Uncluttering my brain: cooking & baking

{puttering around in the kitchen}

I love cooking and baking. It's therapeutic for me. I've told Peter a few times that it's truly a blessing to have a love for cooking. I can't imagine what a chore it would be if I hated it.  It's sort of an escape from life when I have full freedom in the kitchen. Cooking is an artistic form of living. You create, enhance and indulge. Three of my favorite things to do. The one thing I don't enjoy is coming up with creative ideas of what to cook. I wish my pantry was always stocked full. I feel like I'm limited in what I can and can't cook because I don't have the right ingredients...or I don't have enough time...or my boys wouldn't like a particular dish. But other than the limitations of cooking/baking, my favorite place is in the kitchen. When I'm stressed, I pull out my mixer, pull up a new or tried-and-true recipe, and create. I've discovered the freezer is a wonderful place to store cookies (dough or already baked). It's easy to make a bunch of cookies, keep out an appropriate amount and freeze the rest - out of sight, out of mind (until you need them on th spot).  

{my newfound loves}

A couple of weeks ago, my friend Johanna posted a recipe on facebook for these amazing Lemon Meringue Cookies. I couldn't stop thinking about them, but seeing that I didn't have any lemons on hand, I put the recipe on the back burner of my mind. After picking up a couple of the luscious yellow fruits on Saturday, the recipe pushed its way back to the front of my mind. What drew me to it was the lemon curd recipe. I adore that yummy yellow stuff. The Tea Room where I used to work had this amazing curd that we would serve with devon cream alongside our scones. It was SO yummy...and expensive. I've always wanted to make my own, but was afraid it wouldn't come close to the good stuff. But when I saw how easy and simple this recipe was and how she was raving about it, I thought I'd give it a try. Oh my, was it ever easy and simply delicious. I'll be honest, it's not as good as the Tea Room's but it's dang close...and only a fraction of the cost! 

I probably shouldn't share this recipe with you, because once you try these you will become addicted. It's the kind of dessert that warrants a RUN, JOESPH, RUN!  For you will surely be tempted to eat the whole entire batch. Do what I did and only make a half batch, that way if you do indeed eat it all in one inhale, it won't be so bad for your butt.