Fourteen for 50 - Lovely Lemon Bars and a Book about Leningrad

Easter dinner was just the 2 of us today, but I made honey hoisin pork tenderloin, au gratin potatoes, and some roasted asparagus (just a drizzle of lime olive oil, salt and pepper - yum!) and then for dessert...

Recipe 13 - Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars

I love lemon - lemon tarts were one of my favorite indulgences when I was in France during college, particularly those from one tearoom near the chateau in Angers.  Traditional custardy lemon bars with a buttery crust from the cafeteria at St. Olaf were worth trying to grab a second or third.  And there is something about citrus that says "spring" and "Easter" to me, so for Easter dinner, I told E to check the Pinterest dessert board for something with lemon.  This was the winner from The Salty Marshmallow blog - Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars.  I think I would call them Creamy Lemon Sugar Cookie Bars, or something like that.  It is a sugar cookie base, cream cheese lemon filling and then topped with more crumbles of the cookie dough.  I either used too much of the cookie dough for the crust, or didn't let the topping cook long enough to be crunchy, but I think when I make them again, I will make half the dough and skip the crumbles on top.  They didn't really add anything for me.  Overall a nice easy alternative to the usual lemon bar - I would make it again.  Prepare ahead - the crust needs to completely cool before adding the filling and then you will bake again.  Also, be careful when eating - the bottom crust gets quite crispy and when I tried to eat mine with a fork like a civilized person, the bar slipped off the plate and landed on the couch (yes, I was being civilized eating on the couch in front of the TV).  It was much easier to eat when I just picked it up with my hand.

Crust:

1 C sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 C (2 sticks) butter at room temperature

2 C flour

Filling:

8 oz cream cheese at room temperature

1/4 C lemon juice (for me, juice of one lemon)

2 Tbsp lemon zest divided

1/2 C sugar 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Line an 8"x8" or 9"x9" baking pan with foil or parchment and spray liberally with non-stick cooking spray. (There is enough butter in these, you could probably skip this, depending on your pan.  The foil did make it easy to just lift out of the pan so I could cut easier, though.)

With stand mixer using paddle attachment, or with hand mixer, beat together the softened butter, sugar, and vanilla on medium speed for 2 minutes.

Set mixer on low and slowly add the flour (½ cup at a time) and mix just until dough comes together.

Press half of the dough into prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, until lightly golden brown.

Cool completely before filling.

Store remaining sugar cookie dough in a bowl in the refrigerator until ready to use.

For the filling:

Again with stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer, beat together the softened cream cheese, sugar, lemon juice, and 1 Tbsp. of the lemon zest until smooth and creamy.  Pour filling over cooled crust. Top filling with the remaining sugar cookie dough by crumbling it evenly over the top.

Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, until cookie crumble is light golden in color.

Top with remaining lemon zest as desired. (My zest got dried out before I had a chance to do this.)  

We cut into 16 squares and ate them room temp.  I think they would also be good chilled but the crust might get too hard.

 

Book 13

This was a book club selection and came highly recommended by an Italian exchange student who lived with one of our members a couple years ago.  City of Thieves by David Benioff takes place during the Siege of Leningrad, an aspect of World War II that we had read about at least on other time (The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean).  I see that at least a couple of my book club friends have given it 5 stars on Goodreads, but I am still wavering between a 3 and 4.  I didn't love it for some reason I am still trying to figure out.  The story was interesting enough - while the Nazis have the city under siege, Lev and Kolya are arrested.  Instead of being executed for their crimes, they are told they can save their own lives by bringing a powerful Soviet colonel a dozen eggs to use in his daughter's wedding cake.  Simple enough, right?  If only the citizens were not literally starving to death, resorting to eating whatever questionable "food" they can get their hands on.  Eggs are not readily available even if one had the money to buy them.  It is part historical fiction, part buddy adventure.  The author has written screenplays and, to me, the book read like he was already adapting it for the film.  And one of the characters consistently annoyed me.  I don't know - I learned more details about the siege of Leningrad and the Russian side of WWII, and the book read pretty quickly, kept me wondering how they were going to get through and if they would find eggs ever - but I just didn't love it.  For the 2nd month in a row, I may be the outsider at book club who didn't like the book that much.

