As the days carry on..

I've decided that I'm a particularly bad blogger. Other people have excuses for not blogging, kids, work, sickness, etc... Not me, I am at home, at the beach, doing laundry, or baking most of the time. So I have no excuse.
Anyway, my moaning aside I will tell you about this great recipe I tried last night.  We had just finished dinner, a fancy oven baked pizza and salad (not every night can be stunning), and my husband wanted something sweet. So I consulted the baking goddess, Martha Stewart, to see what I could make with minimal time, effort, and ingredients. The recipe I decided on was the following:

                                Almond Fruit Bars

1/2 c. (1stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 c. flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinammon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 c. packed light-brown sugar
1/4 c. granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
3/4 c. sliced almonds
1/2 c. fruit jam such as cherry, strawberry, or grape. I used grape :)

Preheat oven to 350. Butter an 8-inch square baking dish. In a bowl wishik together flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking powder.  
In a mixing bowl, cream buter and sugars on high speed until light and fluffy; beat in egg yolk. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture. Stir in almonds.
In a small bowl, whisk jam to loosen. Gently press half of dough into bottom of prepared dish. Gently spread the jam over dough leaving a 1/4 inch border. Sprinkle remainign dough over top all the way to the edges; press gently to form top layer.
Bake until top is golden, 25-30 minutes (mine took a lot less time); cool completely in dish. Cut into bars with serrated knife.

Can I just admit to how delicous these were without sounding too proud? The entire stick of butter, while not being that great for you or your dress size, makes this a tasty crumbly dessert that is quite delectable. I can imagine that they would taste good with coffee. Mom, I know that Dad would love these. :)

It is officially fall and I am loving it! Although it is still in the eighties and nineties here the wind is starting to blow more and it is cooling down at night.

My groceries made a great fall centerpiece, that is until I had to use them. It was sad to watch the fun centerpiece disappear.

Last Wednessday a tropical storm, Nicole, made my day so much better. My husband got to stay home, I wore my rainboots out, we watched a fun movie together, we had homeade chinese, and these yummy lemon-vanilla tarts filled the house with a great aroma.

But seriously, the best day of the week was Monday! The husband took me to the home decorating metropolis, otherwise known as Ikea. We picked up our couch, which is awesome! I love it

The possibilities are endless...