Lemony Goodness

In an effort to use up my 1) bag of meyer lemons and 2) eggs before leaving for Spring Break, I just had to whip up another batch of microwave lemon curd. I made it last year about this time and it is just phenomenal.  And it can be done in a microwave in about half an hour.

And after completely forgetting about a dinner date with some friends, I whipped up some sugar cookies to go with the lemon curd. Fantastic! I used this sugar cookie recipe because it didn't require any rolling out or chilling, and they turned out good. Maybe a bit more sugar would help if you ate them plain, but they were great with the lemon curd!

Bonus pics: rainbow and its secondary rainbow (very faint) after our rainstorm on Saturday! The sky was gorgeous then too. I couldn't resist taking these pictures!

Have a wonderful day!

National Lemonade Day

I hope life has given you some lemons because....

Today is National Lemonade Day?! I found out when I looked at CNN's new website, Eatocracy, this morning. Man, do I LOVE lemonade! It's one of my favorite things to make over the summer, like my blackberry lemonade and just plain lemonade.

Here are some recipes that I've been dying to try, but haven't gotten around to yet. I hope they inspire you to make some lemonade! (The pictures are GREAT but I don't want to take any from their blogs... but trust me. Go check them out!)

Strawberry Basil Lemonade

Fizzy Lavender Lemonade

Watermelon Lemonade

Brazilian "Lemonade"
(made with limes because I am assuming that there is no word for "lemon" in Portuguese, like there wasn't in Ecuadorian Spanish because they don't grow lemons- but really good anyways)

Well, I am off to buy some lemons to celebrate! Have a wonderful Friday!

Strawberry Lemonade

I made some delicious strawberry lemonade with part of my U-Pick haul :) It is wonderful and even Jonathan who doesn't really like strawberries, enjoyed it. It has a unique taste but is so worth making! And I love lemons... like a lot

I used this recipe (reprinted here for ease!)

Strawberry Lemonade (pg. 85)
Source: The Sweet Melissa Baking Book by Melissa Murphy

3/4 c sugar
1 c very hot water
1 c fresh lemon juice
4-1/2 c cold water
1 recipe Fresh Strawberry Sauce (pg. 210)
Confectioners’ Sugar, for the glasses
Fresh strawberries for garnish

In a pitcher, combine the sugar and hot water and stir until the sugar has dissolved into a syrup. Stir in the lemon juice and cold water. Add the strawberry sauce and stir to combine. Pour over ice into tall glasses rimmed with confectioners’ sugar. Garnish with fresh strawberries, if using. Strawberry lemonade keeps at least 3 days in the refrigerator.

Fresh Strawberry Sauce (pg. 210)
1 dry pint fresh strawberries, rinsed and hulled
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp cold water

In a food processor or blender, puree the berries, sugar, lemon juice and water until smooth. Strain the berry mixture into a clean bowl and discard the seeds. Stir in additional sugar, if needed. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Go try it!

Lemon Extravaganza

So, I already shared the picture of my lemons. I bought 10 and hand squeezed all of them last night (with this little wonderful tool from Wal-Mart- a hand squeezer that's super easy to use for $6-yes!)


All in all, I made lavender-lemon shortbread cookies, microwave lemon curd, and a little bit of homemade lemonade. Here are the recipes!


Lavender Lemon Shortbread 
(I didn't make it up, but a friend of my mom's gave it to me)

• 1 cup unsalted butter
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon extract
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon edible dried lavender (McCormick sells it in their "gourmet" spice collection and its relatively inexpensive) and feel free to add more
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

In a medium mixing bowl, cream butter, sugar, vanilla extract, and lemon extract. Add flour and salt; mix until smooth.  Mix in dried lavender. If dough feels sticky, add an additional 1/4 cup of flour. Dough should be soft but not sticky (It takes some hand mixing to incorporate the flour)

Chill 1-2 hours until firm.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. On a lightly floured surface, roll dough to 1/4 inch thichness. Cut out shapes and place on ungreased cookie sheet.  If the dough starts sticking to the rolling pin, put it back in the refrigerator to cool it again.

Bake 10-15 minutes until cookies are lightly browned around the edges.

The shortbread spreads out around the edges as it cooks- I didn't remember that from the first time I made these in January because I used a round biscuit cutter then and the spreading just made it a true circle. So I recommend circles for these cookies! And they need to be thick in order to hold up. But still delicious!


Microwave Lemon Curd
I saw this recipe on TasteSpotting from http://www.2stews.com/2010/02/lemon-sunshine.html and it is DELICIOUS! She called it Lemon Sunshine for a reason! And, the best part is its super simple!

• 1 cup white sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• zest of 3 lemons, finely grated
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

In a microwave-safe bowl, whisk together the sugar and eggs until smooth. Stir in lemon juice, lemon zest and butter. Cook in the microwave for one minute intervals, stirring after each minute until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from the microwave, and pour into small sterile jars. Store for up to three weeks in the refrigerator.

Makes about 3 cups.

More pictures to come after I serve these at our church's women's brunch this morning!

A hint

I love lemons... and I bought some today at the grocery store.... a hint at what is to come this weekend!