I Heart Yellow

I heart yellow.

Yellow is the sun. Yellow is bright and warm and always makes me happy when I see it.

Yellow is a friendly smile and blooming flowers. Yellow is everywhere a loved one is.

Yellow is courage. Yellow is Barbara of winosandfoodies.com and The Taste of Yellow event to celebrate LiveStrong Day.

Yellow is strong. Yellow is fearless.

Yellow is a hug. Yellow is a night out with friends.

Yellow is laughing until you cry. Yellow is the funny story everyone begs you to tell.

Yellow is the book you’ve read a thousand times. Yellow is the movie that makes you cry. Yellow is the funny pair of socks that you’ll never part with.

Yellow is intelligence. Yellow is compassion. Yellow is lending a helping hand.

Yellow is the picture of the one you love. Yellow is the song that you love. Yellow is music.

Yellow is bravery. Yellow is staring down the bad guy.

Yellow is the cure for cancer.

Yellow is my father.

I heart yellow.

Ciao!

Lemony Lemon Bars with Raspberry Coulis

Adapted from Afternoon Delights by James McNair and Andrew Moore.

Note:  These bars are a bit unusual in that they are creamier than your average lemon bar. I’ve added a bit of cream to the bar to give it a creamier texture. These bars can be a bit difficult to cut but I find that refrigerating them before slicing and using a hot knife helps a lot. The recipe will yield anywhere from 24 to 30 bars, depending on how small you cut them.

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 6 large eggs
• 2-3/4 cups sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 tsp. grated lemon zest

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Generously butter a 9 x 13-inch pan.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the butter and sugar. Beat at medium high speed until the mixture is creamy and combined. Add the salt and mix to combine.
3. Add one cup of the flour and mix on low speed until combined. Add the second cup of flour and mix on low speed until thoroughly combined.
4. Put the dough into the buttered pan and with your hands, spread it out into an even and flat layer.
5. Bake the crust for about 20 minutes. It should be nicely golden.
6. Remove the crust from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
7. In a large bowl, mix th eeggs, sugar, flour and salt. Whisk until the mixture is combined.
8. Add the lemon juice, the heavy cream and the lemon zest and stir to combine.
9. Pour the lemon mixture onto the baked crust and put the pan back in the oven.
10. Bake the bars until the lemon filling is golden on top and doesn’t jiggle in the middle (about 30 minutes).
11. Remove from the oven and let cool completely on a wire rack.
12. Once cool, you can either cut into bars and serve or refrigerate for up to 2 days. I recommend refrigerating before you cut into bars.
13. Using a small cookie cutter or even a small spoon, cut out or scoop out a bit of the centre of each bar.
14. Fill the indentation with a bit of raspberry coulis (recipe follows). Dust with icing sugar if you like and then serve immediately.
15. Enjoy!

Raspberry Coulis

Note:  You can make this as thick or thin as you like. I like a medium consistency. I also don’t like it to be too sweet, but feel free to add more sugar if you like. This will yield about 2 cups of raspberry coulis. The coulis will keep in the refrigerator for a week.

• 2 to 2-1/2 cups frozen raspberries (you can also use fresh)
• 1/2 to 1 cup hot water
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup sugar

1. Combine all the ingredients, except the water, in a food processor.
2. Process for about a minute, or until the raspberries have been processed and the mixture is combined. Add 1/2 cup of hot water and process until smooth.
3. Taste the coulis and adjust for sweetness. If you want a thinner coulis, then add more hot water and process again.
4. Once the coulis is to your liking, strain through a fine mesh sieve.
5. Pour the strained coulis into a bowl and keep refrigerated when you’re not using it.
6. Enjoy!

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