust, you will need:

1. 15 tablespoons (1 stick, plus 7 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes

2. 3 cups all-purpose flour

3. 1/4 teaspoon salt

4. 1/2 cup sugar

5. 1 tablespoon lemon zest

6. 3 tablespoons egg yolks (3 to 4 large eggs)

7. 1/3 cup heavy cream

If you have a food processor, I'd recommend using it to blend together the ingredients because I find it a lot easier. If not, blending by hand in bowl works perfectly fine as well. First, mix the sugar and the zest together as you did with the lemon curd. Then add the cold butter cubes to coat the mixture, turning into what will resemble wet sand. Next, add the flour and mix until the butter is no larger than small peas. On the side, mix together the yolks and cream. Add to the mixture until just combined; the dough will be crumbly. Put the dough into a plastic bag or pat the mixture together by hand into a large ball. Divide into two-thirds and one-third balls, sprinkle each with flour and wrap in plastic wrap. Flatten into a disc and refrigerate for at least 45 mins.

When you are ready to bake, set your oven at 425. Get out your dough, flour a service, and roll out. Make sure to grease your whatever tin you are using! Add dough and bake for about 10 minutes if making little pies or tartlets, 15 to 20 for a large pie. These are just ball park numbers, make sure to check your pie crusts frequently!

Now for the good part, filling those crusts with all the goodness you just prepared. Spoon in your lemon curd followed by a generous dollop of whipped cream and top with fresh berries of your choice. Refrigerate until ready to devour. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.