Lemon Cookies

We were eating dinner telling my oldest daughter about my niece. My niece was about to take a bite of her pizza when my husband told her that his name was on the pizza. She had told him it wasn't. Then he replied that it was on the bottom of the pizza. We actually thought she wouldn't fall for it when we saw her slyly lift the piece up and look. My oldest daughter thought it was funny and so did my son. My oldest daughter told him that he shouldn't be laughing. He said why. So, she said because gullible is written on the ceiling. He didn't fall for it this time but he has before. He probably went back later and looked. 

I will admit these cookies are tart but good. If you like lemons, you will really like these cookies.

Lemon Cookies
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sugar
2 lemons, zest and juiced (about 2 Tbsp zest and 1/2 cup juice)
3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
1 tsp vanilla extract
Powdered sugar

Directions:

1. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, combine the sugar, lemon zest, and butter.
3. Cream the sugar until fluffy. 
4. Add the vanilla and lemon juice. Mix well.
5. Slowly, add the flour mixture to the butter mixture. 
6. On a piece of plastic wrap, form a disk and wrap well.
7. Allow the dough to chill in the refrigerator for one hour. 
8. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
9. Roll the chilled dough on parchment paper to 1/8 inch thick. 
10. Cut the dough into desired shape.
11. Place the dough onto a parchment lined baking sheet.
12. Space the dough about 1 inch apart.
13. Bake the cookies for 6 minutes and then rotate the baking sheet.
14. Bake the cookies for another 6 minutes or until cooked through.
15. Allow the cookies to sit on the baking sheet for at least 1 minute before transferring to a wire rack.
16. Once the cookies have completely cooled. dust the cookies with powdered sugar.

Recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.

One year ago.......................I made Asparagus.

Did you already know.........
-Lemons are native to Asia.
-A lemon tree can produce over 500 pounds of lemons in a year. 
-The majority of the commercial lemons produced in the U.S. are from California.

I would rather look at the cookies than the ceiling.

Yogurt Pancakes

My niece spent the night this past weekend. So, I made the children pancakes the next morning. Now, my son is not a big pancake person. He would rather have eggs. He ate five pancakes and wanted more. My youngest daughter loves pancakes and she had at least five pancakes. My niece ate five pancakes and she wanted more. I'm just lucky my husband was able to have two pancakes. I was able to have two pancakes too. They even wanted my pancakes but I was able to distract them.

Yogurt Pancakes
1/2 cup all purpose flour 
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup Greek yogurt
2 eggs, whisked slightly
butter for the skillet
vegetable oil for the skillet

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt until just mixed.
2. Add the yogurt and eggs. Mix until just combined.
3. Heat a skillet over medium heat.
4. Add about 1 tsp vegetable oil and 1 tsp butter to the skillet. 
5. Add 1/4 cup of batter to the skillet and cook until top is bubbly.
6. Flip and cook the other side until golden brown.
7. Add additional vegetable oil and butter to the skillet when needed. 
8. Continue cooking the remaining batter in batches.
9. Serve immediately.

Recipe by Jen of Sweet Morris.

One year ago......................I made Margaritas.

Did you already know........
-Greek yogurt is high in protein.
-Greek yogurt is strained to remove the whey.
-Greek yogurt tends to have less sugar than regular yogurt.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

My youngest daughter came home and said she has a boyfriend. Since she is in 4th grade, I asked her what does this means. She said that they play basketball together. She also informed me that her two friends in class has a boyfriend too but it is with the same boy. I asked how they can have the same boyfriend. She said well he is bringing both girls to the dance today. Oh is all I could say. What does one say? I did encourage her to tell her dad this news. So, she decided to tell him quickly on the phone. I think some things are better left for the dad to handle.

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies
6 Tbsp unsalted butter
4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. semisweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
4 oz. unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped
3 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tbsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter, bittersweet chocolate, semisweet chocolate, and the unsweetened chocolate over medium heat. Stir occasionally. 
4. After the chocolate has melted, remove from heat and allow to cool.
5. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the sugar until fluffy.
6. Add the vanilla and the melted chocolate. Beat until the dough is glossy and thick.
7. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir until incorporated.
8. Stir in the nuts and chocolate chips.
9. Refrigerate the dough for about 20 minutes.
10. Scoop slightly less than 2 inch balls of dough and place onto the baking sheet spaced about 2 inches apart.
11. Slightly press the cookies down.
12. Bake the cookies for about 12 minutes or until the cookies began to crack and are cooked through.
13. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10 minutes on the baking pan before transferring to a wire rack.