Baby Hats

Four more hats turned in last Monday (along with my giant bag of yarn).  I am working on one now that should be pretty cute but I made a mistake and am trying to decide if I just go with it and knit on or rip back to the boo-boo.  The hat is currently sitting in time-out while I decide.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 13 (6 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 13

Blog posts published– 14

Miles walked in April - 7.2

Miles walked in March - 51.17

               Miles walked year-to-date –136.16

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 20

Hours volunteered – 0

Eleven for 50 - Hygge House and Pi Day

 E has been working on fixing our floor and reinstalling the bookcase that does double duty as railing above the stairs.  This is a project probably long overdue but he has done a really nice job on it.  The floor no longer has a gap and the bookcase is getting beefed up with trim to make it look more built-in. This bookcase is where I have been keeping my cookbooks and also my to-be-read and recently-read books.  In the process of taking it out to fix the floor, we had to box up the books and that has given me a chance to cull the stack.  Unfortunately, I really like looking at, collecting and dreaming of using cookbooks so probably none are going away.  I look forward to putting them neatly back on the shelf and organizing them, though.

Spring-like weather means longer walks and I had been enjoying the morning walks in the sunlight, though now that daylight savings time has started, that will be over for awhile - back to darker walks before work.  Whoop-de-doo, it will be light later into the evening.  DST is dumb.  We took some longer walks the past couple days (I took a day off from work Friday just 'cuz) with our Nordic walking poles - 20-40% more energy burned just from walking I would already be doing.  I love the new poles and can feel that I am working muscles I don't normally use much when "regular" walking - arms, different leg muscles and core.

I finished 2 more books on the same day again.  Both really spoke to me where I am and how I feel right now.

Books 10 and 11

The Necessity of Empty Places by Paul Gruchow has been on my list to read since I read a chapter of it for a writing class in college.  It is essentially a collection of essays but are all connected by common theme - appreciating some of the vast seemingly-empty landscapes that we often overlook, with the eye and voice of a naturalist.  I love how Gruchow starts with a broad view - the sweep of the prairie, the spans of alpine tundra, the vast sandhills of Nebraska - and then turns it inward or microscopic.  Self-reflection or reflection on the American population at large is common.  Snippets of history might pop in - of the land, of a particular animal, of an explorer who recorded the area.  What may look like an endless empty nothing is teeming with flowers, grasses, bugs, birds and other animals.  If you are a person who disdains description and who needs a central cast of characters, a plot with a conflict-climax-resolution, chatty dialogue, this is not the book for you.  I will not pick this book for book club (I could almost hear at least one person saying that they flipped through the long pages of description, not realizing that the scene IS the main character), but I loved it so much and can't wait to read more by this author.

Book 11 was The Little Book of Hygge: Danish Secrets to Happy Living by Meik Wiking.  Hygge refers to finding comfort, pleasure, and warmth in simple, soothing things such as a cozy atmosphere or the feeling of friendship. Ironically, I read the book about hygge in a most un-hygge way - electronically.  I almost never read books on tablet or phone but found it the easiest way to get this one.  

The author's main point was that the concept of hygge explains why the Danes end up at or near the top of every "most happy" list year after year.  I think we all have learned to live a little more hyggelig during this pandemic - taking more pleasure in the simple things.  Home-cooked meal, small gatherings, board games, comfort items like blankets and hand-knit sweaters or scarves, books and a crackling fireplace.  These are all things I appreciate and turn out to be very hygge.  I was living hygge without even knowing it.  I think these last lines of the book summed it up nicely:

...hygge is about making the most of what we have in abundance: the everyday. Perhaps Benjamin Franklin said it best: "Happiness consists more in small conveniences or pleasures that occur every day, than in the great pieces of good fortune that happen but seldom."

Speaking of comfort in the everyday, we tried a recipe that was easy enough for a week night, and yet had enough potential for fancy that you could serve it to guests, too.  Recipe is from Whatsinthepan.com, and I served it with mashed potatoes and a veggie on the side.  Filling and delicious, and as I said, easy yet slightly fancy.

Recipe 10 - Boneless Pork Chops in Creamy White Wine Sauce

4 boneless pork chops (I only had 2 so that is what I made - I trimmed off the fat and mine were rather thick so took a bit longer to cook to 145 degrees internal temp/done)

2 T butter

Dredging mixture:

1/4 C all purpose flour

1/2 t garlic powder

1/2 t onion powder (I didn't have onion powder so used an additional 1/4 t garlic powder instead)

1 t Italian seasoning

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Sauce:

2 T butter

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 T flour (or use leftover flour from dredging which is what I did)

1/2 C dry white wine (I used cooking wine so I didn't have to open a bottle of "real" wine)

lemon juice (the original recipe says "1/4 lemon (juice of fresh lemon" which I didn't understand at all - I used about 2 T lemon juice)

1/2 C chicken stock or broth

1/2 C heavy (whipping) cream

1 t Italian seasoning

4 sprigs fresh thyme - leaves only (I used a 'shake-shake' of dried thyme instead)

Whisk together in a large bowl all ingredients under "dredging mixture" above.  Dredge chops thoroughly in the dry mixture, then heat 2 T butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat (next time I would use medium - I think the pan was too hot and the butter got too dark too quickly).  Once hot, sear chops by cooking for 3-4 minutes per side for a total of 6-8 minutes.  First side on medium high but then reduce to medium for 2nd side (see my note above).  Remove pork from heat and transfer to a plate. Cover to keep warm.

Return skillet to heat, add 2 T butter and minced garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes on medium (my garlic never takes as long to cook as recipes say - be careful not to burn it or let it get too dark).  Add flour to the butter/garlic and blend it in.  Next start pouring in wine while still on medium heat - about 1 minute (mine started foaming a bit and binding/thickening which was fine). Add chicken stock and heavy cream.  Squeeze a little bit of lemon into the pan, add thyme and Italian seasoning.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer 2-3 minutes.  Taste the sauce and add more seasoning, if necessary.

Reduce heat to low and return pork chops to pan.  Depending on thickness of your chops, you might just need to heat them a bit to make sure they are done (cook pork to 145 degrees internal temp, per my internet search).  Drizzle some of the sauce over chops and reheat on low for 2-3 minutes or until done.

We had a lot of extra sauce - E has been having a little with his lunch baked potato and chicken.

Eight for 50 - In which we eat and knit hats

 I am back - I didn't leave you or forget.  I was busy celebrating my four-day birthday extravaganza weekend.  More on that later but that is my excuse for posting twice within a couple of days, catching up without making one really loooong post.  This post is 2 new recipes and 6 hats.

When last I wrote, we were about to celebrate Valentine's Day and try a new recipe.  E made his traditional pan-seared steaks with bourbon-thyme sauce, and I made mashed potatoes (timing them so they are still hot when the steaks are ready is the biggest challenge with my contribution).  We shared a bottle of wine from Snowy Peaks Winery that we picked up on one of our trips to Rocky Mountain National Park, and I made a new recipe for dessert - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie that I had pinned from Julie's Eats and Treats blog.  I knew I wanted to make a skillet cookie, trying to recreate a Pizookie that we had in Sacramento one time.  The recipes I was finding were for different (smaller) cast iron pans than the ones I have, but this one fit the bill so I tried it.  I wanted the cookie to be hot and gooey when we ate it so didn't want to bake ahead of time. Also, I did not want to be messing up the kitchen, mixing cookie dough after eating a lovely dinner, so I made the dough in the afternoon and then refrigerated it.  That may have been a mistake.  Instead of taking 35 minutes to bake, it took more like 50.  It looked done at 35 (at least according to what Julie said it would look like) but it was RAW.  Overall, we liked it pretty well but it was not what we were hoping for.  Instead of pizookie, it was more like choc chip cookie bars that happened to be round and baked in a cast iron pan instead of a cake pan.  Next time I will make about 1/2 the dough, and then figure out how long to bake it from there.

Recipe Seven - Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookie

1 C butter, softened

1/2 C sugar

1 C brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 t vanilla

2 1/2 C flour

1 t cornstarch

1 t baking soda

1 3/4 C chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 325 deg.  Lightly grease oven-safe skillet (I used 10" cast iron, next time I might use larger, if I don't halve the recipe). 

