Grilled Lemon Garlic Herb Chicken Breasts

My oldest son is out of preschool all week for Easter break, so we're doing one special, fun thing each day. Tuesday night we decided to give our first camp-out in the backyard a try. I grew up camping, but I have since discovered the wonder of hotels. My idea of 'camping' now involves a 30-foot long Winnebago with hot water and a stove to cook on. But with two boys and a husband who's a former Boy Scout I'm outnumbered. Don't get me wrong; I'm not a super girly-girl. I love outdoor adventures. But I also like sleep and a hot shower after a full day of sweating and a meal I don't have to scrape from the cast iron skillet in the stream afterward. And I usually end up with a rash or allergic reaction to something. Okay, I may be a little bit of a wimp.

Knowing all this, and being skeptical that our kids would make it the whole night in the tent, we decided to try camping within reach of home first. Tuesday night we set up the tent, found our four camp chairs, built a fire worthy of a former Boy Scout, assembled the s'mores fixin's and slathered on the bug spray. If you're thinking, "That's a lot of work for a weeknight," why yes, you would be right. Which is why I made dinner super easy that night with this grilled Lemon Garlic Herb Chicken marinade. Marinate your chicken for an hour or so, throw it on the grill and serve it with a fresh salad and some rice or pasta. (I had leftover Mrs. T's feta and spinach perogies in the freezer I baked as a side.)

How did our camp-out go? Let me paint you a picture. The birds were chirping. The wind was blowing. The stars glowed brightly overhead. My sinuses were swelling from the pollen despite both Nasonex and Claritin. Minutia! (Gesundheit.) We had eaten our fill of s'mores, and I was snuggled into the tent with the boys while Rich watched the fire. Can you smell the wood smoke? Yeah. And here's what it sounded like to our neighbors:

Baby: Daddy?! Daddy?!
Daddy: Yes, Baby?
Baby: No night-nights, Daddy.
Daddy: Go night night Baby.
Baby: (Pauses as if considering this perfectly reasonable request.) No.
Oldest: My stomach hurts.
Mommy: You probably ate too many s'mores.
Oldest: But I only had five!
Mommy: Maybe five was too many.
Oldest: Oh.
Mommy: Go to sleep, Honey.
Oldest: I don't feel safe in a tent. I think we should move it. We're going to slide down the hill.
Mommy: We're not anywhere near the hill. Go to sleep.

Oldest: I think I want to sleep in my bed.

Baby: Daddy?!

Daddy: Yes Baby.

Baby: No night-nights!

There might have been the teensiest bit of sighing through this exchange on my part. By 9:30 p.m. both boys were tucked safely in their beds. They were asleep by 9:35 p.m. Mom and Dad followed suit by 10:30 p.m. The next morning my oldest said he missed camping out and wanted to try again. My husband and I talked about taking the kids to the mountains where we can wear them out hiking and swimming first, then try camping. But really I'm thinking there's a Winnebago somewhere with my name on it.

Lemon Garlic Herb Marinade

4 boneless chicken breasts

juice of one lemon

2-3 small cloves of garlic, chopped

Tbs fresh chopped oregano

Tbs fresh chopped rosemary

pinch of salt

pinch of black pepper

1/4 cup olive oil

1.) Squeeze the lemon juice into a small bowl. Add chopped garlic and herbs, salt and pepper. Whisk in olive oil.

2.) Place thawed chicken breasts in a shallow bowl. Add marinade and toss to coat.

3.) Marinate an hour or more, turning once.

4.) Grill until done.
5.) Top with some crumbled feta cheese and capers or chopped olives if desired. I garnished mine with rosemary.

Recipe Makeover: Glazed Lemon Cake

Lemons make me happy.

So I was excited to see a recipe for "Simple Lemon Cake" in this month's issue of Everyday Food that made use of four whole lemons. Wow, right up my alley. I read the recipe over and thought it sounded a little involved but wanted to give it a whirl. I'm glad I did. After quite a bit of tweaking and the addition of a glaze, it came out delicious. Dense, moist crumb studded with bright yellow lemon peel and a tangy glaze that balances the bitter/sour of the lemon peel in the cake. Wow. There's something old fashioned and Depression-era about boiling down the lemons and pureeing them to use in the cake. A revelation--well to me anyway.

But what a lot of work to get there due to a poorly constructed recipe and a few of my own gaffs. I could go on for four more paragraphs about all that was wrong with the magazine's version of this recipe (which I did in an earlier version of this post and then decided just sounded too cranky). Instead, I will post the ingredients for the cake in a more logical order and with all the changes I made. I also included the recipe for the glaze I added. For the original version of the recipe, check out this month's issue of Everyday Food. Serve this alone or with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.

Glazed Lemon Cake

4 lemons, sliced into 2" pieces, ends and large seeds removed

3/4 cup butter, room temp

2 tsp vanilla

2 cups granulated sugar

2 eggs, plus 2 egg yolks

2/3 cup milk or kefir (buttermilk would probably work great too)

2 cups flour (I use half wheat mix)

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

Glaze:

1 cup confectioner's sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 Tbs lemon solution from cooking lemons (or equal amt lemon juice)

Cake:
Preheat the oven to 400'.

1.) Slice the lemons, removing the ends and picking out any large seeds. Not sure if this is necessary with the seeds but I worried it would effect the taste/texture of the final puree. Better safe than sorry. There's no way to make the crunch of seeds appetizing in a cake. Plus it seems like the seeds would make it unnecessarily bitter.

