Thursdays in the kitchen with Jo: when life gives you lemons…
18 March 2010
Freaky lemon. Georgia O'Keeffe would've loved it.
…make lemon bars.
Two Sundays ago, the girls decided to have yet another lemonade stand to help Haiti. When will it all end?! God bless ‘em, it was 60° outside and we tried to dissuade them. “It’s not lemonade weather,” we warned. I was tempted to tell them that Haiti had fully recovered and didn’t need the funds. Isn’t that awful? I just didn’t want to have to haul out the table, make the stuff (including iced tea for Arnold Palmers), and get the whole shebang together. They insisted they’d take care of everything, but every parent knows there’s little truth in that, no matter how good the intentions. “Pleeeeeeeease can we get a puppy? We promise to take care of it!” Uh-huh.
Surprisingly, almost every person out walking and every car that drove by at a reasonable speed, stopped to get a drink. They’re cute kids, as are the neighbors who joined them, so it’s tough to reject them. (As opposed to the ugly children?! What kind of a statement was that I just made?) During the course of the sale, one of the older kids from the neighborhood brought over a bag of lemons picked fresh from his tree. It was a nice gesture and I now have enough to make chicken piccata, Caesar salad, and lemon-rosemary risotto with lemon meringue pie and lemon bars for dessert, every night throughout the month of March. I’m sending what’s leftover to Haiti.
For you all, I’m only imparting the wisdom of lemon bars today because St. Patrick and all those loaves of soda bread (and changing sheets and doing laundry and eating Stout with Beef) knocked me out yesterday and I’m spent. Must conserve the energy for Sunday’s race.
Lemony Lemon Bars
Crust:
1 ½ sticks of butter, slightly softened
1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
For topping:
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cups sugar
5 T. flour
¾ cup lemon juice (needless to say, I used fresh)
Powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
Preheat oven to 350°. For the crust, mix the flour and sugar together. I add the butter and smoosh it all together with my fingers to form dough. Again, I’m pretty sure I washed my hands first. Pretty sure. (I bet Julia Child never used the word “smoosh” in her cookbook.) Press the dough into a 13×9 inch pan. Be patient. It usually takes awhile to spread it all out. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Meanwhile, for the topping, whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the sugar, flour and lemon juice. Mix well. Pour over the crust after it comes out of the oven, and cook for another 20 minutes, or until it’s set. Chill (you and the lemon bars). I stick them in the fridge. When they’re cool, and you’re cool, dust the top with powdered sugar and cut into bars. Presentation is key, so use a sharp knife for clean edges.
Yummy dum-dum.
Freaky lemon. Georgia O'Keeffe would've loved it.
…make lemon bars.
Two Sundays ago, the girls decided to have yet another lemonade stand to help Haiti. When will it all end?! God bless ‘em, it was 60° outside and we tried to dissuade them. “It’s not lemonade weather,” we warned. I was tempted to tell them that Haiti had fully recovered and didn’t need the funds. Isn’t that awful? I just didn’t want to have to haul out the table, make the stuff (including iced tea for Arnold Palmers), and get the whole shebang together. They insisted they’d take care of everything, but every parent knows there’s little truth in that, no matter how good the intentions. “Pleeeeeeeease can we get a puppy? We promise to take care of it!” Uh-huh.
Surprisingly, almost every person out walking and every car that drove by at a reasonable speed, stopped to get a drink. They’re cute kids, as are the neighbors who joined them, so it’s tough to reject them. (As opposed to the ugly children?! What kind of a statement was that I just made?) During the course of the sale, one of the older kids from the neighborhood brought over a bag of lemons picked fresh from his tree. It was a nice gesture and I now have enough to make chicken piccata, Caesar salad, and lemon-rosemary risotto with lemon meringue pie and lemon bars for dessert, every night throughout the month of March. I’m sending what’s leftover to Haiti.
For you all, I’m only imparting the wisdom of lemon bars today because St. Patrick and all those loaves of soda bread (and changing sheets and doing laundry and eating Stout with Beef) knocked me out yesterday and I’m spent. Must conserve the energy for Sunday’s race.
Lemony Lemon Bars
Crust:
1 ½ sticks of butter, slightly softened
1 ½ cups flour
1/3 cup sugar
For topping:
4 large eggs
1 ¾ cups sugar
5 T. flour
¾ cup lemon juice (needless to say, I used fresh)
Powdered sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
Preheat oven to 350°. For the crust, mix the flour and sugar together. I add the butter and smoosh it all together with my fingers to form dough. Again, I’m pretty sure I washed my hands first. Pretty sure. (I bet Julia Child never used the word “smoosh” in her cookbook.) Press the dough into a 13×9 inch pan. Be patient. It usually takes awhile to spread it all out. Bake for 20 minutes or until slightly golden. Meanwhile, for the topping, whisk the eggs in a bowl. Add the sugar, flour and lemon juice. Mix well. Pour over the crust after it comes out of the oven, and cook for another 20 minutes, or until it’s set. Chill (you and the lemon bars). I stick them in the fridge. When they’re cool, and you’re cool, dust the top with powdered sugar and cut into bars. Presentation is key, so use a sharp knife for clean edges.
Yummy dum-dum.
I love “Be patient.” When you put it that way, somehow I want to. And I will. Here I go, being patient.
I don’t mean to laugh because I know it isn’t funny, but telling your kids Haiti recovered so you didn’t have to go through all the steps to get a lemonade stand going is classic desperateness and OH…how I can relate sistah!!
Sadie at heyMamas
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