happy weekend

It's the time of year when the citrus is ready to be picked and juiced. Yesterday I juiced a few bags of oranges and my house smelled so fresh for the rest of the day. We got so many lemons this year! I used to freeze the juice to make lemonade all year long, but do you know what's in lemonade? Lots and lots of sugar, so I don't make it as often anymore, and now our main use of the lemons is to squeeze them on top of our Sunday morning german pancakes. Must research how to use more lemons (outside of my favorite lemon deserts: warm lemon pudding cake, lemon cake, lemon squares, and lemon poppy seed muffins).

Thanks to your comments, I tried a few new recipes this week. Rollup Blender Pancakes from Mel's Kitchen Cafe were probably the biggest hit (even though they were for breakfast and not dinner). We also tried Mel's 30-Minute Quinoa Enchilada Skillet (Mabel and I loved it), Our Best Bite's Black Bean Soup and Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos. I would make them all again. Thank you! Oh, and we brought these Healthy Applesauce Oat Muffins to Sunday dinner and they were gone in a flash.

I printed out lots more recipes from those sites to try next week, too. Hurray!

This is the best time of year to be in Arizona, so we are going to do our best to soak it up this weekend. Yard work is on our to-do list, and hopefully we'll actually do it instead of loafing around like we usually do on Saturdays. Ha!

Have a happy one!

Warm Lemon Pudding Cake

I am in the middle of juicing and freezing our lemons, so when I was deciding on a dessert for Sunday dinner yesterday, I had lemons on my brain. And my kitchen counter. A quick Pinterest search led me to Warm Lemon Pudding Cake. Yes and yes.

The best part: during baking, a light, spongy cake forms on top, with a rich, puckery pudding beneath. Oh man, every bite was like a burst of warm sunshine. They were light and so lemony, and just about the most perfect way to end a meal on a warm spring evening.

I increased the recipe by half and had enough to fill 10 6oz. ramekins. (It can also be baked in a 1.5 qt baking dish, just fyi.)

This is a recipe I will make again and again, I just know it.

Creamy Lemon Bars

One of the perks of our Arizona winter (aside from our serious lack of snow and ice) is citrus season. Our house came with about 10 mature citrus trees when we moved in. We've cut a few of them down since then, but we still have more oranges and grapefruit and lemons than we can eat. I'm always on the lookout for lemony dessert recipes to use up some of our fresh lemon juice. When I saw this one for Creamy Lemon Crumb Bars on Pinterest, I knew I had to try it. I waited patiently all week for Sunday to come so I could give it a go.

If you like lemon bars, then you would love these. They are crunchy and buttery and puckery, and super creamy, too. But mostly they just felt like a bright spot of sunshine in this long, winter month (which is saying something, because Arizona does not lack for sunshine ever, not even in the depths of winter).

Some notes: They take some time to prepare, so don't make them when you are feeling rushed. Also, they are worth every second you spend zesting your lemons or standing at the stove stirring that delicious cream filling. Make sure you have at least 4 lemons on hand to juice, and I think the next time I make them, I'll use a larger pan. The recipe calls for an 8x8, but I feel like they could have been spread just a little thinner. Oh man, we loved them.

Spring Break + Lemon Cake

Spring break is off to a great start. Mabel and Oliver are making a movie with the other kids in the neighborhood (with auditions and everything), Oliver had his first baseball practice last night (hooray for little league season!), and Stella and Elliot are still mostly good buddies.

After seven years in our house, I finally finished installing our baseboards, and now they just need a coat of paint. But first, wallpaper! Hopefully I'll have some photos to show you soon.

In the meantime, if you are looking for a recipe to try, this lemon cake is fantastic. It is so moist and lemony. I think it's the lemon syrup you spoon over the warm bread that makes it my favorite.

I hope spring has sprung wherever you are. It's supposed to be 95 here tomorrow, so I would say that winter is officially over. Sigh.

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

I dreamed the other night that I was searching for the best Lemon Poppy Seed recipe. I took it as a sign, and after a quick look on pinterest, I found this recipe. They were delicious. I like baking in small batches, and this recipe only makes 12 muffins, which is perfect for our little family. But, it could easily be doubled. I like that it calls for sour cream (because sour cream always makes baked goods better), and the glaze on top is just the right finishing touch.

Luckily I froze lots of grated lemon zest with all of my juice this year. It has come quite in handy, and seems to defrost and bake just fine.

My kids gobbled up these muffins in record time and declared them "the best muffins ever!"

Lemon Sugar Cookies

I'm still up to my ears in lemon juice. I finally finished juicing our supply this weekend. I was looking for a quick recipe to bring to Sunday dinner, and these cookies fit the bill. According to Mike, they were "surprisingly good". High praise from that man.

They were chewy and a little crispy (but soft at the same time), with just the right about of lemon. I didn't have sanding sugar, so I rolled mine in granulated sugar, without flattening the tops. I baked them for just over 14 minutes, and removed them almost immediately to the cooling rack (instead of leaving them on the cookie sheet for the 5 minutes called for in the recipe).

If you are looking for a new cookie to try, these get a big thumbs up from us.

citrus season

One of my favorite things about living in Arizona is winter citrus fruit. When the rest of the country seems to be buried in snow, we have sunny, summery citrus to harvest. We inherited quite a few mature (read: humongous) citrus trees when we moved into our house. They are: navel, Arizona sweet, tangelo, lemon, and pink grapefruit and we love them all. Well, except for the pink grapefruit. We don't like that one very much.

A note: free pink grapefruit! Come and get it! (Please!)

Our large lemon tree is probably my favorite. It has weathered storms and lost branches, but it always comes back, laden with fruit. I sent Mabel and Oliver out to pick it clean the other night. It's time to start juicing. I freeze the juice in ice cube trays so that we can have fresh lemon juice all year long. This year I am going to try freezing some grated rind, too. We love lemonade (2 trays worth of frozen lemon juice + 1 gallon of water + 2 cups sugar, give or take), lemon bars, buttermilk cake, and lemon pound cake. For Sunday dinner yesterday, I made this lemon cake and it was delicious! Plus, there is nothing better than freshly squeezed lemon juice and piles of powdered sugar on German pancakes. For non-dessert meals, I love this lemon chicken with brown rice. Today I am going to give this lemon blueberry loaf a try.

Do you have any favorite lemon recipes to share?

Buttermilk Cake

My friend, Sara, shared a slice of this cake with me last week and it sort of changed my life. It was warm from her oven, sweet and light, with a hint of lemon. It was so good that my kids and I ate the slice, every crumb, in about 2 seconds flat. I immediately begged her for the recipe.

I happily brought it to Sunday dinner last night. I swapped the shortening for butter and the lemon extract (my bottle was dry!) for lemon juice. It has a nice crust, was moist inside, and would be great paired with just about anything. I chose raspberries and peaches.

I love cakes like this. Thank you Sara!

p.s. My cake was done baking after an hour, not the hour and 15 minutes that is called for in the recipe.