2.) Boil the lemons in water and a pinch of salt, 15 minutes, or until soft.

3.) Drain the liquid and set it aside for use in the glaze and to make lemonade.

4.) Cut butter into 1" pats and add to food processor with vanilla. Pour in cooked lemons. Pulse until smooth. Add eggs and yolks. At this stage it will look like this. If you missed any seeds, now's a good time to spoon through the batter and remove any husky feeling pieces
5.) In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, baking soda and powder.
6.) Add lemon mix to flour mix alternating with milk or kefir. Beat just until smooth.
7.) Now here I got annoyed because the original recipe claimed to make enough batter for one 9" cake pan. But I filled a small spring form pan 3/4 of the way and poured out six more cupcakes. You can probably get two 9" cake pans out of this or try a bundt pan.

 8.) Bake the cupcakes (if you make them) for 15-18 minutes and the cake for about 35-40 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack. Remove from pan.

Glaze:
1.) Place 1 cup confectioner's sugar in a bowl.
2.) Whisk in 1 tsp vanilla and the lemon solution 1 Tb at a time. I used 2 1/2 Tbs for my glaze. I didn't glaze the cupcakes, so if you want enough glaze for them as well, double this recipe.
3.) Prick the cake all over with a clean fork. Spread the glaze across the top of the cake, using the back of a spoon, until the glaze spills over the edge. Serve warm or cool.

Tortelloni in Lemon Cream Sauce with Spring Vegetables--$1 off coupon

Pre-made tortelloni or ravioli are a huge hit at our house. We usually eat them one of two ways--in red sauce or with olive oil, salt and pepper, and Parmesan. Boring after a while, and not so diverse on the dietary scale. So here's a little something to liven them up and get lots of yummy veg while still being quick and easy. I substituted half and half for heavy cream to cut out hundreds of calories and a load of fat. If you can find whole wheat or low-fat tortelloni, all the better. This might be one of our new favorite meals! And if it's Buitoni that you like, here's a way to get a $1 coupon on your next purchase.

Tortelloni in Lemon Cream Sauce with Spring Vegetables

20 oz package pre-made tortelloni, cooked according to instructions

3 cups chopped veg, such as carrots (thinly sliced), yellow squash, zucchini, asparagus, peas and bell peppers

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 Tb olive oil

Sauce:

1 cup half-and-half

1 Tb butter

1 lemon (zest and 3 Tbs juice)

pinch of salt and pepper to taste

1.) Saute vegetables and garlic in olive oil or add a splash of water and place the lid on the pan to steam the veg just until tender.

2.) Meanwhile in a separate sauce pan, heat butter and half-and-half until butter is melted. Cook 10 minutes or until cream thickens slightly. Stir in lemon juice and zest. Add salt and pepper to taste. Let cool slightly.

3.) Cook tortelloni according to package instructions and drain.

4.) In a large serving bowl, gently combine the tortelloni and vegetables with the sauce. Stir to coat.

5.) Serve with Parmesan cheese and any fresh herbs if you have them on hand.

Lemon Spritz Flower and Heart Cookies

Spritz cookies are usually a Christmas tradition, but the cookie presses these days come with heart and daisy disks that beg to be used for spring and Valentine's Day. Linc was my official decorator--for his usual handling fee in chocolate chips and sugar sprinkles. What can I say? Good help this cute is hard to find.

 As a special treat for Lincoln, I mixed up the usual spritz recipe to make it more like his favorite cookies from the grocery store bakery, a lemon spritz. I have to say, they're pretty darn close and don't have any of that nasty mystery ingredient greasiness. Not that these are health food by any means, with not one, not two, but THREE sticks of butter. Ah well. They're tiny. I'm sure five or six won't hurt. Much.

If you don't have any idea what I'm talking about when I say 'cookie press', here's a photo of one from Wilton for about $10. The model I have is very similar. Two tips to making this press and recipe work--don't grease the cookie sheets and don't chill the cookie dough until after they're pressed out onto the cookie sheets and decorated. Then stick them in the freezer for five minutes while you wait for the previous pan to bake. Freezing the dough once pressed will keep the cookies from puffing up and losing their shape. Also, don't re-use a baking sheet until it's cooled, cleaned with soap and water and dried. That way, the cookie dough will stick to the pan and release neatly. If you find your cookies are sticking to the disks, take a second to run hot water over the disk to get rid of any dough buildup, while it's attached to the press. You should get a nice, clean cookie on the next take. Don't worry, this will all make a lot more sense when you're actually using the press. :-) You can also try the chocolate version of this dough that's on the box (dipped in chocolate would be divine) or use food coloring to color the dough. Other cookie disks in my set include a pumpkin, Shamrock and Christmas shapes.

A cookie press might look or sound complicated, but once you get the hang of it you'll be hooked. How else can you make this many adorable and yummy cookies?

Lemon Spritz Cookies

Makes...too many to count (70-80 is a good estimate)

3 sticks of butter, softened

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 Tb fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 Tb grated lemon peel

1 Tb half-and-half or milk

3 1/2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1.) Preheat oven to 375'.
2.) Cream butter and sugar.
3.) Add egg, lemon juice and peel and milk.
4.) Add flour and baking powder, mixing to make a smooth dough.
5.) Drop dough in press by the spoonful, tapping against the counter to help get rid of air pockets. Press out cookies and decorate.
6.) Chill in freezer five minutes before baking.
7.) Bake 8-10 minutes. Don't let them brown.
8.) Cool and move to wire rack to set.