When you have lemons, make Lemon Bars!

No meal is complete without a little dessert, and for my spaghetti and meatball dinner there was a whole lot of dessert! A 9" x 13" cake pan full of lemon bars was enough dessert for probably 10-15 people! Well, maybe 10-15 girls...3 grown men could wolf them down pretty easily! I don't own a food processor, so after beating the crust batter with an electric mixer, I just molded it together with my hands until it had the consistency almost of cookie dough. It was actually really easy for me, but I am starting to realize that maybe some of my projects are no longer what I would consider beginner baking... I guess I forget what it was like to never know what they want or what it was supposed to look like. It means I have improved, but that this blog may no longer be just a college-age girl struggling to figure out how to cook. It may actually be about sharing a passion for cooking that is increasing everyday with every new ingredient or recipe that comes my way. 

On the other hand, making this big meal on Sunday was truly exhausting. Waiting for everything to cook so I could put the next thing in the oven, worrying about times and temperatures... it was a little stressful. I hope in the future I can plan my meals better so that both dinner and dessert do not require the use of the oven - even though it is by far my favorite kitchen appliance. That I even have a favorite kitchen appliance! It is such a change from a year ago when most of the meals I ate were at the Campus Dining Hall and I thought I was doing well when I cooked pasta in a hot pot and sauteed vegetables from the salad bar. In the past few weeks, I have been doing a lot of reflecting on my cooking and it really has become a major hobby of mine - I love experimenting with food in my free time, but also sharing food with others and learning how to accommodate everyone's dietary needs and desires. If I could find a meal that would satisfy vegetarians, avoid allergies, be kosher and most of all be healthy. It probably doesn't exist...

Wow I got way excited for a second there...I need to calm down about food...