When Life Gives You Lemons...

July 29, 2010

Make Lemon Bars!

I love summer, the color yellow, and lemon flavor. I love summer for the obvious reasons, the sun is out, the weather is warm (in Santa Barbara this all does not happen until August), and it stays light later. The color yellow has always been a favorite color of mine. I love lemon flavor for the fresh feeling it gives you. Plus, I hate cooked fruit, including pie, chunky jam, and fruit in yogurt. I mention the yogurt because when I was younger most all the yogurt had fruit at the bottom that you could stir in and I hated it. But lemon yogurt did not have any chunks, so I ate a lot of lemon yogurt.

So when you get a chance to combine all three you just have to roll up your sleeves and do it. Grab yourself come lemons from the store, a friends tree, or just a tree when no one is looking. I made these on Monday for a friend that just had a baby, which means I was able to keep some for myself. Alright, enough is enough, get out there and make yourself some Lemon Bars.

Here is the recipe I used.

Ingredients
For the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

For the filling: nocoupons
6 extra-large eggs at room temperature
3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoons grated lemon zest (4 to 6 lemons)
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 cup flour
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners' sugar.

Can't Get Enough of that Beach

July 28, 2010
This past weekend we had another All Day Beach Day. Here are a couple of pictures from our day. We got there around 11:30, I had to leave at 3 for a shower but then came back at 6:30 to find Kev and some others still there. We ended up not getting home until 8:30 after grabbing some dinner.
The camp. We brought 80% of what you see. I am worried that when the baby comes we won't have enough room to bring what he needs. And I am talking about the baby not Kevin.
Enjoying some Rootbeer popsicles. Feels good to be a kid again.

Kevin paddle boarding the wave.

The few that made it the whole day.

I had talked with my mom about wanting someone to take pregnancy pictures of me, maybe in a month or so. But I think my husband just got the job. He did a great job. I am in the dress because this is after I returned from the shower I was at.

I am sorry but I hope our little boy looks exactly like his daddy. What a looker!

At the end of the day.

And lets finish this post off with my 29 week photo. I am feeling good and still love being pregnant. I can't wait to meet and hold our little guy. I love him more and more each day. Today I went for a walk and he kicked me pretty good and I just about cried thinking about how much I love him and how blessed I feel to have him growing and how blessed Kevin and I feel to be his parents. God is good! This week his is about 17 inches long, but lets be honest, our kid is probably 21 inches long already.

Sears, here we come!

July 22, 2010

My friend came across a picture of what our baby will most likely look like after he realizes who his parents are. This only encourages me to get my little family down to Sears to get some photos taken just like this. Enjoy!

28 Hits Hard

July 20, 2010

I am full swing into my third trimester. Things have been going great this entire pregnancy, nothing new had changed until I hit the last three months. I went to the doctors last week and she informed me that I had gained 10 pounds in one month, actually I informed her. Not that this is a big deal but I just wanted to make sure that this big of a jump is normal. She convinced me that it was, lets just hope I don't keep up this record breaking weight gain. The next thing is in regards to my emotions. The first six months I was convinced that my moods had gotten better since I got pregnant and I think that is actually true. Then last week everything came crashing down. The first reason I cried was because I thought my cheeks looked fat, in my defense it did look like I was storing up for winter. The very next day I ended up in tears because I was second guessing the fabric I had ordered for the crib skirt and bumper. It also did not make it any better that this fabric issue kept me up for two hours the night before. And the next day I really lost it because I had over cooked my hot cereal, that is it, I just cooked it too long. That was the last straw. I started crying because of the hot cereal, then I cried even harder because I was so mad at the fact that I was mad at something like that. Now the clouds parted and the sun came out because I have been tear free for the last couple of days. But I am not holding my breath that this will last. The last change that I have noticed is that the nesting I am going through is out of control. But more in my mind, I mean I still get my projects done but the obsession and stress that happens in my head is just wrong. Awww, I feel better just getting all that off my chest.

Paint and Crib

July 19, 2010

The nesting has begun. Last weekend we got the crib and were able to put it together. I love it and can't wait to see what it looks like with our little baby in it. The crib is also in the babies room so you can kind of see the new wall color. The lighting is not the best but it is a light grey. I love the paint color and the crib and am currently working on the crib skirt and bumper.

National League Takes The Win

July 14, 2010

Yesterday we were able to attend the Allstar game. It was awesome and hot. Here are a couple of pictures from our evening.

Kevin brought our Dodger onesie so we could see if we could get Ethier to sign it. It did not happen.

But we did get a couple of pictures of him.

Kevin wearing his Dodger blue with pride in a sea of Angel fans.

"Hey Lady, move over, you are blocking your husband."

Here is week 27 photo. He has been very active the last couple of days, yet still has not moved from the right side. We still can't tell what is a hand and what is a foot, all we know is that sometimes we think he is actually trying to punch/kick his way out.

You Kiss Your Mother With That Mouth?

June 6, 2010
About 100 days left! But maybe he will surprise me and arrive early. Then again seeing how this is my first I think the labor alone will surprise me.


We had a great 4th of July. The marine layer showed up for the day of Independence, shocker! But it did clear up around 4 so that we could have the PLP (parking lot party) we had planned on. We had great food, friends and games. Then when it got dark we joined the crowds and walked down to the beach to watch the fireworks. We got there just in time, Kevin found a great spot and we put out the blankets. Then we hear them. Not the fireworks, two kids that had mouths of a couple of sailors. I don't know if it is because I teach, am the oldest child in my family or if it is because I am pregnant but I wanted to get all Mother Hen on them. It was everything inside of me to not go up to them and ask them to cut out the vocabulary because there were children around, Poppy and THEM!
But the fireworks were great. I really think the finale gets better and better with each year. I am sure they plan it that way.

So now I am continuing the brainstorming for the baby's room. I know I promised to post pictures but I need to wait until we have it a little more organized before I can do that. We did find a white dresser on craigslist that my parents picked up and I love it. However, since I was planning on refinishing a dresser and now I don't have to, I have a new refinishing dream... a desk! More to come on that.

But here is my week 26 picture. He was kicking a ton yesterday and even woke me up last night. I loved it!