Tuesday To Do List: what to buy, spy, and try! (or sometimes cry about)

Tuesday To Do List is my newest attempt at bringing you tidbits from the gluten-free world each week. This will continue until my mind-that-doesn’t-rest comes up with another way to entertain you guys. You can read my very first to-do list here. Cross your fingers I am back here next Tuesday with another list.

Our Badgers won in the very last second the other night on the court, sending them to the Sweet 16… but the REAL March Madness is March MUFFIN Madness happening right now with “coach” Shirley. 😉 Go check out ALL of the recipes (and oh-so-generous prizes!!!) and then try out my coffee cake muffins I entered in the madness last year.

I spy happy mail from Coors Peak today. They are rolling out a new flavor in their Coors Peak line, the Golden Lager, and I get to try it! (stay tuned for my thoughts on this one, going to try my best to save it until this weekend with the family so the rest of Team GF can try it too!)

I also may try to save a little for these gluten-free onion rings!

We are trying out 225 South/Mia Famiglia’s new location in Waukesha tomorrow night for our GF Get Together dinner — friends on Facebook have been raving about the plentiful options for the GF crowd and their careful handling/separate prep area to avoid cross contamination.

For once in my life, I was thankful for a delay during my layover — it meant sit down dinner at Root Down in the Denver airport!

You must try when you’re passing through Concourse C. (actually ALL of the restaurants in their group: Root Down, Linger, and Ophelia’s have gluten-free options and I’ve eaten at ALL of them safely. Looks like my dear friend Johnna love Root Down as well, read about her experience here.

Another EVERYthing is gluten-free bakery/restaurant find, this time in Tucson, AZ. We are headed back this fall to celebrate my brother’s retirement from the Air Force (SO proud of him!) and will be going back to Gourmet Girls Gluten Free Bakery & Bistro.

 

After being in summer-like weather all week in Arizona, I had a severe vacation hangover returning to chilly Wisconsin weather. Dreaming of real spring temps… maybe these Springtime Lemon Bars would help?

 

Give me all the lemon desserts — next up is this naturally GF meyer lemon creme brûlée !

As much as I wish I were getting paid big bucks to add these links to my page, I’m not. They are not affiliate links. I’m just sharing to share.

{springtime lemon bars}

Despite the too-low-for-my-liking temps in Milwaukee the past couple of weeks, there are still signs of spring.

Aren’t those yellow tulips lovely? (one of my favorites) 

I’m a sucker for anything yellow — it’s been my favorite color for as long as I can remember. Have you seen the Pinterest board from our wedding? It’s everywhere these days, yellow is back.

Hello, yellow. 

Maybe that’s why I gravitate towards anything made with lemon. Cakes or cookies, grilled asparagus or beverages. Love me some lemon.

This was my first attempt at lemon bars.

Ever.

I had never made them, even before going gluten-free. Which seems so silly considering how much I like them — Molly’s Gluten-Free Bakery makes some killer lemon squares (they made them for our wedding) that you should get your hands on if at all possible.

But I may have given them a run for their money with these.

Gluten-Free Lemon Bars 

                                                                       Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated

For the crust

• 1 ¾ cups gluten-free flour mix – I used C4C, but you can use any pre-made mix, or play around with flours and starches, a little of several different kinds works best

• ⅔ cup powdered sugar, plus a little extra to shake on top

• ¼ cup cornstarch

• ¾ teaspoon table salt

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter(1 ½ sticks), cool room temperature, cut into pieces, plus a bit extra to grease the pan

For the filling…

• 4 eggs, beaten

• 1 ⅓ cups sugar

• 3 tablespoons gluten-free flour

• 2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

•  ⅔ cup lemon juice, strained (I used 2-3 larger lemons)

• ⅓ cup whole milk

• ⅛ teaspoon table salt

For the crust… Pre-heat oven to 350. (make sure you adjust the rack to the middle) Lightly butter a 9 x 13 pan. Then lay two pieces of parchment paper in the pan — crossed over one another — lay one down lengthwise, then the other widthwise on top. (is that a word?)

In your food processor, pulse the flour, powdered sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Add in your butter and blend for a few seconds, then continue to pulse it until mixture is light yellow and looks kind of like corn meal. Sprinkle the meal mixture into the parchment lined pan. Then, using your fingers, press the “dough” out into the pan in a ¼ inch layer, but push it up to about ½ inch on the sides — this is making a nice little crust, and you’ll want the sides a little higher up so when you pour the filling in, it stays put. Put it in the fridge for about a half hour, then bake until golden brown, 20 minutes-ish.

For the filling… While you’re waiting, whisk eggs, sugar, and flour in a bowl, and then stir in your lemon zest, lemon juice, milk, and salt.

And then… Reduce heat in the oven to 325 degrees. Give your filling another stir to combine it all again, and pour it right onto the warm crust. (this is key, you want to pour it on there shortly after taking it out of the oven). Bake it until the filling feels pretty firm when touched, you don’t want it still liquid-like, about 20 minutes or so. When you take it out of the oven, put the pan on a wire rack and cool it down for at least a half hour.When it has cooled, you can pull it out of the pan by grasping the pieces of parchment paper to lift it right out and unto a cutting board where you can cut it into pieces and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Any other lemon bar first timers out there? Or have you been making something like this for years?