lemon bars

Have you ever had the idea to just randomly open a recipe book and stab your finger down on the page...then make the recipe it lands on?

That's the way I made lemon bars the very first time.  It was years ago when my boys were in scouts.  I had just got home from work and I needed to make a treat (while I was fixing dinner) for some special event they were having at a scout meeting that evening.

I landed on the lemon bars recipe and it was perfect...a few simple ingredients and quick and easy to make.  I remember they were still warm when I carried them into the meeting.

This is all you need...

LEMON BARS

Crust
2 sticks butter, softened
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. salt

Filling
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/4 cup flour
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup lemon juice
lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350°.
Mix crust ingredients until a soft sticky dough is formed.

 Press this mixture into the bottom and up the sides of an 8 1/2" by 11" pan.

Using a butter wrapper to press down the dough will keep it from sticking to your fingers...

Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes...or crust is lightly browned. It's better not to underbake.

Meanwhile prepare filling...you can use the same bowl. Stir together sugar and flour. Add eggs and lemon juice and a teaspoon or so of lemon zest if you are using fresh lemons. (I keep a small jar of dehydrated lemon peel on hand, and add a sprinkle of that).

Pour this mixture over baked crust...

...and return to the oven for 18 to 20 minutes until filling is"set". It should be soft and custardy but not runny.

Allow to cool and cut into bars or squares.

This recipe might be better with freshly squeezed lemons instead of the bottled lemon juice.

I was going to try it that way one time, and I squeezed my lemons beforehand and had the juice in a little glass bowl ready to use, then as I was tidying up my work area, I absent-mindedly dumped the bowl of juice in the sink. 

I took it as a sign that the bottled lemon juice is what I should be using!

Bullitt County Tourism Day

Members of my quilting group, Mt Washington Quilting Bees were asked to set up a small display at the Bullitt County Welcome Center to help promote tourism in our area.

The Bees don't actually have a place that tourists can visit.  But we can be friendly and welcoming and it's a good opportunity to show off our quilts!

Four of us had plenty of quilts of all kinds and sizes to set up a not-so-small display.

That's Joyce on the left, then Bobbie, me, and Sandy.

Sandy is always ready with everything we need to set up a booth like this. She brings racks,easels, table and chairs, hangers, safety pins, tape, signs...you name it...she has it!

One of my favorite quilts there was this "bookshelf" quilt that Bobbie made.  It has the "bug jars" on the shelves. She designed it and won a ribbon in the state fair last summer.

Also at the welcome center was our well known, local basket weaving lady, Madonna. She is so talented...her baskets are all perfect works of art!

Outside there were musicians. This lady was half of a very talented duo...but when I slipped outside to take a photo her partner had stepped away for a minute.It was a hot day and they later had to move in to the shade.

There was also a representative from a local winery and folks from the County Tourism Department to greet travelers and hand out info.  

We just spent the day chatting with anyone interested in quilts and quilting, demonstrating different types of hand piecing and quilting, and also asking visitors about where they were traveling to and from.

We had a group photo when a couple of our local political figures arrived to deliver speeches.

That's County Judge Executive Melanie Roberts third from left. On the far right is State Representative Linda Belcher.  Both, very nice and gracious ladies.

It was a fun day, we enjoyed talking about quilting to the travelers and also among ourselves and we were treated to pizza and drinks by the tourism department.  

The time passed so quickly and before we knew it it was time to pack up for the day.

We'll go back next year with more quilts!

a visit to Yew Dell Gardens

Earlier this week we took a drive over to Crestwood KY to visit Yew Dell Gardens.

The property used to be the home and nursery of Theodore Klein, an internationally known nurseryman, and his family. After his death, funds were raised to buy the property and run it as a non profit garden conservancy.  

They have a horticulture education program but the grounds are open to the public ( $7 adults $5 seniors).

We followed a meandering path around the gardens. Lots of things blooming at this time of year.

There are several buildings, like this castle, which is not as big as it looks.

It was used as a pool house by the Klein family and is really only about the sized of a house.

One of the other buildings had a "green" roof.  Plants were growing there!

why yes, he is thrlled to be here.

