Aunt Carolyn's Lemon Squares

the best and everyone loves them...

Mix 2c flour & 1/2c powdered sugar with 2 sticks soft butter (only butter-no substitutions or you ruin EVERYTHING).  Press into very well greased (especially well greased around the corners) 13 x 9 baking pan (if you've got a choice, choose a glass pan over metal so you don't get that "tinny" flavor messing with your lemon squares) and bake at 350 20 minutes.  Meanwhile, beat 4 eggs with 1-1/2 c sugar, 1t baking powder, 1/4 c lemon juice, and the peel from all of those lemons before you juiced them.  Pour the lemon/egg mix over the cooked base and put back into the oven for 20-25 more minutes or till browned around the edges.  Let cool a bit before attempting to cut (the lemon filling will ooze all over the place if it's still hot when you cut)(not really a bad thing but a hot filling can hurt when it burns fingers then tongue).

note -- you can use bottled lemon juice and no peel but you lose a bit of flavor.

Patchouli

Patchouli may seem like a throw back to the incense-clouded 60's but it's been popular for centuries.  It's got a heady, earthy smell that's useful for a lot more than trying to cover up marijuana fumes.  Not surprisingly, it's burnt as incense in temples and used to help "grounding" during meditation.  It's actually a member of the mint family and is used for of all things--flavoring beverages!  Patchouli can be used directly or mixed with a carrier oil to help with skin problems like acne, dandruff, athlete's foot plus to help healing and reduce scarring.  And if that's not enough, it's a key ingredient in the famous perfume "Tabu".  Who knew.

Somewhat faster Roasted Spring Vegetables

At the Farmer's Market I bought carrots, red potatoes, sweet potatoes & baking potatoes.  Chopped them all up into hunks, then added hunks of red and green cabbage.  Put them all in a big microwave safe casserole, added maybe 1/2c water and zapped them for 8-10 minutes.  They were all basically cooked and pretty much soft (but not mushy).  I then dumped the casserole contents (plus 1/c can of chick peas) into a 9x13 metal baking pan, added a dollop of butter (olive oil works, too) and just added pepper and garlic salt (onions would have been a good idea to add).  Put it in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes and had roasted vegetables for dinner!  The savings is that you don't have the oven on at 450 for 45 minutes. So you not only don't have to wait so long, you also don't have to pay for the higher heat for so long.  What a deal...

I guess I like miniatures or at least am intrigued by them.  Check out this book; it's hand-drawn and hand-bound: