Lemon Glazed Shortbread Cookies

This cookie recipe has served me well in the four years since I made the first batch. I've not had anyone say they don't like them.   It's a winner!

Bonus Points:
It's an easy recipe to pull together.
My five year old loved being part of the process (especially the glazing part!).
The dough can be made ahead and placed in the freezer to be baked another day.

Charm your friends and family. Make a batch or two.

Lemon Glazed Shortbread Cookies

Ingredients
3/4 Cup Butter (1 1/2 sticks, salted or not - your choice) at room temperature
3/4 Cup Sugar
2 Large Egg Yolks
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 teaspoon Salt
2 Cups Flour

Glaze
1 Cup Powdered Sugar
2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice (fresh or bottled)
1 teaspoon Grated Lemon Zest (optional)

Use a mixer and beat the butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg yolks, vanilla and salt.  Mix well.  Gradually add the flour (I place mine in a sifter and sift in slowly).

Dough gets crumbly as
you add the flour.  That's okay!

NOTE: The dough will start to ball apart/break up - this is fine and expected.




Mix until the flour is incorporated into the dough.   When you pull it out to make logs you'll hand mix the dough into a smooth consistency.

See how the dough is now 
smooth?  Easy peasy.

Divide the dough in half and roll into two logs.  Wrap each in wax paper and refrigerate until firm, about 30 minutes.

You'll get two of these logs. 

Heat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.  Slice logs into 3/8 inch thick pieces and space them on parchment lined baking sheet.

People wonder how I get these 
cookies so perfectly round.  Funny.

Perfectly cooked!

Bake until lightly golden, 16 - 20 minutes (my oven cooks them perfectly in 16).  Let cool a minute or so on the baking sheet, then transfer to a cooling rack (or on newsprint on your counter) to cool completely.











Glaze.
In a small bowl combine powdered sugar, lemon juice and zest  until it forms a glaze that is thick, but pourable (add more lemon juice as you desire). Dip top of each cookie into the glaze and let set, about 15 minutes (overnight is better).  

Truly luscious. 

Freezing the dough.
You can freeze the dough for up to two months.  Roll into two logs, twist the ends of the wax paper to help seal the dough, place in a gallon freezer bag.  When you're ready to bake, pull from freezer, slice and pop in the oven.  Your bake time will probably be longer from the frozen stage.  Keep an eye on them once placed in the oven.

Recipe originally pulled from December 2010 Real Simple magazine.

Bathroom Remodel!

Before.  Loved the tile.  Durable (until the 

drywall disintegrates behind it!)

In my seven years as a homeowner, it's clearly obvious the house is actually in charge; forcing your hand into the most interesting things you weren't exactly prepared to do at the time you're presented with it.  Case in point, my bathroom.  

When I moved in, I liked my bathroom.  Tile enclosure for the tub, glass block window, tile wainscoting, adorable floor tile (see the black accents?), and plenty of storage despite its tiny size. 

When the shower wall caved in, I thought I'd patch the hole, maybe replace the entire enclosure; however, since I'll be in my home for at least another five years,  I opted to take the room down to its studs and replace every single item, right down to the switch plates.  

What to expect.

My contractor (A&S Improvements) and I scheduled the remodel in and around my family's vacation.  We have only one bathroom, so getting us out of the house saved us from figuring out which neighbor had the closest toilet and allowed Aaron and his crew to work without rush. 

I had some four months to source ideas for the design and to researching what to expect/what to plan for in a bathroom remodel.  I found this article, by Pam Kueber  to be helpful.  Your bathroom is a complex room. It serves multiple functions, so be patient, take a deep breath and focus.  

My contractor left the toilet for about four days so I had somewhere 

to go besides my neighbor's.  Once we left on vacation, this 

component was yanked out. 

Lots of insulation; this wall meets up with the exterior of my home.  

My favorites.

I was about two weeks into my research when I was introduced to Houzz.  The site is aspirational, providing hundreds of ideas you can place in an "ideabook" complete with your comment as to why you've saved any one particular idea.  Houzz allows you to sort based on numerous variables (drilling down to my area's contractors), and you can purchase through Houzz.   I was able to easily share links with my contractor allowing greater communication between us. 

Pinterest served its purpose in the selection of colors, storage opps and innovative ways to remodel. My contractor wasn't as impressed with this site's ability to share, but the two of us worked through it. 

Locally I visited The Tile Shop and Tile & Stone Warehouse.  I got a recommendation to visit Faucet Direct , and I used this site purchase items.  

Home Depot and Lowes, of course.  I found navigating the Home Depot site infinitely superior to Lowes.  HD's layout is easier to maneuver through and it offers multiple filters so you can narrow your search quickly to avoid looking at items that won't work.  

Look. It's all finished! 

I'm thoroughly pleased with my newly remodeled bathroom.  A&S Improvements did an outstanding job, were tidy with their work and kept me grounded while providing options to sustain my vision.  

Wow. Right? It's been too long.

I have to really prioritize things in my life.  I've been online for three years?  What?

So, I have gone on some dates.  Amazing.  You'd think I'd of gone on hundreds by now.  Clearly not a priority.  I'll say that three months after I set up my profile I landed a genuine keeper of a job.  That's changed my life.