In a large bowl (I used my stand mixer), beat butter for 1 minute on medium speedy until smooth and creamy.  Add both sugars and beat again on medium until light and fluffy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla on high (gradually go up to high - I got a lot of splash ramping up to high too fast) until combined, scraping sides of bowl as needed.  

In a separate medium-sized bowl, whisk flour, cornstarch and baking soda until combined.

Slowly mix into wet ingredients until combined (slowly and on slower speed - the flour flies otherwise and makes a mess.  Ask me how I know.)

Add chocolate chips and stir until evenly distributed.

Spread dough into skillet.  Bake 35 minutes or until browned on edges and light browned on top (center should be firm to touch - she said it would be gooey in the middle but mine was very raw).

Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes and serve (I cut mine into wedges - apparently she ate the whole thing with a spoon, starting in the middle.  We also topped it with a couple scoops of Halo Top Sea Salt Caramel ice cream.)

skillet cookie cooked "rare"

15 minutes later

yummy with ice cream

A couple days later, I had a hankering for some fish.  I don't make a lot of fish at home but love to eat fish and other seafood when we are cruising.  Sadly, our cruise was cancelled this year (and we were going to be cruising for the first time ever ON my birthday!), but I decided to try a new fish recipe at home.  Chili Lime Baked Cod sounded easy and it was!  It was also fairly delicious.  I served it with paprika roasted potatoes, which E liked with the lime butter.  It would also be very good over rice or wild rice.  Adapted from KeyIngredient.com.  It does need to sit for at least 30 minutes in the rub before cooking so plan ahead.

Recipe Eight - Chili Lime Baked Cod

1 t paprika

1 t dried parsley

1/2 t oregano

1/2 t chili powder

1/2 t garlic powder

1/4 t cumin

1/4 t salt (I used kosher)

1/4 t freshly ground black pepper

1/8 t cayenne pepper

2 T extra-virgin olive oil, divided

2 cod fillets (mine were about 3 oz each.  You could also use salmon, halibut, tilapia or other fish, and use bigger fillets.)

1 T unsalted butter

zest and juice of 2 limes (I only used juice of one which was plenty)

In a small bowl, combine all of the spices and mix well.

Using 1 T of olive oil, brush the cod filets on all sides and then rub the filets with spice mixture - use it all and coat well.

Refrigerate the fish for at least 30 minutes or up to 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450 deg.  Place cod on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake in oven for 10-12 minutes or until the fish flakes easily and is opaque throughout. (Mine took a little longer, though I suspect they were a bit thicker.)

Meanwhile in a small saucepan, melt the butter with the remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Add in the lime zest and juice and swirl the pan to mix. (I used the microwave and a glass measuring cup and instead of swirling, I whisked.)

Serve the cod over brown rice and corn, if desired, and top with the lime butter. (I poured a little of the lime butter sauce over the fish while still in pan, served cod alongside paprika roasted potatoes, and had side dipping bowls for extra sauce.)

I turned in 6 hats on 2/22 and completed 6 scrapbook pages over my birthday extravaganza weekend, plus got back to walking (and Nordic walking) on 2/18.  I also baked a birthday cake (new recipe!  Will be in the next post), and finished 3 more books (see next post for those as well).

I'll leave you now with pics of cute hats.

upside down cable hat in persimmon

Citrus inspired

2 more cute hats

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 9 (5 more in progress)

Recipes tried – 9

Blog posts published– 8

Miles walked in February – 32.76

                Miles walked year-to-date –76.53

Scrap book pages completed –12

Hats donated – 12

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read again (hopefully in the next couple of days),

Hallie

Four for 50 - Taking risks, breaking rules and having fun

What did you do this last week?  I made some hats, did some scrap booking, walked, read, cooked, watched an inaugeration (discovered I cannot spell inauguration correctly the first time I type it ever), was inspired by a young poet, and then wasted spent a whole lot of time looking at Bernie Mitten memes.  One of my favorite is this one: 

Back to the inauguration, though.  I clapped, I got a little teary, I felt a giant sense of relief.  I admire Amy Klobuchar and enjoyed seeing her leading and smiling.  I watched history being made as VP Harris took the oath (and cringed as Justice Sotomayor mispronounced her name).  I was in awe at the enormity of President Biden's very old family Bible (and was afraid someone was going to drop it).  And then Amanda Gorman left me speechless with her words.  Amazed, I found myself wanting to try writing poetry.  Maybe next year.

