The Story Of The Lonely Lemon

So there I was one not-so-beautiful night walking into my kitchen... and what do I see? One lemon. ONE. Sitting all alone and forlorn looking atop the microwave in the fruit bowl. Truly a heart wrenching sight.

Now I could not let myself just let it sit there all isolated from its fellow fruits. But a glance in the fridge showed that - very shockingly and depressingly - we were out of fruit! That, my friends, is a catastrophe.

So now there was only one thing left to do: I must use this lemon. This lemon, who has suffered through oppression by its human consumers, had constantly been ignored in favor of other, sweeter fruits. But once I was going to be done with it... no. No longer would that happen.

Which brings me (and you!) Lemon Bars. Sweet, tangy, lemon bars. Truly something that one could not ignore, nor pass up in favor of any other fruit. My testimony to you, oh lonely lemon, is complete.

(BTW- to all those wondering... That very night I sent my dad out to buy more fruit. All is back to normal.)

Look at those countertops... ughh. Yea, I desperately want new ones.

The batter will be crumbly at first...

...But press it down into the pan and voila! All is good.

The Final Product. Scrumptious.

LEMON BARS

Crust:

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature (i.e., soft. TIP: if you take the butter directly out of the fridge put it in the microwave for 30 seconds at 50% power it will produce the desired effect. The 50% power is key for it will heat the butter more evenly.)

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1 cup all-purpose flour

big pinch of salt

Lemon Filling:

1 cup granulated sugar

2 large eggs

zest and juice from 1 lemon: that's about 2 tablespoons of zest and 1/4 cup of lemon juice

1 tablespoons all-purpose flour

Start by making the crust. (As is logical...) To do so, preheat the oven to 350°F with the oven rack in the center of the oven. Butter an 8x8 in pan. And theennnn....

In a medium sized bowl beat together the eggs and sugar. Next add the flour and salt and beat until the dough is just combined. It will be very crumbly and look quite dry. No worries. Dump the entire bowl into the pan, spread out evenly and then press down into the bottom of the pan. Make sure not to press down too hard because otherwise you will have slight difficulties getting the bars out in the end. Bake the crust for about 20 minutes, until the edges are a light brown. Make sure to not leave it in too long! Place on a wire rack to cool while you commence to prepare the filling.

Start making the filling by once again beating together the eggs and sugar until it is nice and smooth. Add the lemon zest and juice and beat until a homogenous mixture is made. Fold in the flour (and then beat again slightly to incorporate any leftover dry ingredients). Pour the filling onto the cooled crust. It will be very liquidly but will become more dense while baking. Put into oven and bake for about 20 minutes, until the top of the bars have a nice light brownish/golden-yellowish skin on top. Remove from oven and place on a cooling rack to cool completely. (I put them in the fridge to help aid speeding up the cooling time.)

Once completely cooled cut the bars into desired sizes of squares and, using a spatula, remove from pan. Place on a plate or cooling rack and sprinkle with powdered sugar. Then commence to give to people who deserve such a delectable treat. Yum!