Merry Christmas

This weekend was pretty mellow yet eventful at the same time.  Sean worked a 72 from Thurs thru Sat so I got some of my last minute shopping done, had dinner with a cousin in town from Colorado and cleaned the house and got it ready for Christmas Day. Christmas Eve I went and had dinner with my Grandma. My brother went to his future in laws to celebrate and my parents were in Cabo, so I decided to make the short trek up to Culver City so that my Grandma didn't have to spend Christmas Eve by herself. We had pea soup and tamales (her neighbors dropped some off just as we were sitting down to eat so we had to give them a try!). I was in charge of bringing dessert so I made some lemon bars that my Grandma gave me a recipe for years ago which were delish! Christmas Day we spent part of the morning with Sean's mom, then came home, made breakfast, exchanged our own gifts and took a nap and had an overall lazy afternoon. Around 4 Sean's dad, his fiance, my brother and Nicki came by and we had dinner- pulled chicken tacos. It was a great night- all that was missing from this Christmas was my parents, but they were sitting on a beach in Cabo, enjoying a Christmas margarita I'm sure! It was a great little Christmas- only one hiccup- at around 10pm, Sean and I came down with some food poisoning till about 4:30 that morning, so needless to say, the day after Christmas was a lazy one. Hopefully everyone had a great day with their family and friends. Next up, New Year's!

Luscious Lemon Bars

Luscious Lemon Bars

Crust
1 cup all purpose flour
3/4 up Kretschmer Wheat Germ (if you can't find this, crumbed graham crackers work as well)
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/3 cup (5 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon) margarine, softened

Filling
2 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose four
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 3/4 teaspoons grated lemon peel
Powdered sugar for dusting

Heat oven to 350. Lightly spray bottom of 13x9 inch baking pan with no-stick cooking spray. Combine crust ingredients in large bowl. Mix on low speed of electric mixer until well blended (mixture will be crumbly). Firmly press crumbs onto bottom of pan. Bake 15 min.

*note: make sure the butter is softened and well distributed in the crust or you will end up with dry patches in your crust and it will fall apart when you cut the lemon bars*

For filling, combine sugar, flour, and baking powder in large bowl. Add eggs, blend well. Gently stir in lemon juice and peel. Carefully pour over hot crust, and bake 25-30 minutes or until edges are light golden brown and filling is set.

Cool completely. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and cut into squares. (if not cooled completely, it will not cut well).

Enjoy!