Heavenly Lemon Surrender!

What is more summertime than ice cold lemonade? Nothing, I tell you! Our neighbors and I decided this weekend would be a good time for a garage sale, and to sweeten the deals, the kids were out selling blueberry iced tea, coffee, and lemon/limeade. Not from a powder mix mind you! Fresh squeezed, ten lemons and six limes, until 2 a.m.! So I still had some lemon juice reserved and the lemon peel, and decided that a zingy lemon cookie would have to be made. This was done the following night, until 3 a.m. Yes, I have a problem, but I can quit whenever I feel like it, and if I needed sleep, then I would eventually pass out... right?

So, this recipe was found on the web, but I had to fix it, because it had tons of scathing reviews that it was all wrong and didn't work. I figured out the problem (a butter, flour ratio issue and construction problem) and added extra lemon and zing and I am excited to make it again and try doing a batch with candied ginger. So, here it is kids, a wonderful cookie that is a little pucker, very sweet and so very summertime!

Lemon Zinger Cookies

Ingredients

• 4 C sugar
• 1/2 C lemon zest, about 6 to 8 lemons
• 5 1/4 C all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsps baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsps salt
• 2 C (4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch cubes room temp
• 5 egg yolks
• 2 tsps vanilla extract
• 1 tsp lemon extract
• 3/4 C lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a mixer with paddle, add sugar and lemon zest. Process until sugar and zest are well mixed, about 20 seconds. Scrape into a large mixing bowl. Reserve about 1/2 cup of lemon sugar in a separate bowl for later use.
Add flour, baking powder and salt into mixer and mix just until combined. Add cold butter into flour mixture and process with short pulses until mixture resembles cornmeal and no large lumps of butter remain. Add the sugar and lemon mixture and mix well. I found my mixer (kitchenaide) nearing capacity, so a cover with the shoot is recommended but if you are careful, its not necessary.


In a medium bowl, mix egg yolks, vanilla extract and lemon juice together.


While the mixer is running, slowly add egg/lemon juice mixture and mix until well combined and dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 15 to 30 seconds. You may need to add more flour (1 Tblsp at a time if it is still too soft)


Scrape the dough into a large bowl and refrigerate overnight. Use a tsp to scoop the dough onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.

make sure the ball isn't too big; btw: the quarter was clean!

Take the dough balls and roll the tops into the reserved lemon sugar. Do NOT press! Leave in dough balls! If you press them, they might flatten out so much that they risk burning.

Bake the cookies until slightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove the parchment paper with the cookies from the tray to a cooling rack and cool completely. Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk or iced lemonade if you want the full citrus experienced (fresh squeezed!).

This recipe makes A LOT of dough! I made three dozen before I had to call it quits. I belive I could still have another two dozen. This dough freezes well though. I roll them into logs, in wax paper so I can just cut into discs, peel off the paper and bake!

London Broil: Unknown to London and I'm Not Broiling It

According to Wikipedia, London Broil is not a cut of meat, but the method in which it is cooked. The cut is typically flank steak. Further, it is unknown to London, England. I chose this meat, because it was on sale and I wanted a large roasting type of meat to cook in the crock pot. For some reason, I am craving red meat, which may or may not be due to me being in the process of relactating (I'll discuss this in another post). I love the process of marinating over a period of time, because the flavor isn't just on top of the meat, but all through it. Here is a wonderful recipe for a marinade that is divine. I put this in my crock pot, because it's so much easier to start in the morning and go about my VERY busy day without worrying about if it's drying out or the house catching fire.

I was running around with "too many irons in the fire" as is typical for the average mommy and ended up finishing making the marinade one handed, with Lachlan in his wrap, while feeding him a bottle to prevent a break down. I felt pretty accomplished. Only thing that would have made it perfection, was if I could have been nursing. Soon though. Soon.

Marinated Slow Cooker London Broil

To begin, the night before the desired day for having the London Broil, make this marinade for the meat and allow to sit in the refrigerator overnight:

•  1/4 C. balsamic vinegar
• 4 Tbsp Dijon mustard
• 2 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 C. lime juice
• 4 lrg cloves of garlic minced or 4 Tblsp jarred minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 C. olive oil

Place all ingredients into a large zip lock bag, squishing around to mix and then add your 2 to 2 1/2 lb London Broil to the bag. Put in refrigerator overnight.

In the morning, in the crock, put potatoes and peppers. Pour 1/4 C. water over all the veggies. Carefully remove meat and place on top of veggies, then pour remaining marinade over meat and veggies.

In the crock, ready to cook!

Cook on low over 6 to 8 hours.

