{Meyer} Lemon Bars a winter birthday treat

2012 seems to have come and went.  I don't do the whole resolution thing on New Years.  I really don't think about New Years as a holiday; to me it's always been my brother Michael's birthday.  I've heard friends lament that they are robbed of their birthdays when their big day collides with the holidays.  I wanted to be sure Michael's birthday didn't get lost in the holiday shuffle this year, so I asked him what his birthday dessert request was and then quickly went about whipping it up.

He requested lemon bars and luckily for him I replaced my beloved dwarf Meyer lemon tree that I had to leave behind back in March when we moved.  I planted this tree in April and was surprised by the nice little crop of lemons I got.

Meyer Lemon Bars

Crust:
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into 1/2" pieces
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
Zest from one Meyer lemon

Filling:
4 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
Zest from one Meyer lemon
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Add butter, sugar, flour, salt, and lemon zest to the bowl of a food processor and pulse until still slightly crumbly but starting to come together.  You can also use a pastry cutter to do the same thing.

Spray a 9" x 13" pan with no-stick spray (for even easier removal of the bars cut a piece of parchment paper to fit on the bottom of the pan).  Spread the crust mixture over the bottom of the pan and press it down with your fingers.

Bake the crust for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl whisk together eggs, sugar, flour, lemon juice, zest, baking powder, and salt and pour over hot crust.  Bake for 25-30 more minutes or until the filling is set and no longer wobbly.

When completely cooled dust top with powdered sugar and cut into squares.

Meyer lemons are sweeter and milder than regular lemons.  I think they make the bars a touch sweeter and less tart, but feel free to substitute regular lemons if you can't find the Meyer ones in your area.

I know I can't get enough of these when they are in season here.  Matter of fact if you can't find them; maybe you should head over my way.  Besides you'd be just in time to enjoy the pig we will be grubbing on this Sunday.

My apologies for not returning comments and e-mails promptly the last few weeks.  Besides all the craziness of Christmas and another one right around the corner, I had to spend my precious free minutes fawning over my newest nephew my brother Michael and his wife gave me.

Don't be alarmed if you hear a loud crash and some crazy snoring.  It will just be me crashed out on the couch taking a long overdue winter nap.

Happy New Years!!!

Gina

Winter Survival Cookie Calendar

I remember that day vividly, the alarm started buzzing at 6 a.m. as usual and yet there was no light to gently greet me and nudge me out of bed.  Instead it was dark and all I could hear was the inner bear urging "Stay in bed where it's warm and safe." It was official, winter had arrived.  I've been fighting that inner bear ever since.  The days have grown increasingly shorter, the nights much colder.  You'd think living in California we'd have this "winter" thing beat.  I wish, oh how I wish we didn't, but we still get the fog, rain and all around I hate winter blues.  Or at least this creature of the sunshine does.

I've been stuck non-stop in my kitchen cave turning out Christmas Cookies for all the good little girls and boys on my list.  Scratch that - ungrateful, haven't called all year, no-good, whoops I think that darn bear took over the keyboard for a moment.

I thought perhaps if I made a Winter Survival Cookie Countdown Calendar I could eat my way through winter with cookies and no one would be harmed by the not-so-nice bear living in the house at the moment.

It is December after all and I wanted to take a break from building my Snowman Army and work on something a little more useful.

My initial thought was...eat one cookie for every day, but then I realized there will be days when one cookie just won't cut it.  Like these particularly stressful days.

Prescription for administering the cookies:

Bad Hair Day:  Eat daily cookie + Bad Hair Day cookie, if that doesn't work, eat days 1-5.

Kids getting on your nerves:  Eat daily cookie + all the ones shown below.

Spouse or Friendly Type getting on your nerves:  Eat daily cookie + hubs (wife) cookie and bring a book into the bathtub to spend some quality alone time.  (I'd suggest your laptop, but I try not and advocate getting electrocuted).  The cookies just aren't going to cut it.

PMS:  Eat daily cookie + days 18-30 + one bottle of wine - Doctor's orders.

Menopausal episode:  Eat the whole flippin calendar and warn hubs and children they are next, if they don't quit bugging the crap out of you.

I bet you are ready to run to the kitchen and get your Winter Survival Calendar made, aren't you; here is all you need to do so.

1.  Make one recipe Sugar Cookie dough, cut days out with a 2" round cutter, put a hole near the top with a small straw and bake as usual.  For the Month, cut out a 6" x 2" rectangle, a fluted pastry wheel works great for a scalloped edge.

2.  Make one batch of royal icing for decorating; divide it into as many colors as you want.  Place the icing into disposable piping bags with just a small amount of the tip cut off.  Apply base color and let dry, when dry put number on top, for a little sparkle you can dust the number with sanding sugar.  Do the words the same way.

3.  For displaying the calendar, use an old cork board, cut a piece of Christmas wrap to fit inside and pin it up, then put a small piece of ribbon through each cookie and pin them to the board.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 each month, until the first sign of spring.

Royal Icing

1 pound confectioner's sugar

3 tbsp. meringue powder

1/2 teaspoon almond extract

1/2 cup water

Assorted food coloring

Place the meringue powder in a bowl and add a little bit of the water and mix until frothy.  Add the confectioner's sugar and extract and start mixing.  Slowly add the water and beat until the mixture resembles marshmallow fluff, but a little thinner.  You might not need to add all of the water to get the right consistency.  Separate into bowls and add food color.

I like to use this consistency as a dual purpose icing, it's thin enough to pipe on and it spreads out a bit, so you don't have to both outline and fill.

Sorry I haven't been able to keep up with the comments this week; I promise to catch up with everyone soon.  It's back to the kitchen for me, so the harassing gentle reminder phone calls will stop, yes I'm fully aware that so and so got cookies already and you will get some soon - I promise.  

Ho, Ho, Ho....

Gina