Lion House Lemon Bars

Before I talk about the lemon bars, I have some FUN news to share!!! Actually, one piece of news deserves its own post, so I'll save it. The other news is that my Thing 1 and Thing 2 cupcakes were selected as one of the winners of Martha Stewart's Cutest Cupcakes 2009 contest!! They also told me that they may feature more than just that entry in the gallery of best! I'll let you know when they post the results!

I love the Lion House rolls that they sell in Utah...so I was thrilled to see a Lion House Desserts Cookbook in my gramma's kitchen! I took it (with permission, of course!), along with a book that I can't even look at because I get the craziest cravings and drool on the page. I'll be making something from that one soon...I'm drawing a blank on what it's called at the moment.

Anyway, back to the Lion House...as you've probably gathered, I love anything lemon, so my first choice was the lemon bars. They were really easy and I had all of the ingredients handy!

So, my review. Well, I have two reviews. I had in my mind what I thought they would taste like, so when I first tasted them, I wasn't crazy about them as lemon bars (but remember I am a doughdough and could easily have messed up the recipe!). I didn't think they were lemony enough and I thought there was too much crust and too little filling. If I made them again, I'd try not using all of the crust mixture. However, my guests loved them.

So the next morning, I thought I'd give them another shot and I wolfed down pretty much the whole pan of them! They really were delicious, they just weren't what I expected at first.

Lion House Lemon Bars - from the Lion House Desserts cookbook

1 1/4 cups butter
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups sugar
6 T lemon juice (I used freshly squeezed)
4 T all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

To make crust: Preheat oven to 350. Put butter in mixer bowl and beat until softened. Add flour and powdered sugar and mix on low speed until just combined. Spread dough evenly in a 9x13 inch pan. Bake for 10 minutes or until the corners are light golden brown. Remove from oven and pour filling on top of crust.

To make filling: In a small mixing bowl, mix together eggs, sugar, lemon juice, flour, and baking powder with a wire whisk or on low speed of a mixer for just a few minutes. (It is important not to mix a lot of air into the filling.) Pour on top of partially baked crust and bake for 30-35 minutes. Allow to cool slightly and dust with powdered sugar. Cut into small bars. Makes 18-24.

SLC Farmer's Market open on Tuesday evenings

It was so fun to go to the farmer's market on a Tuesday evening! It is open from 4 to 8pm. There aren't nearly as many vendors, but we were thrilled to not have to get up at the crack of dawn to make it to the market. (We don't live close to it.) The highlight for us was Bear Lake raspberries.

Beyond Glaze Doughnuts

My fam and I had some delicious doughnuts the other day from Beyond Glaze. It is located in Draper and has some awesome doughnut choices. See a full list on their website, www.beyondglaze.com. The Smores was yummy, the white chocolate mint was REALLY good and the key lime crumble was AMAZING (shown below)! I can't wait to go back and try more! I was intrigued by how the frosting glaze tasted just like a filling...I may have to start making doughnuts and figure it out! Prices are great too, only $1.49.

This post is way overdue...I'm always saying I'll post something and then forget about it! I told some of the audience of Good Things Utah that I'd post this picture I took, so here ya go!

I also wanted to post some cupcakes I made for that day and I didn't get around to taking pictures of them until after...and by then most had been eaten! I improved upon my big bird cupcake for the show and am so sad I don't have a good picture! Above you can see it, but it's a little fuzzy. I worked really hard on the fondant legs to go under the cupcake-it was so CUTE! Here's cookie modeling big bird's legs...
I also made a more user-friendly sock monkake...I didn't use all of the pieces of cake this time, I just used a cupcake! Here sock monkey is opening his lunchbox and finds a cupcake! haha.
The eyes are black frosting, the ears are brown m&m's, the mouth is cut from a raspberry fig newton, the white part of the mouth is built up with frosting, the "fur" is clear sanding sugar and brown sprinkles, and the hat is made from twizzler pull and peels! It was so much easier than the last one, and I think it still looks a lot like a sock monkey!
I set up a quick photo shoot with the monster cupcakes...they are posing with my son's 1st birthday present, the Max bobblehead (my son's name is Max)....which finally arrived: about a month and a half late! Oh well, he can make his debut at my next Wild Things party...maybe for the movie opening in Oct!

Last but not least, I told the cute girl featured in this pic that I wanted to show off her hair accessory on my blog-isn't it cute? She said her friend makes them, and now I forget her friend's name!

A Delicious Dessert from Chili's

My mouth is watering. I am so craving this. I am a die-hard white chocolate fan, so of course this was the best thing I'd ever tasted!



This is Chili's white chocolate lava cake and it is so darn good. I was dying to try it when we went to dinner there, but we don't get dessert to save money. So how thrilled was I that when the waitress found out it was our 9 year anniversary, this is what she brought!!! That is white chocolate sauce oozing out of the cake-I was in HEAVEN!!! Thanks Sarah at the American Fork Chili's for making our evening!

Traffic Sign Cupcakes

These are nothing special...but I thought these cute toys would look fun on cupcakes! I found them in the party favor section at Partyland in American Fork, UT.

It's been really hard for me to find time (or the patience) to learn to cook! I'm too busy being meal planner doughdough. For me, it is easier to just make spaghetti and cupcakes. I planned a whole 2 week menu awhile ago in hopes that I would have great recipes to add to my blog, and I don't think I've made one thing from the plan! Then the food goes bad and I have to buy things again. and again. and again. Story of my life in the kitchen. I had the hardest time planning the meals too-it took so much focus and time...anyone have any great meal planning tips that I can share with the doughdoughs of the world?! Email kitchendoughdough@gmail.com.

Bert Cupcake Pops!

I think this is my favorite creation. (Sorry for the mug shot, Bert!) I have been thinking about how to make Bert's head right since I made my Sesame Street tower. I noticed the other day that my Wilton silicone brownie pop pan was the perfect shape! So I used cake mix in the pan to create Bert's head.

Hair=black frosting using a hair decorating tip (any ideas on how to make it stick up higher?)

Skin=yellow frosting

Ears=yellow M&M's

Nose=orange M&M

Mouth=reddish pink frosting and half of a sour patch kid

Unibrow=black frosting with a skinny, flat tip (don't know what it's called!)

Eyes=white and black frosting using a round tip

Cure-ious Cupcakes

I've wanted to create a pretty pink cupcake for a long time! So when one of my facebook fans suggested I make a breast cancer cupcake, I thought it was a wonderful idea.

You can click here to donate money to Susan G. Komen for the Cure!

I was also inspired by the AMAZING tribute to those struggling with breast cancer on So You Think You Can Dance. I think it was the most beautiful dance I've ever seen, choreographed by Tyce DiOrio. I'm sure it will win an Emmy, so if you missed it, you'll probably still get to see it!

I almost forgot...these are pink lemonade cupcakes and I loved them! I know there are some good recipes out there, but I just dumped a package of pink lemonade kool-aid in a white cake mix and prepared it as it said on the box. I was too lazy today to look for a recipe, but luckily, I thought they turned out great! I just used buttercream frosting...the recipe for the frosting is on my Wild Things post.