My own flavors (Strawberry Lemonade Whoopie Pies)

I'm not really a crunchy mom.

I think that I wanted to be, back when I was pregnant, during those three weeks in the middle of my second trimester when I felt great.  I could cloth diaper!  I could only use organic!  I could do prenatal yoga!  I bought a Moby Wrap and an attachment parenting book and was ready to go.

Then, halfway through the prenatal yoga DVD, when I found myself cursing at the "pregnant" woman bending over backward and coaching me into positions my too-short hamstrings had no hope of ever reaching, I gave up.  I compromised by stowing a reusable shopping tote in my diaper bag and moved on.

Baking Away in Margaritaville, Vol 2 (Cherry Lemonade Yum-Yums)

These bars were the other new hit at our Buffett tailgate this past weekend. I'll warn you, they're not pretty.  They're not easy to photograph and come out looking mouthwatering.  You're going to have to trust me, they smell and taste a hundred times more beautiful than they look.  I'm sure if I had more time and energy, I could have found a way to make them lovely.  I would have decorated them with little gray construction paper shark fins glued onto toothpicks.  Or I would have dusted them with a dash of powdered sugar.  Or I would have found the (nonexistent) spot in my house that gets great light.  But let's face it - there was a tailgate to get to.  The spirits were calling me...

Let me tell you what these are.  They're sweet and sour with a soft crust.  Someone described them as inside out Pop Tarts, which I know was meant as a compliment, but honestly, I hate Pop Tarts.  Never much liked them when I was a kid.  Dry biscuits with some food colored stale jam in the middle. Therefore, these will not be called Pop Tarts.  These will be called:  Cherry Lemonade Yum Yums.  Many thanks to fellow Parrothead Jon Ward who coined the "Yum Yum" term for last year's cinnamon dessert, giving me a ready made name for most of my homemade treats.

Chew a little juicy fruit...

Cherry Lemonade YumYums
(adapted from Cheeky Kitchen)
1/2 cup butter
1 cup flour
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 ounce maraschino cherries, with juice
1/2 tablespoon corn starch
3 eggs
1-1/4 cup sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

Mix the butter, 1 cup flour, powdered sugar and salt together until combined into a wet dough.  Using the back of a spoon, press onto the bottom of a 9x9 glass baking dish.  Blend the cherries with juice and corn starch for 1 minute or until combined but cherries still a little chunky (the Magic Bullet did a great job at this in about 5 pulses).  Pour over the crust and bake at 350 for 15 minutes.  In the meantime, whisk the eggs, sugar, flour and lemon juice together.  Pour over the baked crust and cherries (I didn't allow any cooling time and the layers mixed, so probably if you wait 2-3 minutes you could avoid that).  Return to oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until top is set and doesn't wiggle.  Cool completely before cutting.

It's Always Sunny... (Lemon Cookies)

Midterms are over! I'm determined not to slack off for the second half of this quarter like I did last quarter, so instead of sleeping in the sun for the next three days, I'm going to stay on top of the clinical work and reading that we have to do (in between sessions of sleeping in the sun). I do have a long list of things that I want to make over the next few weeks, so expect some sweet (and savory) postings that make the most of the rest of the summer!!

Hubby and I have started watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia on DVD. (Yay for Netflix!) I love watching TV shows all at once, like we did with House, Dexter, Friday Night Lights, Arrested Development...instant gratification. Much better than commercials and hiatus cliffhangers. After many recommendations from pretty much everyone we know, this month is Always Sunny - which gets funnier and funnier as it goes on.

These cookies are little bite-sized pieces of sunshine. They're buttery and lemony and melt in your mouth. Perfect little mid-July treat!

Always Sunny Lemon Cookies
(taken from Real Simple)

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 large egg yolks
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 tbsp + 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest

Cream the butter and sugar until fluffy. Add egg yolks, vanilla, and salt - beat until combined thoroughly. Gradually incorporate flour, mixing until just combined. Turn out onto wax paper and shape into 1-1/2 inch logs (I made one long one, but you can make two shorter ones if you want). Refrigerate 30 minutes, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350. Remove from refrigerator and cut into 3/8 inch slices. Place on parchment lined cookie sheet and bake for 13-15 minutes, until golden brown (the recipe says longer, but they brown quickly). Cool on sheet 2 minutes, then transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.



Whisk confectioners' sugar, lemon juice and lemon zest in a small, wide mouthed bowl. Dip cooled cookies into the glaze, and allow to set (15-20 minutes) before stacking. The cookies can get slippery, so hold on! Allow the glaze to set before serving (unless you eat them all yourself, in which case the choice is yours).

Little pieces of lemony goodness!! :-)