With any luck, I'll never have to buy a lemon again. My very thoughtful friend/neighbor just gave us a bunch of fresh Meyer lemons from her Mom's house in Fresno. 

It's much too cold for lemonade, so Lemon Bars are up, and baker/engineer husband's are especially popular. He is the master of "mix-dump-bake" recipes. These never last long and are oft-requested. Click here for recipe. Use pecans or macadamias in the crust.

While we can still get berries in California in the winter, all manner of pears are in full season and honestly, a lot more flavorful and much less expensive than what we grimly call "December raspberries".

Here again, baker/engineer husband makes a mean Pear Sour Cream Coffee Cake. It is descended from a long-lost Better Homes and Garden recipe. This is another good cake that can be both breakfast, plain with coffee or dessert, with whipped cream and coffee. Click here for the recipe.

These are both quick and easy options for home, potlucks, or office parties. Husband's and my office will vouch for this. Lemon Bars make good "here-and-now" goodies and look prettiest when the powdered sugar has not soaked into the lemon filling. Be advised that Lemon Bars will last a good week, but the sugar will soak in after a few days.

Pear Sour Cream Coffee Cake reminds our household of the Hobee's blueberry coffee cake and it is fabulous when it is slightly warm, either out of the oven, or microwaved. And unlike the Hobee's version, it doesn't require the ball of butter on top. The layer of pears keeps everything from drying out. Happy Baking. 

Eat Well. Be Well.

The bakers in the household--husband and daughter, have been unusually busy lately. This is a good thing for the entire household, our neighbors and my husband's co-workers. They found a trio of "Mix, Dump and Bake" cakes that we have been enjoying.

Lemon Olive Oil Cake
I use lemons and olive oil for marinating gyros and for a good roast chicken. This just sounded so weird.   Was I ever wrong. This is a lovely lemon cake using a springform pan. Pouring the lemon glaze at the end makes an almost candy-like topping for the cake. Just don't let it sit too long in the pan. Otherwise the glaze will solidify into hard candy and you won't be able to get the cake out nicely.  Click here for recipe.

Super Easy Key Lime Pie
My daughter's winner, with another nod to guest blogger, The So-Called Expert, for the sour cream topping. Key Lime juice, egg yolks, condensed milk and a pre-made graham cracker crust. Click here for recipe.

Blackberry Buttermilk Cake
Adapted from a recent Bon Appetit recipe. It also uses the springform pan. We haven't decided if it's a breakfast coffee-cake item or a powdered sugar with coffee dessert. So we've been doing both. A visiting pack of teenage boys also vouched for this one.

Click here for recipe.


No need for a special occasion. These are easy enough to make 'just because.'  Eat Well. Be Well.

My neighbor kindly shared a *huge* box of home-grown lemons. So the game of the week is to use them in as many different ways as we can. Here's what's cooking.

Monday--"Fixed" lemon chicken, broccoli, home-grown lettuce salad, and rice

Tuesday--Ex-pat poke (nice tuna again!), oven-baked purple Okinawan sweet potato fries (an experiment inspired by the Bon Chon sweet potato fries), Nakayoshi Gakko Somen Salad. A lemon-free day.

Wednesday--Lemony Bacon Farfalle. Double the recipe to use lots of lemons, plus enough for lunches.

Thursday--New recipe. Mahi-mahi in a Mediterranean-ish red sauce using tomatoes and, wait for it, lemon.

Friday--Leftovers' Buffet. Cut up the leftover lemon chicken and toss it over the remaining farfalle. Eat the rest of the fish  with brocooli and the sweet potato fries. I guarantee there will be no leftover poke. Add some more lettuce and cukes to the somen salad and to finish.

Lemony extras this week: More Strawberry muffins, Lemon Bars, Hummus, Guacamole (usually a lime, but when you've got a crateful of lemons...) and maybe some Baba Ghanouj as an experiment.

Life gives you lemons so you can Eat Well. Be Well. And send any lemon recipes my way.