I love lemon bars. All of them. I love shortbread, I love lemons, put them together and I’m good. And I’ve always used the recipe from the back of the RealLemon bottle, given to me by a friend’s mother ages ago. They’re good. They’re good enough that I’ve never met a fresh-squeezed lemon bar that I thought, “Yeah, this was totally worth the effort of reaming & zesting.” Until now.

Slate has this deliciously annoying “You’re Doing It Wrong” series. Pie, vinaigrette, macaroni & cheese, chili, guacamole … evidently, we can’t do anything right. And I always read it, and sometimes agree, sometimes scoff. But their lemon bar photo won me over. 

I’ve made two pans of these this week, going through two bags of lemons and almost a pound of butter. I’ve eaten more than I should have, definitely, but have also shared - some went to work with my husband, and more to a party, and a friend who loves lemon. But I’ve tweaked the recipe enough that I thought it’d be worth sharing. The crust is sturdy and crisp, and the lemon layer is thick and tart. The original recipe’s crust:curd recipe is off for my taste, but it’s still great (and easily fills a 9x13 pan - though I’d be inclined to up the curd by 1/2 if I tried that again.)

You should make these. Really.

The Lemon Bars I’ve Always Wanted

Adapted from Slate

16 bars

1 1/3 C + 1/2 C all purpose flour

1/2 C powdered sugar

1/4 tsp salt

2/3 C unsalted butter

6 eggs

2 1/4 C sugar

1 1/4 C lemon juice

3 tablespoons grated lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350. Cut butter into 1 1/3 cup flour, pwd sugar, and salt until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Pat into greased 9x9 pan, bake until the edges brown (about 20 minutes.) Meanwhile, whisk eggs and sugar together. Gently stir in lemon juice, zest, and flour. Pour into hot crust, reduce oven temp to 315 until set (about 35-45 minutes.) Cool, dust with additional powdered sugar.

I am not a logistics person. Thinking things through just isn’t something I’m good at - when I have an idea, I jump on it. So last month, in the run-up to Christmas decorating, I had this great idea. A beautiful idea. I would make a garland of felt poinsettias to decorate this 7 foot long fun-house mirror in our dining room (seriously, fun house mirror. One end adds about 10 pounds, and one end is distinctly flattering. I choose to believe that if I stand in just the right spot in the middle, I get an accurate reflection.) 

So I found a tutorial, bought a bunch of felt and some beads, and decided this would be my Thanksgiving project, perfect low-key handiwork for a week at the in-laws’.

Did you read that tutorial carefully? No? Well, neither did I. Each poinsettia comprises 6 green petals and 6 red (or white. I made both.) Each of these petals needs to be cut, then trimmed. Then sew together the green, then the red. Then sew the red to the green. THEN, the beaded center. Did I mention the mirror is 7’ long? And that I was envisioning this garland draping?

So I made poinsettias, in 3 different sizes (starting with 2, 3, and 4 inch squares), and two colors. I even simplified it; the tutorial has you make the green leaves slightly larger than the red, and after the first one, I made them the same.  All the way to Ohio (a 7.5 hour drive.) All week at the in-laws’. All the way home. I finished up the week after Thanksgiving, and started sewing them together. And realized they’re heavy enough to require enough stitching that they just wouldn’t drape. For the swag effect I wanted, I’d have to sew them into arcs.

Have I mentioned that we rent our house? The 7’ fun house mirror isn’t my idea. It’s really not something I’d ever choose. And I don’t plan on living with it forever. So I just wasn’t ready to spend the time plotting out & sewing this garland into a shape that would flatter said sometimes-flattering mirror, knowing that when I move to my real house someday I’d have to take it all apart and repurpose the flowers over which I’d labored so long.

So, a trip to Michael’s and 5 minutes with a hot glue gun later, voila! Poinsettia wreaths. A couple for friends, one for the door of the kids’ room (for which the boy desperately wanted a wreath; note his choice of bright red hanger.) And I still have some flowers left for an undetermined future project.

AND, I’ve also gained some powerful insight into the wisdom of really reading all through the directions first.

