Virtual Running Date No. 24: Small victories and dessert

Good morning, Crushers!

Do you ever have a day where you feel like you didn't do much? If we were on a virtual running date today, I would tell you how it's important to count all the small victories when you're having a blah day. For instance, since I'm teaching a class this semester, I have to get to work really early on the non-class days to carpool with Steve and make up my hours. On these days, I want to give myself a high five if my clothes all match and I get makeup on my face before 8 a.m. Never mind that I was putting mascara on at my desk...

This weekend wasn't a terribly busy weekend, and I'm glad. We needed some time to just mellow out. Friday night we stayed home (didn't have to tape a game/scout), ate dinner, and watched TV. I'm pretty sure I didn't move very far from the couch except to do the dishes. High five - the dishes got done!

Saturday we got up and ran part of the Ice Age Trail in the Holy Hill segment to find a boardwalk/bridge that Steve wanted to check out. We didn't realize what treacherous hills and overgrowth would hinder us. High five - I didn't totally wipe out after hitting that rock.

We also got to do a few things around the house, Steve helped my parents take some stuff to the dump and I celebrated the bride-to-be, Jenny, with some friends at her low-key bachelorette party. We went to this Arte Wine and Painting Studio where you can either take classes, use instructions or paint freestyle. High five - I didn't get any paint on my clothes!

It's supposed to be "The Wisdom Tree", but ended up looking more like a candy tree.

Sunday, we went to church where we had the most beautiful Unity Sunday (where we only have one service for everyone in the school gym). The bell choir played (high five - I didn't miss a note except the one I purposely skip), the choirs sang, the Chinese outreach choir sang in Chinese, no one fainted from heat, the microphones worked and over 500 people praised God. HIGH FIVE!

Although the Packers didn't win (Steve says there are 6 plays that either make or break a game), we watched the game, ate Greek burgers stuffed in pita pockets (delish!), and made a dessert with just enough ingredients that neither of us had to go to the grocery store for. High five!

Overall it was a pretty great weekend. We got so much done, even if it was just the little things.

Oatmeal Chocolate Raisin Bars:
(adapted from Chocolate Chip Bars from the Entenmann's Big Book of Baking)
Oat mix:
1 cup flour
1 cup quick cooking oats
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (one stick) butter, softened to almost melted (about 20 seconds in the microwave)

Filling:
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 cup raisins
1 cup chocolate chips

Gear you'll need: A big bowl, a 13x9 pan (greased), a big spoon, can opener, measuring cups and spoons

Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place the butter in the big bowl and pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds. Using the butter wrapper, grease your baking pan. Take the bowl out of the microwave and add the flour, sugar and oats. Mix until it has the consistency of wet sand and oats. Press all but 1/2 cup of the oat mix into the bottom of the pan using your hands.

Oat Crust

Rinse out the big bowl (why make another bowl dirty?) and mix all of the filling ingredients together. Pour that on top of the oat crust and spread it out. Sprinkle the saved oat mix over that. Bake in the oven for 25-ish minutes (I think mine turned out to be about 28 minutes because I didn't hear the timer go off right away). Let it cool for at least 20-30 minutes before slicing into bars or it'll stick to the knife and make a mess.

Note: the original recipe called for chopped nuts, but we didn't have any, nor are we chopped nuts kind of people. It also says to spread the sweetened condensed milk out before topping with the chocolate chips, but I misread the directions. It turns out fine if you stir everything together!

Enjoy!

In a lemon mood

Good morning Crushers!

If you knew me in real life, as opposed to blog life, you would know that I really like the color yellow. I wear it a lot. Yes, I realized that I wore it at the race and it made me look like a highlighter. Anyway, most yellow things make me happy: Post-it(R) notes, lemonade, sunshine, Julia Child roses, my first pair of running shoes, highlighters, my horseshoes, sunfish, and the sweater I'm wearing right now. One of my most favorite scents in the world is lemons.

We had a potluck lunch yesterday, and I must not be the only one who loves lemons. For the dessert section, there were lemonade brownies (need that recipe!), lemon cake slices, lemonade dip with graham cookies and I made lemon bars. Geesh! That's a lot of lemon! And it was soooooooo good...

