Even better than Lemonade

"When life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Or when you buy a giant bag of beautiful lemons at Costco, make three batches of lemon bars, a loaf of lemon bread, Greek lemon herb cookies, and put a lemon slice in every glass of water and lemon juice in every cup of tea. And, of course, share the lemons in their native state as well as all of their evolutions.

I continue to bake. Maybe it's the holidays, maybe it's the increased steroids and energy, maybe it's a nesting phase. I enjoy baking, and those around me enjoy it also, to varying degrees (usually 350 F). In addition to the lemon abundance, I made apricot spice bars, hermits and ginger cake. All of which have already become with the neighbors and the early Thanksgiving crowd at Loraine's last night.

Part of me feels like lupus is a whole bag of lemons. When I was studying about antibiotics today before I rode down to the beach for sunset yoga I got side tracked on the "SLE" links because of the hydroxycholorquine I'm taking. It said on this oh-so-reliable-internet-source that lupus in over diagnosed in the United States and that only 25% of people who carry the diagnosis actually have the disease.

Ah hah! A glimmer of hope? My sleeping dragon of denial wakes up from his nap and begins to sleepily snort fire again. Then I read the symptoms, of which you have to have four out of the eleven. And I meet criteria, plus my lab tests basically confirm it. Especially when I flare, my double-stranded DNA antibodies can't are off the charts--literally the machine at the hospital can't even quantify them. All it says is greater than 400.

Oh well. I'll just make lemon bars, cookies, bread, water, etc. Plus the lemons themselves are beautiful little orbs of sunshine yellow, especially radiant in the morning light. Perhaps the lupus is beautiful too, in a way, and when the light is right; it has made me think and wonder and reconsider and recommit and travel and see how loved I am and love more and give goodness away. Little balls of sunshine.

"What is to give light, must endure burning." This diagnosis burns deeply--and perhaps brightly.

Greek Lemon Herb Cookies
Bake 375 for 13 minutes

Recipe modified from Loraine’s original. I always use whole wheat flour, but feel free to alter that, too. Recipes were meant to be improved upon, like life. Oh, and for a long time I didn’t know what “zest” is. It’s just finely grated citrus peels. Zesty.

Lemon zest 4 tsp (two lemon’s worth), divided
Lemon juice 2 tsp (one lemon’s worth)
2 1/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 c. toasted wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
1 c. butter or margarine
1 ¼ c. sugar, divided
2 eggs
½ tsp rosemary, dried or fresh (if fresh, use 1 1/2 generous tsp., finely chopped or squashed with mortar and pestle)

Preheat oven. In a small bowl combine ¼ cup sugar with ½ tsp rosemary and 1 tsp lemon zest, set aside.

Cream butter and sugar in a large bowl until fluffy. Scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in egg yolks, 3 tsp lemon zest, 1 tsp rosemary, and lemon juice.

In a separate medium bowl, combine flour, wheat germ, baking soda, and salt.

Gradually add flour mixture to butter mixture until well blended.

Shape into 1 inch balls and roll in the sugar mixture to coat generously (if desired, can use the egg whites to roll in first, but I found the sugar stuck perfectly well without the whites—honestly I just forgot to use it!). Place at least two inches apart on a greased cookie sheet. Flatten down slightly with your hand or the bottom of a glass.

Cook for 13 minutes, give or take, or until edges are just golden. Cool on wire rack and enjoy with friends, Greek or otherwise!


Jane came over when I was making these cookies tonight; she was crying because her boyfriend had not called or come by when he said he would--very uncharacteristic of him. I stopped mixing the ingredients just before the combine step and turning the oven on. We talked a bit. I didn’t know what to say. She cried. I sympathized. We agreed that boys can be confusing and that we don’t understand why they do things that are hurtful even when they seem as sensitive and thoughtful as her boyfriend. I thought there must be some explanation for his behavior. He usually is a great guy. He called while we talked and heard her upset and rushed over. She went down to meet him as he ran up to her studio feeling super upset that he’d upset her and running frantically around her apartment looking for her. I sent two lemon bars from an earlier batch with her for them to share.

She came back later after he’d left and things were okay again. She'd ended up mostly consoling him because he felt so bad for hurting her. By that time the cookies were coming out of the oven and she ate three!


The lemon bars are the old standby—the tried and true one that everyone loves (except Bob who doesn’t like lemons). They used to be my first boyfriend’s favorite and I remember making them for him even after we’d broken up, part of me thinking maybe I could bake my way back into his heart. I guess the way to a man’s heart isn’t always through his stomach.

Lemon Bars

1/3 c. butter or margarine
¼ c. granulated sugar
1 c. whole wheat flour
2 eggs
¾ c granulated sugar
2 tablespoons whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons. finely shredded lemon peel (zest!)
3 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ tsp baking powder
Powdered sugar

In a medium mixing bowl beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add the ¼ cup granulated sugar, beat till combined. Beat in the 1 cup flour till crumbly. Press mixture into the bottom of an 8x8x2 baking pan. Bake in 350 oven for 15-18 minutes or just till golden.

Meanwhile, for filling, in a small mixing bowl combine eggs, the ¾ cup granulated sugar, the 2 tablespoons flour, lemon peel, lemon juice and baking powder. Beat or stir until combined.

Pour filling over baked layer. Bake 20 minutes more or till lightly browned around the edges and center is set. Cool on wire rack. If desired, sift or sprinkle powdered sugar over top. Cut into bars. Makes 20 bars.

Per bar: 97 cal, 4 g fat, 15 carbs, 1 g protein.


Joseph liked these, but his favorites are the Hermits. He ate almost all of them. As he was finishing the last one, he says, “These are healthy, right?” Well, they do have raisins. I made them when I was on a baking rampage and wanted something to make the house smell more like the holidays.

Hermits

½ butter or margarine
¾ c. packed brown sugar
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground nutmeg
¼ tsp ground cloves
1 egg
2 tablespoons milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
1 cup raisins (generous cup)
1/2 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts from our orchard at home, also generously)

Grease cookie sheet and set aside. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter or margarine with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl occasionally. Beat in egg, milk, vanilla till combined. Bean in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Stir in remaining flour. Stir in raisins and nuts.

Drop rounded teaspoons(-ish) 2 inches apart on prepared cookie sheet. Bake at 375 for 9 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack and let cool. Supposed to make 36 cookies.

Per cookie: 79 cal, 4 g fat, 11 carbs, 1 g protein