Two things I do are bake and read. And I also read about baking. One of my very favorite things to read about baking is Mary, The Food Librarian’s 30 Days of Bundts. 

In 2006, Nordic Ware (based in St. Louis Park, MN) got Gov. Tim Pawlenty to sign a proclamation declaring November 15 (the anniversary of their Bundt pan’s introduction) National Bundt Day. The Food Librarian blogged National Bundt Day in 2009, with a prelude of 30 Days of Bundts leading up to Nov. 15. And a logo.

Last year I baked along (my grandma’s delicious apple spice cake, as I recall), but never got around to joining the round-up.

This year, my friend and coworker Mary (yet another baking-loving librarian. We we really are a dime a dozen.) and I decided to bake together. Partly because we’re always up for a good excuse to bake, and mostly because we really want buttons that say “I like big bundts.” ‘Cause who wouldn’t? 

So Mary baked a brown-sugar poundcake with blueberries (rear, in the picture), which was caramelized and delicious, and I baked the spiced cranberry bundt cake from Bon Apetit, with which I’ve recently fallen in love. LOVE. It has Chinese 5-spice powder, but not too much (I dislike anise. But did I mention I love this cake? I also omitted the glaze, and didn’t miss it a bit. But then, I’m generally anti-glaze.) It’s buttery and almondy and there are fresh cranberries and dried … and I might make it about fifteen times this holiday season. Or at least several times, until I use up my bag of almond flour. Then I might try it with all regular flour, and a bit of almond extract. Or maybe even a bit of whole wheat flour, so I can pretend it’s healthy ;-)

I’ve been crafting a lot lately, and have a few blog posts saved up to write. Just as soon as Nathaniel finally settles on a Halloween costume, and I finish the several I’ve started (as he changes every week or so.) Meanwhile, I have a guest post up today at the lovely Tiffany’s The Kitchen Curtains! Her blog is fantastic, and I’m very flattered she’s asked me to guest : )

As I’ve probably mentioned before, I kill yeast. (All plants, really.) My husband is responsible for the breads in our household, including cinnamon rolls. And he has a great recipe for them, from Peter Reinhart’s The Bread Baker’s Apprentice. (Note: when I say “cinnamon rolls,” I mean sticky buns. I’m not a white icing kind of girl - I believe cinnamon rolls should be covered in caramel & pecans.) They’re lovely. Soft and tender, and the caramel is buttery and gooey and cools to a hint of a crunch by the time you finish eating the roll. Perfect. 

However, the recipe makes a bazillion. And in our house, there are only two of us eating them. The kids are at the stage of toddler-hood where “I haven’t tried that” is rendered “I don’t like that.” Really. My just-about-4-year-old who lives for milk and/or sugar just recently had his first ice cream. I’ve been offering it for years, and it took watching his just-about-6-year-old cousin eat some, then a few weeks of pondering, to convince him to try it. Anyway, Jon & I really just don’t need a 9x13 plus a few extra caramel rolls. 

Besides, with the mixing and the shaping and the rising and the baking, the recipe takes about 4 hours start to finish, and by the time we get up, have a cup of coffee, and feel up to getting started, we’re more in the lunch range. So even though we love these, and talk about them frequently, we’ve only made them a handful of times. That’s about to change.

Last Sunday was Jon’s birthday. I was pondering celebratory breakfast ideas (he leaves for work on the weekends around noon, and comes home around 2AM), and really wishing it could be cinnamon rolls. I did ok with challah a while ago, and was feeling bold enough to try yeast again. But the 4 hours … even if I got cracking as soon as the kids got me up, we’re still looking at 10 at the earliest. Then, a friend pinned something to Pinterest about make-ahead cinnamon rolls. Turns out, they can rise in the fridge overnight. OR, they can be shaped, then frozen, and left overnight on the counter to thaw & rise. 

If this worked, it could mean regular cinnamon rolls in the Sommers household. I had to try. So last Friday evening, the kids & I mixed up the dough. I put them to bed while it had its first rise, then mixed up the caramel topping and shaped the rolls. I divided them into two round cake pans, and tossed one into the fridge and one into the freezer. In the morning, I took out the fridge pan, and let it warm up on the counter for an hour or two (letting Jon sleep in a bit), then baked just in time to enjoy them with coffee andWeekend Edition Saturday. I got a little distracted by the kids asking that I sit in the armchair and read books with them, and the rolls were a little overdone, but decent. So, making the night before & baking in the morning works. Good to know. That meant that even if the freezing thing didn’t work out, I could still have them, say, every time we have company ever. 

So the freezer batch… I took them out when the kids & I got home from the high school football game last night around 9:30, and left them. But 7 this morning, they were gorgeous. Risen even better than the fridge batch. I kept an eye on the clock while they baked, and after 30 mins they were perfect! Perfect! I’m about to have sticky buns every Saturday morning for the foreseeable future, and I’m really unreasonably excited about that!

My kids have been to work with me. They talk about “Mama’s work,” they’ve seen me do it, they’ve used the library. They’ve sat at my desk and played at typing, they’ve swiveled in my chair. Cora helped me get a shipment of magazines off to the bindery a week or so ago.

This weekend, we were reading Richard Scarry’s What Do People Do All Day?, and there’s a bit where it asks the kids, “What does your Daddy do?”

“Help people who are hurt or sick!” says Nathaniel.

“What does your Mommy do?”

“Dishes!”

The past few weeks I’m addicted to the following, adapted from Beatrice Ojakangas’ “Pinto beans and pasta” in The Best Casserole Cookbook Ever:

1 can (15 oz) tomoatoes (I like the fire roasted kind.)

1 can pinto beans, drained & rinsed (I cook my own in the Crock Pot, soaked overnight, drained, and cooked all day on low, possibly with a bay leaf. 1 lb. usually yields about 3 cans’ worth, and I freeze them in Ziplocs in 2-cup portions.)

1 C small whole wheat pasta, like macaroni or shells

1.5 cups corn (canned or frozen. I always have a big bag in the freezer, as corn is right up there with jam sandwiches in Nathaniel’s book.)

1 medium onion, chopped (though the past couple batches I’ve used a bell pepper and onion blend from Kroger’s freezer section, as we ran out of onions, which blew my mind. Doesn’t that drawer at the bottom of the fridge just continually refresh itself with onions? Anyway, I like the addition of the peppers.)

1 T chili powder

1 t each oregano and cumin

garlic

Sautee onions (or onions & peppers) and garlic in a little oil until soft, in a wide pan. Add chili pwd, oregano, & cumin, cook a minute or so. Stir in tomatoes, pasta, and corn, and simmer until the pasta is done, then stir in beans.

At this point, the original is turned into a casserole dish, topped with cheese and crunched up tortilla chips, and baked until cheese is bubbly & browned. We did this the first time, and it’s really good (because, really, what isn’t better topped with cheese?) But it travels better sans topping, and is, of course, rather healthier. So the past couple weeks, I’ve tossed this together on Sunday evening (Seriously, about 20 mins start to finish, mostly just simmering away unattended, what with the pre-chopped vegetables), and voila!  Portioned out, + fruit, lunch for the week!

“Mama, I want to drive a hook and ladder truck. And ride a skateboard. And drive a rocket ship.”

Cora: Pretty hairbow!

Nathaniel, pouting: But I don’t have a hairbow in my hair.

Mama: Would you like a hairbow?

N, even poutier: No. Boys don’t wear hairbows.

M: They don’t?!

N: No. Girls wear hairbows.

M: Who told you that?

N: Nobody. I thought about it for myself.

M: Bud, you can have hairbows if you want.

N: Look, Mama! Look what Little Fox is doing!

Jon & I turned around to find Nathaniel pantsless.

“Nathaniel, why are you naked?” asked Jon.

“Because I am pretending to be Hopscotch.”

“Does Hopscotch not wear pants?”

“Yes, he does!”

“Then why are you naked?”

“Because I am pretending to be Hopscotch!”

Of course.