zesty lemon bars – Spring is here!

Spring is finally here, and with all the warmth and sunshine I’ve been inspired to bake some zesty lemon bars. I’ve borrowed another recipe from Joy the Baker (here is the link to her page for the classic lemon bars recipe) and have included a few of my tips below.

• To get the lemon zest and juice I first used a vegetable peeler to peel a thin layer of the zest off (avoiding the white rind with that), finely chopped the zest, then sliced the lemon in half and squeezed the juice. I needed the juice of a whole large lemon to get the 1/4 cup the recipe calls for
• when baking the crust it was still bubbling with butter at the 18 minute mark. This turned out to be fine. I thought it might have been something wrong with the recipe, but all was good in the end
• before adding the filling to the hot crust, I stirred it once more, since the sugar had settled-out. This prevented the sugar from ending up in a lump in the middle
• I cut the bars still in the pan – first trimming the edges (they are more decadent and chewy.. absolutely delicious! but didn’t look nice on the bars)
• I suggest you wait several hours until the bars have completely cooled to give them a true taste test. They are all the more lemony with time!

I’m not sure I’m done with making lemon, or even other citrus fruit desserts yet this spring. There’s just something so refreshing about citrus after a long winter.

~ Leena

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Flax – pull over sweater from the simple collection

I finished the flax pull over sweater this winter, and loved how easy the pattern was and the results. I highly recommend this project for anyone making their first sweater. It was a free pattern from Tin Can Knits, in their Simple Collection.The yarn used was Wool of the Andes Tweed, worsted weight, from Knit Picks. I made the 4 year old size, for my nephew (who is a big 2 year old ;) ).
~Leena

I’m back, finally

It’s been quite a while since I last posted on this blog, but finally I’m back!

I’ve been working on my Masters, and it is almost done. I hope to defend within a few weeks. The thesis, and other life events, consumed so much of my time that the blog was put on hold. Of course, it’s all worth it and I’m very excited to get back to more regular posts.

I don’t have anything to share just yet, but there are a few projects in the works. Just thought I’d get my feet wet again with a quick post for now.

~ Leena

Soft grass and fresh spring air: a few photos to share

This gallery contains 5 photos.

I’ve been a bit absent in writing on this blog, and I feel it’s about time I posted something new! These past months I’ve been very busy working toward finishing my Masters, but I’ve managed to get some fresh air … Continue reading →

My first blog post… ever.

I must admit that I feel a bit nervous and excited to write this post. It’s my first blog entry ever. In fact, I’m not even sure how my blog works yet. Can anyone view this, or would they have to be given the link to my blog? Perhaps I should have looked into the available wordpress tutorials first…

I never thought that I would have a blog actually. Nothing wrong with one, just didn’t think that was “me”. But recently I noticed 2 friends that had wordpress.com blogs: one has a travel blog, the other has a blog/website as a yoga teacher. I checked-out wordpress and something clicked… I should try blogging. Something like 406,000 people were blogging on wordpress alone already!

So, what thoughts and other information do I want to share with the world? My interests are so varied that I don’t feel I have a favourite of anything. No favourite movie, song, colour, food, article of clothing, hobby, place… you get the picture. But the common thread running through most of my activities, interests, and ventures is the desire to learn how to make things from scratch. The degree to which the materials are fresh or unprocessed to start with will likely vary, but for the most part I’d like to share know-how and experiences about do-it-yourself, make-it-yourself items around the home.

I currently am a grad student, on a budget, in a lovely little apartment. Some days, (o.k., MOST days), I find myself dreaming of my future home and all the wonderful things I can make for it and my loved ones. In the meantime I plan to have this blog as a collection of my ideas and findings… an outlet for my whimsical thought. I hope to gain new skills, the perspective of others on these topics, and perhaps provide perspective on those projects which I can try at this point for myself.

Well, here it goes. I’m pressing “Publish”, sending this little blog post into the unknown… the anticipation!