When Given Lemons

Sometimes in life we are handed lemons!

Some people like to make lemonade when given lemons.  Dan and Rick are known for adding a few more ingredients and making their famous lemon bars.

Last night we thought we'd make some lemon bars for Trevor.  Many of you remember Trevor from working for us at the Little Antique Mall while he was going to High School.  Trevor graduated several years ago, went to college for a bit and is now serving in the United States Air Force.  We are so proud of him.  It's time to send Trevor lemon bars!

The first thing you need to do is to remember to preheat your oven which requires turning it on.  It seems like a simple thing but at times we have forgotten this simple step.

You need a good bowl and tonight we decided to use a Texas Ware Bowl.  They are vintage, are very sturdy, easy to clean and are even dishwasher safe.  

In goes the flour!

We always use real butter.  It is essential.

Now comes the hard part.  Beating the butter, powdered sugar and flour

 into little balls.

But once that is done it's easy to press the mixture into Dan's mother's glass 

pyrex baking dish.

You pop that into the oven and let it bake until the crust is done.  We have a cross and font over our oven.  I must admit I do invoke the name of the Almighty from time to time when cooking.  I have also been known to pray while baking.

While the crust is baking we select another Texas Ware Bowl and pour in some sugar.

You need eggs, too!

It's our lucky night around here...double yolks in one egg.

We need some lemon zest to add to the mix so we grate fresh lemon for that.

And since we're doing lemon bars fresh lemon juice is extremely important!

After we whip that all up good we add some thickening agents like a little flour and baking powder.

Blend that and pull the crust out of the oven.

Pour in your lemon filling.

It levels itself out and is ready to go back into that oven.

While it is baking for another 20 or 25 minutes we fill the powdered sugar shaker.

Out of the oven those lemon bars come!

We cover them with a liberal amount of that powdered sugar.  This photo did not turn out so good but trust us when we say that the top is covered lavishly with white powdered sugar.

We like to let them set over night and then slice them to pack for Trevor.

Trevor is family to us! This Memorial Day Weekend we would like to thank Trevor and all of his peers who are currently serving so unselfishly to guard our country and our freedoms.  We sometimes worry about the safety of our country and its future.  But when we think of the brave, smart young people like Trevor we realize that things are in very competent hands and our future is bright and secure.

We would also like to acknowledge all of those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice for our country.

Thank you to all who have gone before us and made such a great country for us to live in!

We wish you all a good and safe Memorial Day!