Monthly Archives: June 2012

A Summer Treat.

Posted by francesz in baking, cooking, dessert, summer

I was in the mood for a lemony summer treat, so I made lemon bars. I love anything lemon during the summer- lemonade, lemon bars, lemon in every kind of food I make… I still remember the first time I had lemon bars. I was in high school and someone brought them during our P.E. (yeah I know…) potluck. It was love at first bite.

This makes enough for 15 people depending on their appetite, so I packed them up and brought them to friends. I probably could’ve eaten them all but I didn’t want to go into sugar shock. Recipe from here, but I added lemon zest to give it some extra lemon flavor. So easy and so delicious!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 lemons, juiced

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, 2 cups flour and 1/2 cup sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased 9×13 inch pan.
  3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
  4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool.

 

 

Next up, another new favorite European city! <3

The French Rivera.

Posted by francesz in all things pretty, flowers, food, gifts, summer, travel

I only spent a day in the French Rivera, first stopping in Éze and then going to Nice. They gave us a quick tour on the bus to see the city and then let us wander for a couple of hours. I walked down a gorgeous sea side street and then turned the corner to find a wonderful farmer’s market. They had every kind of cheese (of course!), fresh peonies, and tons of fruit, veggies, and french souvenirs. I snacked on a juicy white peach and my cousins said their plums were divine.

In my goldilocks-esque opinion, in London everyone walks too fast, in Barcelona everyone walks too slow, but in France it’s just right.

Image

The Best Greek Salad.

Posted by francesz in cooking, summer, travel

ImageI found myself missing Athens after a lovely hot day in LA. I made myself a Greek salad and it was delicious. Brought back memories of a delicious lunch I had in Athens after climbing to the top of the Acropolis. Here’s my version of what they served:

Ingredients:

  • Red peppers
  • Green peppers
  • Red onion
  • Cucumbers
  • Pitted olives
  • Feta
  • Dressing (olive oil, oregano, lemon juice, pepper)

Slice all the veggies and toss them into a salad bowl. Crumble feta over the top and mix. In a small bowl whisk all of the dressing ingredients, pour into salad, mix and voila!

A Day in Athens, Greece.

Posted by francesz in Uncategorized

My cruise is now over and I’m able to update with high speed internet from Barcelona! The price of internet on a cruise ship is ridiculous. I paid $60 for an hour and a half of satellite internet– which is probably about as slow as dial up. Does dial up still even exist? Anyhow, let’s talk Greece!

We sailed into Greece on a lovely uh, Wednesday morning? I can’t keep track of the days anymore. The sun was shining and we were up bright and early to make our way to Athens. First stop was the National Archaeological Museum where we saw tons of bronze statues like the one below of Zeus or Poseidon from 460 BC.

Next we ventured up to the Acropolis of Athens, where it was nice and hot and every dog I saw was passed out, poor things! The  Parthenon and Erechtheion were unbelieveable in person. Such grand architecture. Our day ended with a delicious greek lunch that deserves it’s own blog post and some shopping. I can’t forget to mention the ladies that come up to me trying to sell me a tablecloth for 100 euro, then 50 euro, then 20 euro….and so on. Their persistence is somewhat admirable! Somewhat…