Alluring Tart Lemon Cookies

I know that "autumn" & "lemon" don't always go hand in hand. But today, I wanted something full of zesty lemon flavor. A mere lemon cake was not enough. So lemon cookies. With lemon icing. Sometimes you just need something really fresh on a chilly fall day. These lemon cookies are super simple and very lemon zingy. The cookies are pretty good, but the icing makes them something semi-celestial. And alluring.

(We had a very hard time finding a fitting adjective for these cookies. We also considers subLEMONal, luxurious, and lusty. Beware.)

Cookies
1 lemon cake mix
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened
1 egg
1/3 cup water
2 tsp fresh lemon zest


Combine all ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Shape cookies into small balls, about 1 inch in diameter (the cookies spread out & get very thin). Bake at 350ºF for about 9 minutes. 


Icing
Note: This icing is more like a glaze. It should be thin. Don't worry. It will all work out in the end.


3 tblsp. cream cheese
3 tsp fresh lemon zest
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tblsp. milk
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (a blend of ginger, cinnamon, allspice,
the juice of one fresh lemon


In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, milk, and the lemon zest. Beat with a hand mixer on high until smooth. Add nutmeg & pumpkin pie spice. Stir in powdered sugar. Add lemon juice & blend until smooth. 


Once the cookies have cooled (at least a little--I know you're impatient), drizzle the icing over the top. Enjoy!  

Blueberry Scones with Lemon & Ginger

I haven't posted anything for a while because I got distracted by other pursuits since I published that fabulous poll. The scones just barely beat out the pasta (which I made anyway), but I listen to my people. And I wanted to make these scones, really I did, but German Chocolate Cake demanded my attention for a week of tweaking and perfecting. Then it was The Salad. Oh, the salad. The salad with roasted sweet potatoes and cool cucumber mint yogurt dressing. I thought I had died and gone to summer salad heaven. But that deserves its own post.

So. The scones. These are not that fry bread that many in the Western US associate with the word "scone." These are more closely related to a biscuit, something you might see at an English tea. They are rugged and slightly sweet; hearty yet delicate--a glorious concoction that would seem perfectly at home at a bed & breakfast in the Scottish Countryside. Which, I suppose, is why the recipe I based these on (from A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg, pg. 174) is credited to the Scotts. So, without further ado, make these. And eat them warm. With a tall class of cool milk. But skip the extra butter on top--and I never thought I'd say that about anything.

Rustic Blueberry Scones with Lemon & Ginger
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
4 tblsp. cold butter, cuting into small cubes
3 tblsp. sugar, plus some for topping
2 tsp. fresh lemon zest
1 1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
1/2 cup half-and-half, plus more for glazing
1 large egg

Preheat your oven to 425º F.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using hands, rub the butter into the flour mixture. Squeeze & pinch until the flour will stick together slightly when pinched between two fingers & no large lumps of butter remain. Add sugar, lemon zest, ginger, & blueberries (rinsed & dried) & whisk everything together.

Measure 1/2 cup half-and-half into a large measuring cup. Crack egg into half-and-half and whisk together. (I would suggest making sure you have a clean surface to knead your dough on before adding the liquid--your hands will be pretty doughy). Add liquid to dry ingredients & stir with your hands, or a spatula. That might be better... When all the dry ingredients are just incorporated, turn the dough out onto a flat, dry surface. DO NOT OVERWORK THE DOUGH. (Or yourself. This is brunch, after all.) 


Knead the dough no more than 12 times. I didn't count, but this is what the original recipe tells me, so I thought I'd pass on the wisdom. Flatten the dough into a large disk, about 1 inch thick. Transfer to large baking sheet coated in non-stick spray. Cut the disk into 8 wedges & separate them slightly, so all the edges can brown. 

Glaze the tops of scones with about 2 tbsp. of half-and-half, then sprinkle with sugar. Bake for about 12 minutes, until the edges are golden brown.

Lemon Butter & Green Veggie Pasta

I've been on a veggie kick of late (it's crazy how eating green things can make you feel so much better--green gummy bears are included in my category of life-improving green things). Last night, I was craving some simple noodles with some fresh green goodness. I threw together this super simple pasta dish in about 15 minutes.


Lemon & Garlic Butter Pasta with Broccoli & Spinach
1 box rotini noodles
1 head of fresh broccoli
1 1/2 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 clove fresh garlic
2 tblsp. fresh lemon juice (I used that fake lemon from a bottle and it was still good)
4 tblsp. butter
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
parmesan cheese
salt &  pepper to taste

In a large pot, bring about 1 1/2 quarts of water to a bowl. Salt water and add noodles. As the noodles cook, prep broccoli and spinach. Rinse broccoli and cut into small florets a.k.a. bite-size bits.  Chiffonade spinach leaves. (Chiffonade is a fancy French word that means "to shred or cut finely." Here's how it's done: First, take a handful of your spinach and stack the leaves so the lie fairly flat; this doesn't have to be perfect, just a bit organized. Second, roll the stack of leaves into a bundle, kind of like you would roll up a newspaper. Third, place the bundly on a cutting board--keep holding on to it, or it will come unrolled--and slice through the bundle of leaves with a sharp knife, just like you would to cut a cucumber into rounds. I made my slices about 1/4 inch thick. This technique can also be used to chop fresh basil, mint, sage, and even cilantro and parsely.) Set veggies aside - they don't join the party until later.

As the pasta continues to boil, melt 2 tblsp. of butter in a small saute pan. Dice garlic and add to sizzling butter. Combine red pepper and a bit of cracked black pepper. Saute until garlic turns slightly golden brown. (And fills your entire apartment with its aroma, as my roommates could testify.) Add remaining 2 tblsp. of butter and remove from heat.

Test pasta. As so as it is almost done as you like it, add the broccoli. The broccoli only needs to cook with the pasta for about 1 minute. Drain pasta and broccoli and add back to the pan. While the pasta is still hot, stir in the spinach. The left-over heat will cook the spinach just enough, leaving it a lovely green color. Just before serving, add lemon juice to melted butter. Stir thouroughly and pour over pasta and veggies.

Server topped with plenty of parmesan cheese and freshly cracked black pepper.

*Unfortunately, there are no pictures of this dish, as I gobbled it up too quickly. So, instead, since I'm craving summertime even more than green veggies, there's this. Cause nothing says summer like rainbow sandals, beat-up concrete, bare legs, and bright blue toenails.*