Visit to a U-Pick Farm and Lemon-Coconut Bars

A pickin’ we will go
A pickin’ we will go
Heigh-ho, the derry-o
A pickin’ we will go

And so we did... my daughter, son-in-law and their two boys, and my son who’s in town visiting. We spent a beautiful Sunday afternoon picking first apples of the season and raspberries at Reisinger’s Apple Country near Watkins Glen in New York State’s Southern Tier.

We picked Ginger Gold and McIntosh Apples

Nearby were two rows of apples not yet ready for picking, but look at the gorgeous "honey" color (enlarge the photo) of the apples in the row in the back of this photo.

My 5-year old grandson insisted on having his own wagon to pull. No more riding for him. He and his dad are headed to rows of raspberries. Most of our apples are in another wagon.

Raspberries were a bit sparse, but we picked a few quarts and they were oh-so-good!

My son-in-law, grandson, and son picking raspberries in the hot, hot sun. Notice the log cabin chicken coop in the back.

Sometimes a product just calls to me and on a recent trip to Wegmans, it was a basket full of shiny, firm lemons. I brought one home with me and before heading out to the u-pick farm, I made lemon bars.

They cooled while I was away. What a treat to come home to--they tasted amazing--a sweet and sour filling in a simple crust. The coconut in the filling was a nice touch, but next time I might add the coconut to the crust. This is the simplest of recipes and will work well on either informal or formal occasions.

Betty Crocker hasn’t lost her touch!


LEMON-COCONUT BARS
(from Betty Crocker’s Cookbook 2001 ~ p.144)

Ingredients...

(Crust)
1 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. butter or stick margarine, softened**
1/4 c. powdered sugar
******
(Filling)
1 c. granulated sugar
2 tsp. grated lemon peel, if desired
2 T. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large eggs
1/2 c. flaked coconut
Powdered sugar

Directions...

1. Heat oven to 350-degrees Farenheit.
2. Mix flour, butter and 1/4 cup powdered sugar. Press in ungreased square pan, 8 x 8 x 2 or 9 x 9 x 2 inches, building up 1/2-inch edge.
3. Bake crust 20 minutes; remove from oven.

4. Beat remaining ingredients except powdered sugar with electric mixer on high speed about 3 minutes or until light and fluffy. Pour over hot crust.

5. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until no indentation remains when touched lightly in the center. Cool in pan on wire rack. Dust with powdered sugar. For bars, cut into 5 rows by 5 rows.

My notes...

* I used, and always recommend using, butter.
* By all means, add the grated lemon peel. It brings the taste to a new level!
* Check the expiration date on your baking powder.
* Cut the bars at room temperature for best results. If they have been refrigerated, just leave them out on the counter for 10-15 minutes before cutting.
* Next time, I’m going to mix the coconut into the flour, butter, powdered sugar mix to make it part of the crust.

******

Have you noticed? Near the upper right hand corner of the blog, there is a green box labelled Food Blogs. I’m now a member and you can access most of my blog entries/recipes by clicking on the box and searching Step By Step In The Kitchen.