Guess What I Did Yesterday Afternoon?

Welllllll......

Today is Wednesday.

I have someone, in town, with whom I have lunch each Wednesday -

However,

I have a friend from out of town who still travels to Scottsboro for her dentist appointments and today, following her dentist appointment, she'll swing by my house, midday. 

(I worked on that sentence and I hope that I got it right, structurally. I'm not really sure.)

So - I decided to do a light lunch at my house - but I am intentionally keeping it VERY simple.

I have kept it simple - but I have two lemon dessert recipes

which I've been dying to try, and I couldn't pick between the two for tomorrow

So I've made both!!

I have to say that, thanks to MOM, I'm a good cook from the old school. 

I mean, I can do some of the new stuff - but pastries and breads and comfort food - 

well, I've got those down.

Only thing is, I don't do any of that much anymore.

We're all so, um, trying to be thin and be healthy, and, well, we just know too much now.

I mean, it's hard to eat all that stuff when we know what we know - 

still..... today is special. 3 friends at my house - one other than the 2 I mentioned.

so...

We're having LEMON DESSERTS!!

My kitchen was smelling so delicious and I was strongly inhaling that lucious lemon scent 

and I had Mother in my heart.  

She had some scrumptious lemon desserts which she used to make, and

She LOVED a bowl of lemons on the table.

She considered it extravagant to have real lemons on the table,

Because she was of the WWII and the Depression Generation.

Lemons are not cheap.  

so - to be so extravagant as to have a bowl of lemons on the table - 

well - it just didn't happen except on special occasions.

Today is special and I've made 2 lemons desserts and I bought two bags of lemons.

One for the recipes and one for the table.

Here's the thing -

All that lemon smell has taken me right back to Mother.

She was in the kitchen - but she wasn't, really.

I heard her talking - but I didn't, really.

Then I was all missing her and getting all nostalgic and wanting to write about her

and tell somebody about my mother.

Don't we all? Well, most of us.  Or... a lot of us.

(this picture is in my kitchen)

(my favorite - Mother's so tickled and just being so herself)

I have no recollection of this except I can see her and I know that she was all about Mary Ann and me and probably so excited about the new house she and Daddy were building....

and the look on her face, well, it was her trying to figure out how best to pose for this picture.

 Later.... much later ... and she is about to laugh about something - I am probably making some remark -

and we're on the ramp - the handicap ramp which she very much needed for all the arthritis and osteoporosis - Mary Ann and I need it now.  And as Mother used to say about herself, 

"I'm so shaw-wat!!" (I'm so short in southern-dialect)

the osteo had shrunk her.

But back to the two lemon desserts,

They are done and Charlie and I sampled them last night.

Good.

One is Lemon Brownies and the other is Sunburst Lemon Bars.

We both liked the Lemon Bars the best, but the Brownies turned out the prettiest.

The bar recipe said not to grease the pan.  Mistake!

And I chose the longer cooking time for the crust.  I should have chosen the shorter cooking time.

Too crunchy - but so delicious.

I recommend both recipes.

This post is way too long already, so rather than type the recipes I will give the links to them both.

Lemon Brownies

and

Sunburst Lemon Bars

It's early morning and I have to prepare the lunch - 

Small Baked Ham

Broccoli Salad

Divine Muffins

and

Basil Lemonade