My mom's health took a steep decline. I started visiting her a lot.  It took all my spare time.  She died in late February. That changed my life.

My friend's mom found a guy online. I thought, really, she found love online that quickly? BTW, she's in her 70s, widowed just at a year when she met him.  Then I remember that others make choices that are unique to them.  Lucky lady, I hope.  This did not change my life, but did cause me to pause.

I recently started looking online again.  I'm also reading a few dating books including Love is Blind Only if You Are.  It reminds me to ask what I want vs. wondering whether he'll call back.  The other one is written by the millionaire dating lady.  It tells me to keep my hair long or men will think I've "given up."  What??

Not much, but a concert notification!

Sadly, the title doesn't translate into a date to a concert.  In fact, it means some online somebody knew more about the music I enjoy to mention (albeit from a post I gave him) that my favorite alternative country musician is in KC in the next two weeks.  I got tickets for me and my daughter.  We can't wait.

Of course, I can't share that I'm going to the concert to this guy.  In fact, I'm not sure if I'm cut out for this kind of interaction with the human race.  It's weird, takes time, initiative (and in some cases that initiative is for naught) and patience.  Maybe the cool kidz (read: 18 - 35 y/o) don't have to be so patient, but now that I'm in middle age (yes, I said it), the patience it takes to find one with which you'd give up an hour for coffee is greater.

One guy who I'd exchanged a few back & forths with suggested he'd like me to contact him if I'm free on a Friday or Saturday night.  My first thought was why on earth I'd waste an evening with someone I hadn't ever met; is he wack?  One of my girlfriends took it a bit differently saying, "he wants you to ask him out; is he wack?"  Two rankings of "wack" means I didn't follow up with him. He eventually posted, "so, what are some of your favorite movies?" to which I haven't responded.  Hope he isn't holding his breath.

Two months in.

So, I’ve been busy.  Maybe too busy to keep the online thing going on, but I hate to drop it.   I rather like the diversion, and after a couple of weeks of crickets, I received three messages in the past 24 hours.  Okay, two don’t have pictures posted (drrr), but the other is one I’ve been communicating with on a limited basis.   I’m sad to realize that one guy (who I’d called my Sherpa) has removed his listing from OKCupid.  I don’t think we’d have ever met for real (he was the one who recognized me when I was out and about), but I can’t help feeling rejected in a small way.   He at least could write beyond an 8^th grade level and had a sense of humor.  Which brings me to things that annoy me:

One question/one word posts. 

“Hi.”  “You’re sexy, do you like slow kisses?”

Self-photos.

Okay, I get it; you don’t have any recent pictures of yourself.  Maybe you might consider at least holding the camera up toward your face vs. up shooting so we can see your nostrils or better, taken in the bathroom mirror.  Creepy.

No photo (thank you Melani!).

Really?  Dumbass, who wants to talk to someone who isn’t willing to share a pic?

Posts that are just this side of being violated.

One guy was all about performing oral sex on women. I guess, based on his message, he’s Mister Control at work (managing and bossing around “100s of people”), but in his personal life he just wants to be Mister ICanPleaseU.  Shades of Penthouse Forum.  Slurp. 

I’m so, so glad I have not signed up for a pay-service (yet).   Learning on a free scale gives me a clearer view of what to expect at Match or eHarmony.   I take it all with a grain of salt, wonder if anything of substance will ever happen with these so-called connections and, well, am enjoying the ride.  

Stellar.

I'm living all my online dating fears.

The one man I call my Sherpa? When I messaged him tonight, he messaged back quickly.  He asked if it was me he saw at a local coffee shop.  He relayed the name of the shop and its address. 

Really?  Now I know that the one I inadvertently gave my first and last name to (yea, Google email) is really sitting outside my home waiting to attack.   Keep out you psycho.

Laughing out loud.  Stunned.  And trying desperately to figure out if this guy who spotted me was the one I was holding the door for (he was awfully short!), or someone working behind the counter?  I scanned his pics on OKC, but I don’t remember anyone who looked like him.  Jaysus.  Just my luck.

At least I’m laughing about it.  For now.  After all, he recognized me because he was online too. I knew it could happen, I just didn't think it would happen, you know, in real life.  And why the heck didn't I see him?  I'm so obtuse, plus I was with my daughter.  We were having a special breakfast just her and me. That took precedence over me scanning the crowd for OKC faces.  

Now; however, I'm on the lookout.    

Slow Down.

I posted a picture of me with the cat and the online messages stopped including messages from the guy I inadvertently gave my name to.  Meow.

I have pro-actively written messages to two men (at the strong urging of the site’s administrators, "it works!"). Neither has responded.  Bleh.

I responded to a few gentlemen’s messages to me, but despite my witty repartee, crickets.  

My Sherpa (yes, for now, I have one) suggested that his best matches have come when he’s in “chill” mode and not actively trolling.  He made this comment when I’d said I’d fallen off the online dating wagon.  His thought was that it’s not necessary to become obsessed with it and, instead, relax.  Thought: He’s a man I pro-actively wrote to, and we’re still talking.  Hmm.

I don’t know why I’m in such a hurry to have a connection.  What a hassle and time suck it will be.  Sorry romantics, but it's the truth.