New Recipe--Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes with Candied Myers Lemons

For Easter Sunday it was raining sideways in Portland, so we took the opportunity to stay home and inside all day. I made breakfast at a luxurious 1pm, so I decided I needed a recipe worthy of the day.

I'll start with the candied Myers Lemons. These aren't an original recipe obviously, but I was especially excited about everything that came out of the recipe.

This recipe is very showy so is PERFECT for entertaining. You could even bring these to a brunch. The candied lemons could be microwaved for a couple of seconds if you want to warm them, and the pancakes can be kept in a warm (200 - 250 degrees) oven until ready to serve.

Note: You can use regular lemons as well, but slice them VERY thin. Myers lemons are more forgiving because they are a little sweeter and the skins are very thin, like a tangerine vs. an orange.

Candied Myers Lemons

1 Myers Lemon
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar

Slice 1 Myers Lemon in thin rounds, discarding each end. Remove any seeds.
Boil the slices for one minute. Remove from water.

1st detour--I then used the water that the lemon slices had been boiled in to make tea--I just added a tea bag and a teaspoon of sugar--so yummy.

Heat the 1/2 cup water and sugar over medium heat, stirring until the sugar is dissolved. Add the lemon slices and cook over medium/low heat for 12 - 15 minutes.

Remove from pan--they are ready to go.

2nd detour--the left over sugar syrup that the slices cooked in had turned into a yummy lemony syrup. So I put it aside and will come up with a reason to use it later this week. It would be good over waffles, or over a melon salad for dessert.

We then used the candied lemons instead of syrup with our pancakes.

Lemon Cornmeal Pancakes

1/2 cup lemon cakemix
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 cup soy milk (or regular milk)

Stir the three ingredients together and let sit for a couple minutes while your pan heats a little. Cook in a flat skillet on medium heat.

Makes 5, six inch pancakes.

New Recipe--Key Lime Bars

I love recipes that seem too easy to be true, I guess that's why I like working creatively with cake mixes so much. This recipe is so impressive and so wow-how-did-you-do-that-ish that you shouldn't feel guilty if you keep the simplicity a secret. Just let people think that you magically have 28 hours in your day instead of the mere mortals' 24 hours.

These key lime bars are sweet, not tart. The texture is perfect for bars, the cut really nicely and hold their shape.

Key Lime Bars

1 white cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
1 14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
5 egg yolks
1/4 cup Nellie & Joe's Famous Lime Juice

Preheat oven to 350
Throw the cake mix and the stick of butter in a bowl and microwave it for 1 1/2 minutes, then stir together with a fork. When it is mixed well, press into a greased 13 x 9 pan.
I then wipe out the bowl with a paper towel and then throw in the 5 egg yolks, milk and lime juice and mix together and pour evenly over the cake mix mixture. Use a spoon or fork and spread the lime juice mixture so it is truly even, reaching the edges and corners.

Bake for 17 minutes. Let cool nearly completely or you'll have a mess on your hands. It needs to be cool to be firm enough to cut into bars. I then cut into about 1 1/2 inch x 1 1/2 inch bars.
They stay yummy in the refrigerator for 3 or 4 days, the crust doesn't get soggy.

Now, a word on Nellie and Joe's Lime Juice.

I discovered this product about 7 years ago while living in Virginia Beach--Trader Joes carried it. When I moved to the west coast, I used to have people bring me back bottles of it in their suitcases. Now I seem to be able to find it anywhere. It's in every store around Portland, OR.

I would never use any other lime juice for anything. It really is yummier, not as acidic, and has a nice lime flavor. It's the secret in my guacamole.