Book 4

Betsy-Tacy by Maud Hart Lovelace - I thought I had somehow missed this classic as a child but as I read it, I had a vague recollection of having read it before.  It was really a very sweet story of 2 little girls who are best friends.  They have imaginative adventures in a time that seems much simpler, in a town Deep Valley which is a fictionalized version of Mankato, MN.  I am going to also ready Betsy-Tacy and Tib this year.  Maybe I'll continue with the series some other time.

Hats 1-6

Last Monday I turned in 3 hats and saw some of my knitting friends whom I haven't seen in 2 years.  Sometimes my job gets in the way of the rest of my life, so I had taken time off from baby hats for awhile.  I happened to meet Helen as I was going into the community center and she was coming out.  She somehow recognized me with my hat and mask on, so we chatted briefly.  I should tell you that the group I knit with is called Knitting Grandmas (and friends!) and when I am not there, the average age is about 75.  Helen is a dear soul who always tells me her memory is not as good as it used to be, and her hearing is getting bad, and oh, yes, her back hurts. She always remembers my name and chats with me (even when we are supposed to be quiet) and when we used to gather, she would save me a seat.  Today when I walked in with 3 more hats in hand, I was running late and the other hats were already packed but at least 4 ladies recognized me, called me by name and acted as if they had known I would be there and they had been waiting for me.  It is good to be remembered.  Also, I love people who pronounce my name correctly.

Scrapbook 1-6

I spent a good part of the weekend working on my scrap book, completing 6 pages.  That doesn't sound like a lot but I am pleased with the pages, so that is something.  Here is one page I did, working on Glacier/Yellowstone trip from 2014.

 Recipe Four

Another new recipe this week - it was a quick one, an everyday type meal.  I liked it but didn't LOVE it, and I would make it again, probably with 12 oz of pasta instead of 16 and maybe a couple of tweaks to the recipe. It was a recipe I had pinned a while ago and found again when I search for ground beef recipes - Jen Around the World posted the recipe.  I am retyping here with some modifications I made.

Easy Mongolian Ground Beef Noodles

1lb lean ground beef

4 t minced ginger (our store was out of fresh ginger so I subbed in dried ground ginger)

6 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3-4, I think.  Actually E browned the beef and added ginger and garlic.)

1/2 C low sodium soy sauce (make sure to use low sodium or I think it would be way too salty)

1/2 C beef broth (I might consider using water vs. broth next time, as it was bordering on too salty)

6 T hoisin sauce (do they make this low sodium?  Might not be a bad idea to use that version)

1/2 t red pepper flakes

1/2 t black pepper

1 box (1 pound) linguine noodles (Jen Around the World did not say what size box - I guessed)

4 green onions, diced for garnish (did not add these)

Toasted seasame seeds for garnish (forgot all about these)

Brown the ground beef with ginger and garlic until cooked through, breaking it up into small pieces.  Drain any fat.

Meanwhile, cook noodles according to instruction. "Be sure to salt water well so your noodles soak up that flavor" (I would skip this in the future - see above notes about saltiness). 

Combine the remaining ingredients (except garnishes) in a small bowl, then pour into ground beef.  

Let the sauce and meat cook together for a couple minutes to allow beef to absorb the flavors.

Drain noodles and then add to the ground beef mixture.  Mix thoroughly and cook for a couple more minutes to allow the sauce to thicken.

Top with green onions and seasame seeds.

Makes 8 servings (or 6 bigger servings).

It was ok as leftovers but is best eaten the same day, I thought.  And I definitely didn't want to eat it 4 nights in a row, just because the noodles get a little rubbery the longer they sit.

That's all for tonight, friends.  I am tired.  Someday I'll get some more reflections of 2020 in here.  I really want to tell you about some of the reading highlights from last year.  Maybe next post.

Fifty for 50 Tally

Books completed – 4 (4 more started)

Recipes tried – 4

Blog posts published– 4

Miles walked in January –39.2

                Miles walked year-to-date –39.2

Scrap book pages completed –6

Hats donated – 6

Hours volunteered – 0

Until we read and eat again,

Hallie