The marinade soaks into the potatoes along with the juices from the meat and the onions are almost caramelized. The whole cooking process makes the house smell divine and I am pretty sure I saw some poor hungry single men hovering around the windows of my house, attracted by the smell of my wonderful homemade meal. Poor things. So, single gals, this may be a great trick for luring a good man into your lair.

Comfort Food That's Easy

So, I am missing my mom right now. We usually talked every single day, and with her in another state (caring for an aging surviving parent) we just don't stay in touch so well. I was craving a memory and decided on stroganoff. My mom made this wonderful dish, with rice and always had dill pickles, and peperoncinis on the side. I didn't have the time to cook up the rice, so I did egg noodles, which my husband prefers over rice.

Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients:

• 1 (16 ounce) package wide egg noodles
• 1 lb ground beef (20% fat)
• 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tsp seasoned salt
• 1 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1/2 C finely chopped onion
• 2 (10.75 ounce) cans condensed cream of mushroom soup
• 1 C milk
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 4 oz cream cheese

Directions:
1.In a large, heavy skillet, brown ground beef with Worcestershire sauce, seasoning salt, and garlic. Drain well. Reduce heat to medium low and add soup, milk, cream cheese and stir until smooth. Stir in sour cream and reduce to low.


2.Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until done. Drain.

3.Return noodles to pot. Gently stir in ground beef/sauce mix and serve immediately. I eat mine with a pickle and peperoncinis. Also, having the sauce over rice is wonderful too.

The Founders of the Feminist Movement

"Abortion is the ultimate exploitation of women."
-- Alice Paul: The author of the original Equal Rights Amendment (1923) and early feminist

I can hear a collective gasp from the so called feminists of today. Yes. The ones who fought for our rights as women today, were vehemently against abortion. I will further rankle you  who claim to be for women's rights (yet do so little!) by saying, that the feminists of the 60's did more to destroy female power and strength, than further it. Dare to read on? Do you have the strength of character to face the falsehood that is today's feminist movement?

Susan B. Anthony, in her publication The Revolution, wrote:

"Guilty? Yes. No matter what the motive, love of ease, or a desire to save from suffering the unborn innocent, the woman is awfully guilty who commits the deed. It will burden her conscience in life, it will burden her soul in death; But oh, thrice guilty is he who drove her to the desperation which impelled her to the crime!"

Yes, Susan B. Anthony, beloved matriarch of the feminist movement, and revered by modern feminists, was anti-abortion. Oh, there are plenty of lies amidst the feminists of today, that she wasn't. However, if you look to her publications, it is quite clear that she was. Read, "The Truth About Susan B. Anthony" for an enlightened look at this feminist icon.

Who are some of the prominent women of the feminist movement?

• Jane Addams, 1860-1935
• Louisa May Alcott, 1832-1888
• Susan B. Anthony, 1820-1906
• Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, 1821-1910
• Pearl S. Buck, 1892-1973
• Dorothy Day, 1897-1980
• Matilda Joslyn Gage, 1826-1898
• Angelina Weld Grimke, 1880-1958
• Fannie Lou Hamer, 1917-1977
• Dr. Charlotte Denman Lozier, 1844-1870
• Sarah F. Norton and Eliza Bisbee Duffey
• Breda O'Brien 1962- 
• Graciela Olivarez, 1928-1987
• Alice Stokes Paul, 1885-1977
• Susan LaFlesche Picotte, 1865-1915
• Cicely Saunders, 1918-2005
• Dr. Juliet Stillman Severance
• Elizabeth Cady Stanton, 1815-1902
• Lois Weber 1879-1939
• Frances Willard, 1839-1898
• Mary Wollstonecraft, 1759-1797

All of them, spoke out/continue to speak out, AGAINST abortion and fought/fight for the rights of unborn babies as well as women's rights. It is also worth noting, that Hypocrites (c. 450 BC) condemned the practice (I mention him only because he is lauded as one of the most outstanding figures in the history of medicine and the father of medicine.)

"Abortion is a reflection that we have failed women—and women have settled for less.
We insist on a world in which women have access to all nonviolent options, which is hardly an anti-woman perspective.... Pro-life feminists demand that society support the unique life-giving capacity of women, so that no woman feels she has no choice other than abortion." -- "Pro Woman Answers to Pro Choice Questions"

I am a feminist. I believe in the power and strength of a woman, and I am Pro-Life! Women deserve better than what the pro-choice  movement offers. I proudly declare my stance against willful infanticide.

For more information, please visit Feminists for Life: Women Deserve Better

"May peace begin in the womb...

 ....and spread throughout the world."