Raspberry Lemonade Bars!

I am sure I have said it before, but I am NOT a baker. That is my sister Danielle's strong area, and my best friend Samantha. Those two girls are baking divas! But, as we all know my husband Brian loves his sweets! He hunts out infamous doughnuts anywhere he travels. So I do try from time to time, while grumbling at it along the way. You should hear me when baking, it is not very lady like :).

But once in awhile I get it right! Although the chocolate lasagne that ended up on my friend Margo's front lawn, long story, not so much. But this time Raspberry Lemonade Bars were a big hit at my friend's Gabbi and Pete's BBQ.  (Ps check out Gabbi's amazing  blog! She is home design and DIY diva!!! http://retroranchrenovation.blogspot.com/ )

I have to credit pinterest and blog called Annie's Eats ( http://www.annies-eats.com/2011/09/02/raspberry-lemonade-bars/ ) for this recipe!

Ingredients

For the crust:
2¼ sticks (18 tbsp.) unsalted butter, at room temperature
½ cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ tsp. salt
For the raspberry lemon layer:
3 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. lemon zest
¼ tsp. salt
3 cups frozen raspberries, thawed
6 large egg whites
2 large eggs
1 1/3 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

• Preheat the oven to 350˚ F.  Line a 9 x 13-inch baking pan with parchment paper.  In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar.  Beat on medium-high speed until smooth, 1-2 minutes.  With the mixer on low speed, mix in the flour and salt just until incorporated.  Add the dough to the prepared baking pan.  Press into an even layer over the bottom of the pan.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until light golden brown.  Remove from the oven, maintaining the temperature.
• While the crust is baking, make the top layer.  Combine the sugar, flour, lemon zest and salt in a large bowl and whisk to blend.  Add the raspberries to a fine mesh sieve and press through, mashing with a spatula, to extract as much juice and pulp as possible, straining out the seeds.  Add the egg whites and eggs to the bowl with the dry ingredients and whisk well to blend.  Whisk in the raspberry puree and lemon juice until smooth.
• Pour the mixture over the crust and bake until the center is just set and not longer jiggles when gently shaken, about 35-40 minutes.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.  Cover and chill well in the refrigerator, at least 2 hours.  When ready to serve, use the parchment paper to lift the bars from the pan.  Place on a cutting board and slice into bars.  Dust the tops with confectioners’ sugar if desired.

Moms Tortellini Salad for the Summer!

Well its June, which means summertime is getting into full swing! I love the warmer weather and just being able to be outside. Also, there are two big things that summer brings that Brian and I both love. Farmers markets and fairs, yahoo! We love stuffing ourselves with fair food and the fresh produce at the markets makes cooking so much more fun!

A big trend during summer is the grill of course! There are tons of amazing recipes and things you can do with use of the grill. You can even grill pizza! But I have yet to try that. So before I post all about my recent summer vacation I figure let me give you a couple of recipes to bring to BBQ’s.

First, up is my mom’s tortellini pasta salad. It is a little different than your regular pasta salad, but so easy to make! If you can let it sit for a couple of hours in the fridge it gets even better!

Ingredients:

1 pkg, of cherry tomatoes halved

½ of a white onion

1 can of black olives halved (optional)

1lb package of cheese tortellini (You can find it with the refrigerated pasta. I like to use Butoni cheese tortellini)

Salt

Pepper

Onion Powder

Basil

Red Wine Vinegar

Olive Oil

1. Boil water and put in the tortellini. Check the package for cooking time but 5-7 minutes should work to make it al dente. Then drain the pasta.

2. Once you have drained the pasta put it in a bowl and drizzle about 3 tablespoons of olive oil on it and mix. This will keep the tortellini from sticking together and getting funny.

3. Halve the cherry tomatoes and olives. Add them to the bowl.

4. Dice up about half of an onion. You can adjust this to your liking.

5. After combining everything in a bowl season the salad with salt, pepper, basil and a sprinkle of onion powder (so specific I know!). Then depending upon whether or not you are a vinegar lover like me, pour about a ¼ of a cup of red wine vinegar.

6. Mix together and put in the fridge for a couple of hours. Make sure to taste it and to adjust the seasonings and vinegar to your taste. That is what I do with everything!