LEEMON SKVARES

Today, in anticipation for some friends coming to practice our song for a Coffeehouse performance, I decided to make lemon squares.

I used a Martha Stewart recipe because none of our cookbooks had such a recipe.
This is my recipe 

Lemon Squares 


Step 1- prepare. 

First thing's first. Preheat your oven to 350˚F. Then you can grease your glass dish. The dish should be relatively rectangular, and with dimensions resembling 9"x 13"

Then, you can line the dish with parchment (it helps at the end, you'll see)

Step 2 - make your crust

Grate the butter with a cheese grater (use the big holes)

(I can't say I've ever grated butter with a cheese grater, but that's what it says!)

Whisk together the flour and confectioner's sugar, and then add the butter and stir with a wooden spoon

You might use your clean hands for this part instead, but combine the butter and the flour misture until it's about crumbly, it will look like this.

 Then, you can squish this mixture into your pan (evenly), and refrigerate it for 15 minutes. When it comes out, you can put it in the oven for 14-16 minutes.

In the meantime...

Step 3- make your filling

In a large measuring cup (or jug, you just need something with a lip) whisk together your eggs, flour, and sugar. Then, add the lemon juice, and the milk.

Step 4-put it all together!!

Remove the crust from the oven, and pour the lemon mixture onto the crust. 

YUMMY. Then, you can place this back into the oven for 18 minutes or until the edges are brown. The latter it more important. My lemon squares took 25 extra minutes because the lemon bit was much thicker than the recipe's yield.

Keep an eye on it, because this part's fidgety, your lemon squares might cook much slower, or much faster than the recipe (depending on the pan you used.)

After the 18 minutes, you can take the squares out, and sprinkle with toasted coconut, or icing sugar!! 

This it where the paper comes in handy. After letting the squares cool enough for the paper to be touchable, you grab two corners of the paper, and place the squares on a plate (have this prepared).

Peel back the paper, and cut into serving sizes! YUM!

 enjoy!

I did.

Here's some music to lemon-square-dance to!

December=Christmas

Maaaaah. I don't really want christmas to begin yet. I know, I'm a humbug, but as soon as December starts, Christmas songs start clogging the airways, and frantic shoppers start rushing to the mall, ugh. Commercalism. Consumerism.

I know. Pretentious.

However, winter's coming, and to start the WINTER season off, I decided to make some hand balm. I love making lip balm, but I have so much that this batch would disappear beneath the mounds and mounds cluttering my bedroom table, also, I wanted to try out some bergamot essential oil. SO, searching for a good recipe for hand balm, I stumbled apon this amazing blog, it's called 'A Sonoma Garden' and it has great tutorials for lip balm, hand lotions, and a lavender wand. Check out the lavender wand, it's really smart!

Anyway, I was making the recipe for beeswax lotion, and I realized that I should really be taking pictures. oops. But I have some finished product pictures, so take a peek! I would really recommend this recipe to anyone. For my version, I put half a cup of olive oil, and the other half sweet almond oil. It works fine, and the bergamot with the beeswax makes the balm smell very festive! Another one I want to try on this website is the deodorant. It looks pretty sweet.

Mmm. Smooth hands. :)

Well, I'm off now to march down the street in the Santa Claus parade. It's with my school, I'm not just marching alone down the middle of the street like a dork.. 

And I'm off to Queens park with my school on Monday to protest PCVS' closure! 

Bye!

Augusta

COOKIES!!!

Today, In my late August boredom, I decided to make cookies. I commenced my mini adventure by cycling up to No Frills for some brown sugar, and chocolate chips. YOU CAN'T HAVE CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES WITHOUT CHOCOLATE CHIPS!! Then, upon returning, I ran to my best friend, Mr. record player, and put on the record that I just purchased: Paul McCartney and Wings- Band on the Run. Good record. After that, I immediately consulted my handy dandy JOY OF COOKING and asked it to give me a recipe for chocolate chip cookies. It did just that, and now I will show you how I made them.

(This is a really crappy picture)

First, I preheated the oven to 375ºF. 

Then, I Whisked together: 

1 cup + 2 tablespoons of flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

Then, I used my beater, and beated me some sugar, and butter. MMMMM.

8 tablespoons (1 stick) of butter, softened. *I used salted because it's better.

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

(cream them together till fluffy)

*this is where you are allowed to snack, because once we add the eggs, there's salmonella swimming everywhere in that bowl.*

(again, crappy picture)

Then I added some egg, and vanilla, and a bit of salt. 

(I really should have omitted the salt because I used salted butter, but whatevs)

1 large egg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

(This picture turned out red. Heheh THE COOKIES FROM HELL!!!)

Then I added my flour mix from before to this buttery mix, and CREATED A MONSTER!!!

I beated them up too. :)

THEN

I added to chocolate chips:

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

And poured a little bowl for myself. :)

I decided next that I would have to grease the pan. (although the cookies still stuck, so pile on that butter)

(grease 2 cookie sheets)

Then I dropped tablespoonfuls of dough onto the greased sheet. *put less dough per ball than I did here, unless you want mutant conjoined cookies*

Then place them in the oven for:

  8-10 minutes

Waiting...

THE BUZZER SOUNDS!!

Then I took my cookies out, and let them dry... I mean cool.. :P

FINITO!!

YUMMY YUMMMMMMY!

All Gone. P:

Here's my cookie soundtrack.

Enjoy!

-Augusta