Pavlovas + Lemon Curd

This weekend I finally had time to make the lemon curd I have been wanting to try. I also had a great excuse since our friends were coming over to grill up some dinner with us. Putting the lemon curd on top of the light and fluffy Pavlovas is just heavenly, but I am also in for eating it on toast, waffles, or just a spoon.  

I looked at a few different versions of these recipes, and kind of compiled my own version of the lemon curd that was perfectly tart and not too sweet.  One recipe suggested putting the lemon zest and sugar in the food processor so that the oil could infuse the sugar.  Since I hadn't made this before, I'm not sure if it made it any different than any other method, but it smelled amazing. 

After adding the zest of 3 lemons to the 1 1/2 cups of sugar, cream in 2 sticks of butter.  Once that is creamed nicely, add a 1/2 cup of lemon juice and a bit of vanilla extract and put it on the stove and stir until it begins to thicken (about 10 min.)  Then voila, tart, sweet golden amazingness.

                                       

Are egg whites not just amazing?  I went on a meringue cookie kick over Christmas and have been in love withe marshmallow center/light crispy outside ever since.  The only difference between this and the basic meringue cookie recipe was the addition on 1/2 tsp. of corn starch.  I could eat the pavlovas alone and be happy, but topping them with the lemon curd created the perfect kick off to summer dessert. 

It was a great weekend filled with great friends, family, and food.  One more week of teaching before the summer celebration can really begin.  I am definitely looking forward to more meals like this.  I will really be dreaming of lazy cook outs and lemony desserts as I push through this last week of work.  Welcome summer! 

Snack Supper Part 2

Sunday snack supper was awesome this week! I needed it too.  It had been a long hard week at work.  So enjoying a Sunday night eating good food with friends and watching some "Game of Thrones" instead of stressing about the week to come was just what I needed to wrap up a great weekend. One of my husband's co-workers had given us a huge bag of fresh dill from her garden, and I was excited to use it.  So I decided to whip up a nice dill dip with some Greek yogurt.  It went perfectly with all of our snacking items. Our fellow snackers brought wraps with hummus and all the fixings.  So we piled on olives, lettuce, the dill dip and anything else that struck our fancy.  We were all in love with the spicy guacamole, and don't even get me started on the amazing chocolate covered pecans. 

Tiny's Baby Blanket

Two of my favorite people had their first baby last night.  I can't wait to meet her!  I started making them a baby blanket when I found out she was pregnant.  When I heard the baby was going to be here a bit earlier than expected, I had to knit like crazy to finish it up before she arrived.  I love this lace pattern, "pine forrest baby blanket" from ravelry.com

The color is not done justice in these pictures, but the color I chose is a rich teal.  This is the baby of two rockstars, so I didn't think that the classic pink or yellow would do. I think that this color is much more their style and will match her light grey nursery perfectly.  I can't wait to deliver  this and meet the new baby girl!

Summer Sunday Snack Supper

 Every Sunday, we gather with our awesome friends to watch Game of Thrones. ("Winter is coming.")  Since we are all teachers, this Sunday night ritual is doing a lot to keep us motivated through the end of the school year.  Sunday nights can be such "back to work" drudgery, but  having this Sunday evening plan has done a lot to boost our back to work moral.


Part of our evening, or any of our hang outs for that matter, is some good food.  Sometimes I like to cook a nice meal on a Sunday, but as the weather gets warmer (which happens in May in Austin by the way), I am a fan of throwing together a snack supper.  Our friends brought some delicious stuff last night as they always do, and combined with the contents of my fridge, pantry and some wine, we had a pretty amazing meal.  


I am in full support of this being a summer tradition. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for some great snacks to bring to the table next week.  

Lemons

Why have I never fully appreciated lemons before? Maybe it's because I look terrible in yellow and have known to avoid it or risk looking like I am ill.  Though I still don't have the skin tone to rock a yellow dress, I just realized how brilliant they are in everything.  My husband's coworker had a dinner party and made homemade lemon curd with pavlovas for dessert and I am now officially hooked.  I almost fear making my own lemon curd because I know that if that jar of sweet lemony goodness is in the fridge, I will put it on top of everything. Here is the recipe I am wanting to try from bakedbree.com.   So for now, I will stick to a healthier dose of lemon until I have people coming over to help me eat the lemon curd.  Tell me this doesn't look delicious....Lemon Curd Recipe from Baked Bree

So since I am going to refrain from making large amounts of lemon curd (for now), I will focus on lemon in dinner as opposed to dessert form first.  I have made this fantastic and simple dish twice and will be making it again soon.  I love the simple combo of whole wheat pasta, wilted spinach, sweet peas, and creamy lemon sauce. The Kitchn (www.thekitchn.com) has some amazing recipes, and I love that they have a section of quick and delicious dishes I can manage after a long day at work. Go buy a few great lemons and give this a  try...Creamy Lemon Pasta with Spinach and Peas from The Kitchn