A Lemon Kind of Day

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade . . .

Or set a pretty table to enjoy your new Citrus Salad Plates from Williams-Sonoma . . .

And some of your other favorite lemony things.

Like the lemon embroidered napkins that a friend gave you . . .

To go with the little lemon bowls that she found, I think, at Pier1 a while back.

These plates are so fresh looking, my mouth is puckering just thinking about lemons!

But, what can you make besides lemonade with this wonderful fruit?

Well, Crab Cakes, with a Remoulade Sauce and a squirt of lemon juice might be the very thing . . .

Followed by some Lemon Vegetable Rice . . .

And ending with Lemon Mousse.  I took the Silver Palate recipe for Lime Mousse and simply replaced limes with lemons.  Here's the recipe posted a while back:  Lime Mousse.  It was sublime!

Despite all the lemons, the taste was subtle in each of the dishes and left us feeling refreshed.  And now, I wish I had seen this quote before I started:  "When life gives you lemons, it's time to do Tequila Shots."  (Or Lemon Meringue Pie, or Lemon Squares, or . . . ).

Lemon Tablescape

How many of you remember the “If You Give a Mouse a Cookie” story from your children's childhood?  My husband and I must have read this story - and its sequels (“If You Give a Moose a Muffin,” “If You Give a Pig a Pancake”) a hundred times!  And, ahem! we only did it for the kids, not because we enjoyed it in the least.  Oh, what fun times!

And now, I've created my own version.  It goes like this:  If you give Maria a Lemon Thyme herb plant,

the variegated Lemon Thyme that she can find locally only at Trader Joe's every other year . . .

chances are she's going to want to bake something special . . .

like the Citrus Loaf Cake from Rattlebridge Farm . . . 

When she makes the cake, she'll realize she needs to put together a table to go with it.  

She'll want to use her Botanical Citrus Salad plates from Williams-Sonoma, featuring limes . . .

blood oranges . . . 

grapefruits . . .

and, of course, lemons!

To complete the table, she'll realize she needs a nice centerpiece . . .

Some lemony yellow roses interspersed with creamy whites . . .

Set on a vase surrounded by lemon slices . . .

Once the table is set, she'll want to invite some friends for lunch . . .

  

If she invites some friends, it'll dawn on her that she's now going to have to prepare some food, because, unfortunately, it won't magically appear on the plates.  She makes a nice arugula salad with shaved Parmesan cheese and dressed with a lemon vinaigrette . . .

using her precious olive oil, bought in Italy last year while she was traveling in Tuscany.

Then, she'll prepare one of her favorite dishes:  Chicken Marbella, from the Silver Palate Cookbook.

The chicken is prepared with yummy treats like olives, capers, prunes, garlic, oregano, and, of course, more precious olive oil . . . All those good things that remind her of the Mediterranean . . .

Then it's sprinkled with brown sugar, which will caramelize during baking and flavor the chicken beautifully . . .

Once the chicken is done, she'll need to turn her attention to the beverages, and, since her mind is still taking a short trip back to Italy, Pallini Palmers seem perfect for the occasion!

Made with her favorite Arnold Palmer recipe, and adding a generous portion of Pallini Limoncello.

It's a perfect summer drink!

There are a lot of lemons in this post, but as Mae West once famously said:  “Too much of a good thing can be wonderful!”

She and her guests can glance at her flowering clematis in the backyard, just to cleanse their visual palate . . .

Her friends will come and share the food, the drinks, and some lovely conversation on a beautiful summer afternoon . . .

And chances are . . . she'll have so much fun, she'll want to do it again and again!

Tea Bread Tuesday: Lemon Poppy Seed Bread with Lemon Glaze

I am devoted to Mr. Lime, I really am . . . and it seems disloyal to go flirting with his sunny cousin, Mr. Lemon, at the first sign of trouble.  Alas, Mr. Lime is making himself very dear this summer, what with the terrible crop we've had . . . bad winter!  So when life gives you lemons . . . we must make the best of it . . .  I'm such a tramp!  But a bread like this one can make you re-think your loyalties . . . It . . . is . . . DELICIOUS!  So moist, so lemony . . . and the hint of almonds doesn't hurt one bit!  You must try it!  This might be the beginning of a beautiful ménage à trois . . .

