Lemon Sunshine

Today I am craving the sweet and tangy taste of lemons. More specifically Lemon Bars. I know this is seasonally inappropriate and I apologize for that. All of the locavores out there are probably shaking there heads at me, the girl who is craving lemon bars in January in the Pacific Northwest. But sometimes when you have a craving for something, no seasonally appropriate food item, such as pumpkins or pecans, will do. Sometimes you just have to give in to that craving.

I'm pretty sure I know why I'm dreaming of lemons today. Because today was an unusual mid-winter day in Portland. It was sunny! Pretty much the whole day. I have to admit that it was a rather timid, wan sun. But as someone who is all too familiar with winters in the Northwest, I'll certainly take any sun I can get. Trust me, I am not complaining. In fact, I saw a lot of people today who looked like they wanted to do a happy little sun dance. (Or maybe that was just me). Don't worry, I didn't actually do one.

You see, my sister and I grew up in Southern California in a suburb of L.A., where it was sunny like 90% of the time. Every Christmas picture that I can remember seeing in my family's pictures albums, had Heather and I posing on the front lawn in our Christmas dresses in bright, sunshiny weather. And in the backyard of our childhood home, were two lemon trees. Lemon trees that produced lots, and lots of lemons. Trees that seemed to produce lemons all year round. Of course, that could just be my memory playing tricks on me. I mean, when you're a kid, 2 months seems like forever. But I do remember having so many lemons that we really couldn't use them all. Some of them actually fell on the ground and rotted. What a shame, I know. Oh, to have one of those lemon trees now, where I could pick fresh lemons for my lemon bars...

So the recipe that I'm sharing with you tonight is my mother's lemon bar recipe. It is the same recipe she used when we were kids and she sent us out back to gather up lemons for her. I know I am probably biased, as it's hard to be objective when talking about childhood memories and favorite foods, but her recipe, as simple as it is, is really one of the best I've ever had. Many of the lemon bars I've sampled in cafes and bakeries over the years, haven't been quite right. Usually not lemony enough and sometimes too firm. I prefer my lemon bars to be slightly soft, maybe even a little gooey, in the middle. It is definitely important not to overcook them.

Lemon Bars

• 1 cup salted butter, at room temp
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar, sifted if it's lumpy
• 2 cups + 1/2 cup flour
• 4 eggs
• 2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp grated lemon peel
• 6 T fresh lemon juice
• 1 tsp baking powder

1. Cream butter and powdered sugar until smooth.
   
2. Add in 2 cups flour and beat until well-blended. Dough will be stiff but should start to come together.
3. Press firmly and evenly into 9x13 in pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20 min. Edges will be lightly browned.
4. Allow to cool on baking rack for at least 30 min before adding filling.
5. Beat eggs, sugar and 1/2 cup floor together.
6. Combine lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder in small bowl and stir together. (It will fizz like a grade school science project!).
7. Add to sugar mixture and beat until combined. Pour over baked crust and bake for approximately 25-30 minutes more at 350 degrees. (Make sure to check on them in the last five minutes of baking, as all ovens vary a bit. It should still be a little jiggly in the center, but will firm up as they cool).
   

After bars have cooled, you can sift powdered sugar on the top before slicing.

I hope this recipe brings a little sunshine your way. Enjoy! And if you try it, don't forget to let us know what you think...

- Colleen

P.S. When I posted the first blog, I didn't realize that people couldn't post comments unless they have a Google account. I think I have fixed this now, so that anyone should be able to post a comment if they choose to.

Sweet Dreams

So, I had a heart attack a couple of weeks ago and it got me to thinking, like these kinds of events usually do for people. Well, okay, not an actual, real heart attack, but a fake one. I had just had a lovely four day Christmas weekend and I was getting ready to go back to work on a Monday morning. I stepped out of the shower to dry myself off and there it was, "it" being an excruciating pain that rippled through my chest and back, up my neck and down my right arm. Sounds like a heart attack, right? I'm pretty sure you would have gone to the Emergency Room too.

