Sunday, November 26, 2006

lemon squares & my first cookbook

i sometimes wonder if people remember what their first cookbook was. i know almost everyone either bought or was given one at some point in his/her life. i also wonder if it was even kept, perhaps tucked away somewhere to be dusted off at some point in the future or sitting on the shelf with the rest of the cookbooks.

being a reformed confirmed packrat, i kept mine.

and, eventhough it's bent up and yellowed, it still brings back good memories of time long gone.

carbon dated prenigellian artifact

no, there are no fancy pictures or 70 dollar price tag attached. in fact, it only cost a whopping 60 cents when i was in grade 3. i have to tell you, this book was the book to have when you were in the third grade at that time. not only did you get the schulz cartoons to go with it, you also got to have fun in the kitchen and eat your experiments.

now, i often groan when it comes to the daily grind of figuring out what to cook and actually having to do it. oh no, not back then. i couldn't wait to try another recipe, probably driving my mother crazy and making a mess of the clean kitchen. who could resist with recipes such as carrots everyone likes, frieda's french toast, and everybody's chocolate soda? i admit, i passed up making peppermint patty's prunewhip [blech! c'mon what kid do you know would WANT to eat that?? what were you thinking, peppermint patty!?!].

i will leave you with one of the best recipes from the book. these have been my all-time favourite. all these years later, i am still making them. but add more lemon juice if like them sour!

i'll let you know .... while they are easy to make, they aren't too difficult to finish off the day you make them either! baker beware.


follow the instructions and you will be well-rewarded with these —



here is the simple step by step:

* i would suggest only adding the powdered sugar when you serve these squares as the moisture from the topping tends to be absorbed by the icing sugar over time.

* these can also be made non-dairy by using parve margarine. of course, butter is better as they always say but when you can't, margarine is the next best.

* if you like your lemon squares very lemony, increase the amount of lemon juice.

now put your nickel in lucy's jar and have a lemon square.

16 comments:

aja said...

Hey BB,
I love lemon squares - the sourer the better mmmmmmm 8^)

burekaboy — said...

aja, me too! i like them quite sour; this recipe is only medium sour so you need to increase the acidity by adding more.

Anonymous said...

Oh boy!, you had to do the right finale with lucy's coins but I guess is ok since this recipe seems easy and a lemon lover deluxe.

I know what you mean when childs bake. My sister used to have one of those little oven toys where you could bake barely something the size of a 1/4 pancake and you had to wait almost 30 minutes to see the horrendous results, but hey! thats all about baking for dummies 101!.

By the way pretty cat the one you got.

burekaboy — said...

roberto - LOL. lucy made me do it! i loved lucy actually — she was one tough chick. her lemon squares are really good, too. ;-P

i remember that easybake oven. all the girls had them and were baking those cupcakes that tasted nasty. who would have thought you could actually bake something with a lightbulb.

burekaboy — said...

hey courtney - i love these kinds of recipes, too. nothing beats lemon squares! :-] lucy rocks! LOL.

thanks for stopping by!

jasmine said...

Hi BB

V. lovely post. The book is familiar. I wonder if I had it at one point or if it was referenced in one of my Peanuts Jubilee collections.

My first cookbook was one I helped write...it was part of our Grade Four unit on apples and we each supplied our own favourite apple recipes.

j

burekaboy — said...

hi jasmine - wouldn't be surprised if you have the book. i remember it being quite popular amongst the kids' crowds.

wow, i completely forgot about those kinds of cookbooks from school. i'm sure we did one or two in elementary. i still have some stories i wrote that were "published" in a school paper.

hope you're feeling better these days.

TopChamp said...

yum! They look great. I'll try them after I've finished the Christmas cake I'm planning to make at some point very soon... (have been planning it for about 3 weeks so far - getting a bit late now).

I put a picture of my first cookery book up today.

Anonymous said...

Hey..... add me too to the lemon brigade :P...... It sounds so simple burekaboy...... And very lemony :D

burekaboy — said...

topchamp - thanks for stopping by and actually taking the time to post a picture of your first cook(ery)book & the link! so nice of you. good wishes to you and kandinski.

rooma! - they are indeed lemonolicious. hope you try :]

Emily DeVoto, Ph.D., said...

Burekaboy, what a kick - I checked, and YES! I still have my first, _The Pooh Cook Book_, by Virginia H. Ellison, which my grandmother gave me when I was 9. I'm sure we made Poohandpiglet Pancakes, and probably a Jelly Omelet (mm, I don't think I liked that) and Colored Honey. There are lots of honey recipes, as you can imagine.

This is a great blog - I put very little effort into my recipe blog (http://recipesatrandom.blogspot.com), but I'm glad to enjoy the fruits of your labor!

Cheers!

burekaboy — said...

hi emily! welcome. i am glad you stopped by.

thanks for taking the time and checking that - what a nice little cookbook to have received from your grandmother! i've not seen that one. what in the world is coloured honey?! sounds interesting. jelly omelet? umm, nope. lol.

your blog is gorgeous! i shall be back!

ML said...

I adore lemon squares! At one time, I bet I can eat a whole pan by myself.

burekaboy — said...

ml - this is so easy to finish all by yourself [a friend and i ate them all in one day]!! that's why i don't make them often. i like to think they're even better cause it's lucy's recipe!

Sharon Pickering said...

When I read this I felt a deja vu. And sure enough, we have that cookbook...or rather my daughter does which means I bought it for her!

BTW, I have just been released from the hold of the ice storm that took our internet away...I'm surfing like a pro now! Hopefully it will stay up now.
peace...
annie

burekaboy — said...

hey annie,

what's the deal with the ice storms everywhere?! glad to hear your power is back and you are connected back to the universe!

that's funny you're daughter has that book. guess it was pretty popular because i found a story recently about a reporter who had the same book and made these lemon squares! see the links below for funny coincidence.

nice to see you again!