Double Lemon Delights

Double Lemon Delights

from "Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale" Cookbook

Ingredients



2 1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 c butter, softened
3/4 c granulated sugar
1 egg
2 tbl grated lemon peel, divided
1 tsp vanilla
   Additional Sugar
1 c powdered sugar
4-5 tsp lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in small bowl; set aside. Beat butter and granulated sugar in electric mixer at medium speed until light and fluffy. Beat in egg, 1 tbl lemon peel and vanilla until well blended. Gradually beat in flour mixture on low speen until blended.

Drop dough by level 1/4 cupfuls (I did 2 tbl scoops) onto ungreased cookie sheets, spacing 3 inches apart. Flatten dough until 3 inches in diameter with bottom of glass that has been dipped in additional sugar.

Bake 12-14 minuted or until cookies are set and edges are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheets 2 minutes; transfer to wire racks. Cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and remaining 1 tbl lemon peel in small bowl; drizzle mixture over cookies. Let stand until icing is set.


So these were totally and completely delicious! I know that there is a lemon overload on this blog right now, but these are totally worth it! Yummy, yummy!

~Cassy

Lemon Bars

I have always wanted to try making my own lemon bars, and these did not disappoint! Tart and lemony, they're the perfect start to the warm weather coming our way. I think I'm crushing hard on lemons lately, I can't get enough! Luckily my friend has a lemon tree and she is very generous so I'm going to enjoy it. :D

Lemon Bars
adapted from Make it Do

2 cups flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 cup butter
2-3 tbsp milk

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 9x13 pan with cooking spray. Mix above dry ingredients with a pastry cutter until well blended, add milk, and mix until it comes together. Press into pan and cook for 25-30 minutes until slightly golden brown. While crust is cooking make the lemon later:

4 eggs
pinch of salt
4 tbsp flour
2 cups sugar
2 lemons zest and juice

In a medium bowl, beat eggs with salt. Mix in rest of ingredients. Pour over hot crust and bake for another 25 minutes.

Cool and dust with powdered sugar.

Skillet Lemon Chicken

Skillet Lemon Chicken
adapted from Ready, Set, Eat

I used the recipe on Ready, Set, Eat as a basic guideline, but there were quite a few things I changed due to what we had on hand :) This is how I did it, but you can go to the website for the original recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups uncooked white rice

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

3 Local Deals for:
boneless skinless chicken breast

Store Brand Chicken Breasts Breasts, boneless / skinless
$1.88 thru 2011-05-10
Lucky

Store Brand Chicken Breasts Breasts, boneless / skinless
$4.49 thru 2011-05-10
Raley's & Bel-Air

Store Brand Chicken Breasts Split
Loyalty Card Required
$2.49 thru 2011-05-10
Safeway

1• 2

3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

16 ounces fresh broccoli florets 
3/4 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 cloves garlic, minced 
2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions:

Start cooking the rice.  While it's cooking, place chicken in medium bowl, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, salt and pepper and toss slightly. At this point I cooked the fresh broccoli so it would be ready to add to the skillet by the time the chicken was done cooking.

Use the rest of the olive oil to coat a large skillet and heat over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook and stir 4 to 5 minutes or until no longer pink. Add broccoli and garlic; stir-fry 1 to 2 minutes. 

Stir together broth and cornstarch in small bowl until well blended. Gradually add to chicken mixture; cook 3 to 4 minutes or until sauce thickens, stirring constantly. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Serve over rice.

Enjoy!

This was really simple and had a lot of good garlic and lemon flavor. After we had dinner we started to think of what else we could use this with. It would work really well over pasta with some freshly grated parmesan cheese, or by itself alongside some garlic mashed potatoes. Bonus: my daughter ate it all! Yes! Really good basic recipe to have on hand, I didn't even have to go shopping for ingredients on this one!

~Cassy

Tortellini with Lemon Cream Sauce

 

Tortellini with Lemon Cream Sauce 

from The Cottage Home

Ingredients:

1 package fresh cheese tortellini (8 oz.)

3 tablespoons butter

1.5 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 lemon
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Begin cooking fresh tortellini according to package directions.

In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Add in heavy cream and bring to a boil.  Once you've reached a boil, reduce the heat to medium.  Add in the juice of one lemon, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.  Taste the sauce to check for salt and pepper.  I like a lot of pepper in my cream sauce and if it doesn't taste savory enough, it probably needs more salt.

