Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Citrus Bars

I happen to come across this recipe at a food.com. The recipe was posted by justmeterri, but I did modify the recipe just a bit. These citrus bars are very good. They had a nice lemony flavor to them.




Citrus Bars

Crust:

2-1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
1 cup butter

Topping:
4 eggs, beaten
2 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons orange juice
1-1/2 teaspoons lemon zest
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
confectioners' sugar (for sprinkling on top the bars)

To make the crust:
In a bowl combine together, the flour and confectioners' sugar.  Cut in butter; mix until mixture becomes crumbly and clings together. Press crust mixture into a 13x9x2-inch baking pan.  Place baking pan in a preheated 350°F degree oven.  Bake the crust for about 25 minutes, or until lightly browned.

To make the topping:
In another bowl beat together, the eggs, sugar, lemon juice, orange juice, and lemon zest.  Stir in the 1/4 cup flour and baking powder, mixing well.  Pour topping mixture over the baked crust.  Place pan in the oven, and bake for an additional 25 minutes.

When cool; sprinkle the bars with the confectioners' sugar, then cut them into bars.  (I cut the bars while they were slightly warm, then sprinkled the bars with the confectioners' sugar.)

Yields: 24 bars 

Here are 2 more additional photos of the Citrus Bars.




                              







Monday, July 26, 2010

Strawberry Popsicles πŸ“

These are "the best" tasting home-made popsicles.  These popsicles don't freeze hard like the store brand popsicles, but they freeze up enough to be eaten without melting too fast, and boy are they delicious.  It's just like biting into a fresh strawberry.  I make these popsicles every year when it's berry pickin' time.



Strawberry Popsicles πŸ“

3 cups fresh, sliced, strawberries
1 cup granulated sugar
2 cups water

1.)  Place sliced strawberries in a blender.

2.)  Add the sugar and water.

3.)  Place lid on blender, and process until all ingredients are smooth.

4.)  Pour strawberry mixture into (3-ounce) popsicle molds.  (You may need to use a spoon to remove some of the foam that accumulates to the top of the popsicles.  And after removing the foam, fill remaining popsicle molds with a bit more of the strawberry juice.)

5.)  Place popsicles in the freezer, until they've firmed up completely. (I place mine overnight in the freezer.)

6.)  Yields: 14 popsicles.



Sunday, July 25, 2010

Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup πŸ“

This delicious soup was posted by PaulaG at food.com, but I did modify the recipe just a bit. I love this soup! It's also a very pretty soup. I think it would be great even served as a dessert.



πŸ“ Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup 

3 cups fresh, sliced, strawberries

1/2 cup pineapple juice, chilled (See *Note)

4 Tablespoons granulated sugar

1 cup vanilla yogurt

1/2 cup of ice (I used 8 mini sized ice cubes)

Several dollops, of Reddi Whip Whipped Topping

2 large, fresh, strawberries (not hulled) and sliced in half


1.)  Place sliced strawberries into a blender.  Add the pineapple juice, sugar, yogurt and ice cubes. Place lid on blender, and process until all ingredients are smooth.

2.)  Pour strawberry soup into 4 soup bowls.  Top each bowl with a dollop of the whipped topping. Garnish each bowl with a halved strawberry.  Serve soup immediately.

3.)  Yields: 4 servings (1-1/4 cups per each person)

4.) *Note: I have prepared this soup numerous times, and when I don't have a can of pineapple juice on hand, I opt to adding the juice from a can of crushed pineapple.  And at another time when making the soup, I ended up adding some of the crushed pineapple as well, which worked great in the recipe.

Chilled Strawberry Yogurt Soup | Just A Pinch Recipes

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