Ever since we started having nice weather (which is GONE today - rain, rain and more rain), I have been hungry for lemon bars. They are the perfect blend of sweet and tart. They're a great addition to any cookout, too.

I have recently become a huge fan of Thistlewood Farms blog by KariAnne. I dream of a house like her gorgeous farm house. I'm also really excited to see what they do with the gate house. Have no idea what I'm talking about? Go read. I'll wait.

Back? Great! You love her mantle-scapes too?! I knew we were friends.

Anyway, just a little while ago, KariAnne posted about making Lemon Lime Bars. They looked so good that I knew this was what I needed to make for the potluck. There was only one problem. I failed to shop ahead and forgot to buy limes. It was also about 9:15 at night when I started making them and I just couldn't make myself run out to the store. Ugh!

Instead I just made lemon bars, and you know what? I left work yesterday with an empty pan! They were loved by all! No one knew they were supposed to be lemon and lime, so it was a hit just as lemon bars. Phew!

You can follow the link to KariAnne's Lemon Lime Bars (originally from www.bhg.com) if you want the full recipe. Or you can see below for how I made them.

Lemon Bars
Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup powdered sugar

2 Tbsp. cornstarch

1/4 tsp. salt

3/4 cup butter, softened and cut up (that's a stick and a half)

4 eggs, lightly beaten

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup milk (don't use skim unless that's all you've got handy)

3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

2 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel

2/3 cup lemon juice

Gear you'll need: 13 x 9 inch pan, cooking spray (or use the butter wrappers), measuring spoons and cups, a big bowl, a whisk, and a hand grater or lemon zester.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly coat the pan with cooking spray or use the butter wrappers to grease the pan. In a big bowl, combine the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, salt and butter for the crust. Make sure you cut the butter in chunks for easier mixing. KariAnne used a pastry cutter to mix all of those ingredients. You could also use a butter knife to repeatedly "cut" through the batter until it resembles large crumbles. Or, if you're like me and don't have a pastry cutter or the patience to use a butter knife, make sure your hands are very clean and just dig in by taking large handfuls of the mix and squeezing it. Squeeze, and let go. Squeeze, and let go. Repeat that until you have the large crumbles.

Press the crust into the greased pan by hand until it is firmly pressed down. Pop that in the oven for about 15 minutes. It won't look browned when you take it out. Don't let that fool you, it'll be hot!

It's OK if it's a little lumpy looking. You'll pour lemon mix over it and it'll be smooth.

While the crust is in the oven, rinse out the bowl that you just used and dry it. Seriously? Why make one more dish dirty? Anyway, combine the lemon topping ingredients in the bowl in order. Eggs (whisk them), granulated sugar, milk, flour, lemon peel and lemon juice. Here is a tip about the lemon peel or zest: be sure that you are only getting the yellow part and not too much of the white of the peel. In order to do this, only make 2-3 passes with the lemon against the peeler in any spot. One, two, three and rotate the lemon. Repeat until you have enough zest and an albino-looking lemon. 

Another tip: be sure to keep your finger tips away from the grater or you'll need a bandage.

Normally, I'm all, "As long as it makes it in the bowl, who cares what order they go in?" But this time, I suggest that you really do put them in order because it makes stirring each thing easier. Otherwise, the lemon peel gets clumpy with the sugar or the flour gets lumpy. Ugh. Just do me a favor, and save yourself the aggravation! Whisk them all together and enjoy how your kitchen smells while you wait for the crust.

Once you pull the crust from the oven, pour the lemon mix over the hot crust. Don't let the crust cool! Bake for 20-22 minutes or until the lemon mix has set. If you take the pan out of the oven and the lemon jiggles when you shake it, put it back in for a few minutes and check again. The lemon should have an even creamy yellow color. If the edges are a little brown, that's fine! 

Fresh from the oven!

For easiest serving, let the whole pan cool overnight or for a few hours in the fridge. It will slice up a lot easier that way! Sprinkle the top with some more powdered sugar because it tastes good and looks pretty, or keep it more tart and omit the powdered sugar topping. Slice up, serve, and prepare to make more because these won't last long!