Allow the sauce to bubble lightly until it reaches your desired consistency.  Once you are happy with the thickness of your sauce, reduce the heat to low until your tortellini is ready.

Drain tortellini and add to the large saucepan.  Toss to coat.  Serve with a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated black pepper and a slice of lemon.


Uh, DELISH. That's all. Not the most healthy meals, so only make it once in awhile. Or when you really need something satisfying!

creamy taco mac

Creamy Taco Mac

adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

1¼ lbs. ground turkey

  8oz. dry pasta shapes (I used a whole 16 oz box)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained

4 tbsp. taco seasoning

3 oz. cream cheese

½ cup sour cream

Salt and pepper

Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)

Directions:

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Cook pasta according to the package directions.  Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water.  Set aside.

Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink.  A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet.  Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes.  Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit.  Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.

**my notes...this was delicious, fast, and easy. A staple in our house! Leftovers are just as good too!

Corn Chowder

Please forgive my poor photography skills, I'll work on it :) But believe me when I tell you that this was yummy and easy to make (two of my favorite things!).

Corn Chowder

"Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book"

Ingredients

6 ears fresh corn or 3 cups frozen whole kernel corn
1/2 c. chopped onion (I used dried onion since the man is anti-onion texture)
1/2 c. chopped sweet green pepper (I skipped this)
1 tbl cooking oil
1 14 ounce can chicken broth
1 c cubed, peeled potato
4 tsp all-pupose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 c milk
3 slices bacon, crisp cooked, drained and crumbled
2 tbl snipped fresh parsley

Directions

1. If using fresh corn, use a sharp knife to cut the kernels off the cobs, set aside.

2. In a large saucepan cook onion and sweet pepper in hot oil until the onion is tender but not brown. (I skipped this step and moved right into the chicken broth. I added the dried onion at the same time I added the corn). Stir in the chicken broth and potato. Bring to boiling: reduce heat. Simmer, covered, for 10 min. Stir in corn. COok, covered, about 10 min or until potato and corn are tender, stirring occasionally.

3. In a small bowl combine flour, salt, and pepper. Stir milk into flour mixture; add to corn minture in saucepan. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir for 1 min more. Add bacon; heat through. If desired, garnish each serving with parsley.


~Cassy

salted caramel cupcakes

 I made these the other week-oh my! they were soo delish. That frosting is amazing, and then you add in caramel sauce? yup. It's all over. mmmm....

Salted Caramel Cupcakes
from Our Best Bites

CUPCAKES:
1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. firmly packed dark brown sugar (dark brown sugar is REALLY important!)
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. butter, softened
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 tsp. vanilla

1/2 c. milk

TO GO ON TOP:
Sara's Perfect Cupcake Frosting
About 1/2 c. caramel sauce
12 Werther's soft caramels
Dipping chocolate (just a wee bit), made with bittersweet or dark chocolate; I used 4 oz. of chocolate with 1 tsp. canola oil and had plenty leftover
Kosher or sea salt

I didn't do the chocolate dipped caramels on top cause I forgot to buy them, but it was still delicious.

Preheat oven to 350. Using 18 cupcake liners, line muffin tins. I used paper liners, but I think foil would be a better choice.

In another bowl (preferably the bowl of an electric mixer), combine sugars and butter together on medium-high speed for 2-3 minutes. Add eggs and vanilla and beat until combined. Add flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with the milk in 1 additions, beating on low speed until just combined; scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling about 2/3 full. Bake 20-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into a cupcake comes out clean. Allow cupcakes to cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes and then transfer the cupcakes to the wire rack and allow to cool completely.

Prepare dipping chocolate. Dip the ugly side of the caramel into the chocolate, about halfway down the caramel. Place chocolate-side-up on a plate and then allow to harden. 
Prepare Sara's Perfect Cupcake Frosting. Very gently mix the caramel sauce or buttermilk syrup into the frosting--you want there to be swirls of caramel visible. Add a little more if you want--this is an art, not science here!After you've frosted the cupcakes, top each cupcake with a chocolate-dipped caramel and then sprinkle with a VERY scant sprinkling of Kosher or sea salt--it's just a little garnish and a really enhances the flavors of the cupcake.