I guess my first clue that it wasn't actually a heart attack was the fact that I am only in my mid-thirties. And ironically enough, due to the fact that the ER was fast filling up with more troublesome emergencies, I was actually seen in the children's section of the ER that day. Although, I don't mind saying that if I ever have to go to the ER again, and let's hope it's not anytime soon, I much prefer going to the children's ER. I think the staff on that side are nicer, not to mention the decor is a little more soothing. Anyway, as it turns out, I merely tore a muscle in my back and inflamed a bunch of nerves that travel down your arm. So the good news is that I'm going to live. Yippee! The bad news is that I'm obviously 30-something going on 80. I mean, who tears a muscle in their back just from toweling off after a shower? Clearly a woman who needs to start that exercise program she's been saying she was going to start soon. Hmm....but that's a topic for another blog. This blog is going to be about food, and trust me, I am getting there, though in a somewhat roundabout way....

So, as I was saying, this "heart attack" got me thinking about some important stuff. Let's just say that it did not escape my attention that it happended on a Monday morning as I was getting ready to go back to work, to a rather stressful job, where I am a counselor, and not just a regular counselor, but a counselor who works in a residential alcohol and drug treatment program within a correctional facility. That's right, I work with criminals. Which, on its good days, can provide some really amusing anecdotes. It can be quite entertaining to have me around the dinner table when I'm in the mood to share work stories. But on its bad days, this job can really stress a girl out. So my first thought, okay my second thought after musing about how out-of-shape I am, was that I need to find a new job. I know the importance of paying attention to the signs. I don't think I need a real heart attack to figure this one out. So I am working on finding a new job....actually I have a job interview this week. Can I get a second yippee?

My next thought, really the most depressing of all, was that I was not going to get to spend my upcoming four day New Year's weekend baking up a storm like I had planned to. Instead, I was going to be moping around, babying my right arm, and feeling rather useless. I'm one of those right-handed people, that when their right hand becomes injured for some reason, really just need to be taken out to pasture. I mean really, I can do almost nothing useful with my left hand. Sometimes, I wonder why I even have a left arm. Oh yeah, I can type with it. Whew! That's a relief. So anyway, as I lay around thinking of all the cool new recipes I wasn't getting to try, I had one of those light bulb moments.... I realized that life is really too short, and that one of the few things in life that really makes me happy (besides family and friends) is food. It's as simple as that. I LOVE FOOD. I love eating food, and smelling food, looking at food, talking about food, trying new restaurants, trying new recipes, researching recipes, reading food magazines, watching the Food Network on TV. ( I mean who doesn't love watching a true food nerd, like Alton Brown, create homemade rose water for baklava?!)

So here's my confession....are you ready? It hasn't always been my dream to be a counselor in the corrections field. I know some of you are probably astonished at this. (Yes, there was a wee bit of sarcasm there). But the fact is, my sister Heather and I have this dream of one day opening a bakery or cafe. We have been dreaming about this for quite some time now. Really, this dream helps me to make it through some of those really heinous days at work, those days when I just want to crawl under my desk and hide, like George did in that hilarious Seinfeld episode. (I think he was actually taking a nap under there, but you get the idea). As it turns out, we are the dynamic duo, my sis and I, since I am into the sweet stuff and she is into the savory. Though, neither of us likes to be pigeon-holed, and we each cross over from time to time. She has a killer chocolate souffle cake recipe and I have a pretty stellar butternut squash soup recipe....but we'll get to those in future posts.

So the idea with this blog is to take the first steps towards making that bakery dream a reality! We need to start by perfecting our collection of recipes. We are going to be posting some of our favorite recipes, both sweet and savory, for you to enjoy. And our hope is that you will try them out and then write to us, letting us know what you honestly think about them. Basically, we want you to critque us and give us honest feedback. Don't hold back either. Trust us, we can handle it. I'm also hoping that people will share some of their favorite recipes with us. Or, maybe some of those recipes that you are intrigued by, but can't seem to get to come out quite right. We'll give them a try for you and see if we can tweak them into perfection. So, does that sound like a plan? Oh, and in case you're wondering about the blog name, we live in Portland, OR, which is a great place to live if you're a foodie. "Stumptown" is one of the nicknames for this city, and it made a nice alliteration with Sisters, so there you have it....

-Colleen