Recipe adapted from The Pastry Queen.

One year ago........................I made Mango Strawberry Muffins. 

Did you already know..........
-California grows about 2/3 of the world's commercial walnut.
-The walnut is one of the oldest tree food know to man.
-Walnut trees are native to North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

Pound Cake

I survived April Fools Day. I was pretty lucky since my youngest son tried to trick all of us. He did manage to trick my sister and his best friend. Everyone else had already been warned. His sisters told him to leave them alone. My husband did manage to trick him into thinking there was no school. It didn't take my son long to catch onto that trick. My son told us April Fools is his special day to get us. I just wonder what will be in store for us when he is older. Well, I tried a trick with some food coloring and some pound cake. I wanted to make a marble look. As you can tell, I think the trick was more on me since I should have marbled it more. This pound cake is good and makes great gifts.

Pound Cake
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
4 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
3-4 drops of red food coloring

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9x5 loaf pan with cooking spray.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar together until fluffy.
5. Add the eggs one at a time. Beat for about a minute before adding the next egg.
6. Add the vanilla extract and mix well.
7. Slowly, add the flour and mix until just incorporated. Don't overmix.
8. Add half of the pound cake batter to the loaf pan.
9. Measure out about 1 cup of the remaining batter. 
10. Add the food coloring to the 1 cup of batter. Mix about 20 times. 
11. Pour a few spoonfuls of the colorful batter onto of the batter in the loaf pan. Run a knife in the batter to form a marble affect.
12. Add more of the remaining batter and the colorful batter. 
13. Randomly run the knife through it to form additional marble affect.
14. Bake the pound cake for about 35 minutes. Check the cake. If it is browning quickly, cover loosely with foil.
15. Continue baking for another 35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
16. Remove the pound cake from the oven. Allow to rest for 30 minutes before serving.

Recipe adapted from Baking From My Home To Yours by Dorie Greenspan. 

One year ago.........................I made Chocolate & Peanut Butter Ribbon Dessert.

Did you already know...........
-Pound cake has been around since 1747.
-Pound cake originated from Britain.
-Pound cake is known to have about a pound of butter, eggs, and sugar in it.

Candy Eggs

Happy Easter!

Since Easter is so early this year, I thought it would be great to make a fake egg. I thought it would be a fitting April Fools Joke in connection with Easter. My oldest daughter helped me make the white part of the egg. My younger children saw us making these eggs. After I assembled them, I placed them on the plate. My husband walked in the kitchen and saw them. He didn't realize they were fake. My younger children were fooled too. I made two different "yolks" since I wasn't sure how it would turn out. I think both ways were great. The original recipe calls for lemon curd but I wanted something else. I liked the results. 

Candy Eggs
2 cups of white candy melts
12 yellow gummy bears
12 yellow Starburst candy
4 orange Starburst candy

Directions:

1. Melt the white candy melt in the microwave. Stir often.
2. Pour the melted candy melts into plastic Easter eggs. Be generous.
3. Refrigerate the Easter eggs until the candy melts harden.
4. Carefully, remove the candy melts from the Easter eggs by gently squeezing the sides of the eggs. Some will break but it will just add to the appearance of the eggs.

1. To make the lighter yolk, melt the yellow gummy bears in the microwave for about 10 seconds at a time. (I only used 2 bears at a time.) Once pliable, carefully place the hot bears on top of the candy melts making a ball to look like yolk. Allow to harden.

1. To make the darker yolk, melt 3 yellow Starburst with 1 orange Starburst at a time. 
2. Mix the Starburst together until the colors have been incorporated. 
3. Carefully add the Starburst candy on top of the candy melt forming a ball. 

Serve to unexpecting people.Recipe adapted from What's New Cupcake? by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson. 

One year ago.........................I made Spaghetti and Meatball cupcakes.

Did you already know...........
-Eggs and birds have been around longer than humans.
-In 1400 B.C., records view birds have been domesticated by the Egyptian and Chinese. 
-In 1493, Christopher Columbus brought chickens to America.

I wish you luck tomorrow on spotting hoaxes. Have fun!