You could go off the paths and stroll through the trees. There were lots of unusual evergreens, lots of blooming trees, an eye-pleasing mix of leaf colors and shapes!  Benches were placed in shady spots so you could take a rest and admire the view.

Lonnie likes the look of  trees planted in a formation like this. He was trying to figure out how we could work this idea into our home landscape.

I like a more natural look but visiting this arboretum did give me a lot of landscape ideas...tree and plant combinations...creating privacy with plantings and so forth.

It wasn't quite as big or elaborate as I expected though. Their website "oversells" the place a bit.

I am glad we got to go there but I probably wouldn't go back.

I am still in a mood to see more gardens/ nurseries/ arboretums.  

Where can I drag my poor husband off to next?

got the borders on the quilt

It seems like it's taking me forever to finish up this little quilt.  I finally got the borders sewn on.  I had hesitated for a few days because I was considering buying more of the dark blue fabric for the outer border.

But I decided to just go with what I had enough of...which was the lighter blue check...and now I like it just fine.  I did put some colored patches in the corners to fancy it up. (well I chopped the corners off in the photo, but you can sort of see them in the farther away corners)

Now, I need to press it, then pin baste it for quilting.

I am planning to use a swirly quilting pattern to compliment the swirly print in the dark blue fabric.  I practiced on paper.  The paper on the left is the stipple that I usually do. On the right is the swirls.

I'll do some more paper practice before get started quilting.

This is the fabric I will be using for the back.  I was thinking it had an 'outer space' theme but it turns out to be  'superheros', which is just fine for a boy quilt anyway.

     

Speaking of which...the baby boy was born earlier this week!

Now that I am under pressure to finish, maybe it will go more quickly!     

thirsty raccoon

This raccoon came boldly swaggering up on the back porch early in the evening. I saw him from inside at the kitchen window.

He just nosed around at everything...probably looking for more of the chicken scraps I tossed out a few days ago.. He checked out the birdbaths I have on the ground, then walked over to this one on a stand and hopped right up there like he does it all the time. Maybe he has been coming by after dark.

He was a cute. fat little thing, His face seemed lighter than other raccoons I have seen...but he wouldn't turn around for a photo.  Just got a drink and left the yard.

5 minute chocolate mug cake

A few years ago, my quilt group, Mt Washington Quilting Bees, compiled recipes and put out this cook book as a fund raiser.

All the recipes that I have tried from the book have been good, but this one is the one I have used the most...

My husband has a sweet tooth and likes to have a small goodie each evening after dinner. This is quick to put together if I don't have any other sweets in the house...and it's chocolatey and good!

I make it in this small Pyrex bowl instead of a coffee mug. I can easily see it as it cooks and I like the shape of the finished cake.

I don't add the optional chocolate chips..it's plenty good without them. 

All mixed up and into the microwave... 

The instructions say to cook at 100 watts for 3 minutes.  I just use full power and cook less than 1 1/2 minutes. That seems to work fine but I really need to try it the correct way.

Done after about 75 seconds!

Turn it out on to a saucer...

Eat it warm...

Or dress it up with whipped cream

I recently came across a similar recipe for a yellow cake with a crumble topping.  I guess I will be forced to try that one out too! 

I will let you know if it's good!

mail order plants

My plant order arrived from Lazy S'S Farm Nursery.  They absolutely have the most nicely packed healthy plants of any mail order nursery I've ever ordered from.

This is how it looked when I but the box open.

Each plant is double potted with a plastic bag between the pots and held with a  rubber band over the dirt..also packed with shavings to hold in moisture and stakes to protect from crushing.

They send healthy established plants...unlike some who send delicate little sprouts.

I've got all the plastic bags removed and gave them a drink of water.

They do have to go through a "hardening off" period where they are exposed to a longer time in the sun each day.

Most of these are to rejuvenate a flower bed meant to attract butterflies. Some of my original plants have disappeared and it's getting crowded with Day lilys...which aren't that attractive to butterflies.

 I thought I got most of the day lilys moved last fall but  many of them came back...all it takes is one small bulb left behind.

I've got some digging to do!