Here's the recipe:

For the bread:

1½ cup all-purpose flour

1¼ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

¾ cup of half and half

½ cup vegetable oil

2 large eggs, slightly beaten

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1½ teaspoon almond extract

2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest (1 large lemon = approx. 1 tbsp. grated lemon zest)

For the glaze:

1/3 cup sugar

3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

¼ teaspoon almond extract

½ tablespoon butter

Preheat oven to 350º F.  Grease and flour a 9” x 5” loaf pan.  Set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and poppy seeds.  With electric mixer, add the wet ingredients, one at a time, until they have all been incorporated.  Beat for one additional minute.  Pour into the prepared loaf pan and bake for approximately 50 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, with a few crumbs clinging to the toothpick.

While bread is baking, prepare the glaze.  In a small saucepan, combine all the ingredients and cook over low heat until the sugar is dissolved.  When the bread is done, let cool in the pan for a few minutes, but while still hot invert into a wire rack, and then back into a serving tray.  Brush glaze immediately over the warm bread, on top and on the sides.  Use all the glaze, the bread will absorb most of it.  For best taste, make it the night before and the bread will be ever so moist and flavorful!  Enjoy!

Lemon Blueberry Bread

A springtime favorite:  Lemon Blueberry Bread.  I took it to work and it was gone in the blink of an eye!

Here's the link for the recipe:  Lemon Blueberry Bread

Tea Bread Tuesday: Amaretto Cake

Who would have thought that there were so many variations for David's Cake?

From Linda (More Fun Less Laundry) - Add a little Kahlua

From Pat (The View Through My Lens) - Use Lemon Cake Mix and Lemon Instant Pudding

From Co-worker Diana - Add a cup of miniature chocolate chips and ¾ C. Bailey's Irish Cream

From Friend Sue - Use yellow cake mix and Pistachio Instant Pudding

And here's one more variation - Amaretto Cake:

Cake:

1 pkg. yellow cake mix
¾ C. Amaretto di Saronno
½ C. water
¼ teaspoon almond extract
4 eggs
1 pkg. instant vanilla pudding
1 C. sour cream

Glaze:

6 tablespoons Amaretto di Saronno
1 C. powdered sugar

Pre-heat oven to 325°F.  Grease and flour a bundt pan, or spray with PAM for Baking.  Combine cake ingredients and mix well until the lumps are gone.  Pour mixture into bundt pan and bake 40-45 minutes until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Let cool in bundt pan for about 10 minutes.  Invert on serving plate and allow to cool completely.  Prepare glaze and pour over cake.

This cake is going to have you singing "O Sole Mio."

Tea Bread Tuesday: Cranberried Lemon Yogurt Bread

I was very proud of myself with this one: I didn't have to purchase a single item to make this bread. Do you ever have one of those days when you are determined to clean out your pantry because you are tired of looking at the same item day after day, week after week . . . month after month . . . (cringe!) . . . ? Well, I confess, those Craisins had been sitting in my cabinet since Christmas. Then the lemons . . . I paid 50¢ for each a week ago, and, unlike my $3 lime spree of a month ago, this dollar weighed heavily on my conscience . . . Then, I had a fourth of a tub of plain non-fat yogurt left in the fridge, just enough for one cup . . . exactly what this recipe called for . . .

You would never guess that this was a "left-over" solution. The bread was simply delicious! It was moist, had a fine texture - I'm finding that I generally prefer a fine texture in my tea breads - and the flavor was just right!

The Ocean Spray website has many excellent cranberry recipes. Here's the link, if you'd like to try it: http://oceanspray.com/recipes/Cranberried_Lemon_Yogurt_Bread.aspx?id=258&nid=5

A Year of Tea Breads

I just watched the film Julie and Julia. I know, where have I been? This is particularly sad because my first cookbook was “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” and I love Julia Child's recipes, although I've never attemped to make every single one of them, like Julie in the movie does.

Instead, I am now inspired with a different goal: I will dedicate one day a week for the next year to making tea bread. I like tea breads. I like their simplicity, evoking everything good about home life: A rainy afternoon with a cup of tea and a slice of strawberry bread . . . a snowy January day with a cup of hot chocolate and a slice of apple bread . . .This concentrated effort is my attempt to make all of the tea bread recipes that I've collected through the years and never got around to trying out. So, that's 52 weeks, 52 recipes; a modest goal, compared to Julie's effort, but a realistic one for me. This feature will appear on the blog on Tuesdays - Tea Bread Tuesday. I hope you'll stop in and visit.

I'm so excited that this first entry, Blueberry Lemon Bread, also happens to be a winner!


The lemon flavor is subtle, it's not overly sweet, and the texture is fine. Very moist! I'll make this one again (but not this year).

I got this one from allrecipes.com. Here's the link: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/blueberry-lemon-bread-2/Detail.aspx.