Food In Many Forms

I count myself lucky that I don't have any allergies, don't have to "count carbs" or "watch my salt". And even though I will try anything once, there are a handful of foods I won't be trying twice. For whatever reason they just don't agree with me.  During my internship, the hospital where I worked had an Au Bon Pain, and my partner and I would often split a pastry after a long day. It was so interesting to me how both of us would have GI symptoms with the same certain pastries. I have noticed that processed foods, saturated fats and hydrogenated oils in particular, are more likely to cause problems. Just one more reason to  eat healthy, fresh foods !  Unfortunately, these  lemon poppy seed bars  are in the second category of "never again", however delicious they might be. My friend actually used the wrong recipe when she went  grocery shopping , and I thought we could go ahead and make it since we had the ingredients. But now that...

The lemon bars turned out great... just a few minor flaws... 1) I used half the butter (1 stick), and it made the lower crust a little crumbly, no big deal though 2) I used yellow food dye instead of red...oops... it looked red in the bottle! I think I used all the red dye making red velvet cake.... 3) I forgot to share them... I'm going to have to bring them to work tomorrow...

Somehow a search for healthy kid's recipes led me to pink lemonade bars... they certainly are fun... but not so healthy. On second thought, I promised baked goods to a friend I'm visiting this weekend.... yep, Thursday night this is happening. Hands-On Time:  15 minutes Ready In:  1 hour 20 minutes Yield:  Serves 24 Ingredients 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter - softened 1/2 cup granulated sugar 2 cups flour Pinch of salt 6 large eggs 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 1 teaspoon lemon zest 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 1/2 cup flour Several drops of red food coloring Powdered sugar for dusting Directions Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line a 9 x 13 baking pan with parchment or waxed paper. Cream together butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar. Stir flour and salt together and add to butter. Stir with a wooden spoon until a soft dough forms. Press dough evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove ...

No meal is complete without a little dessert , and for my spaghetti and meatball dinner there was a whole lot of dessert! A 9" x 13" cake pan full of lemon bars was enough dessert for probably 10-15 people! Well, maybe 10-15 girls...3 grown men could wolf them down pretty easily! I don't own a food processor, so after beating the crust batter with an electric mixer, I just molded it together with my hands until it had the consistency almost of cookie dough. It was actually really easy for me, but I am starting to realize that maybe some of my projects are no longer what I would consider beginner baking ... I guess I forget what it was like to never know what they want or what it was supposed to look like. It means I have improved, but that this blog may no longer be just a college-age girl struggling to figure out how to cook. It may actually be about sharing a passion for cooking that is increasing everyday with every new ingredient or recipe that comes my way.  On t...