My good friend Helen came over to visit me last week. She is like a grandmother to me. We have been friends for 20 years! We visit, do fun projects, and cooking together. We thought that it was a good day to bake. I decided on Lemon Bars because they are my Mom’s favorite dessert! They are not too complicated to make, especially if you grate the rind & squeeze the lemon in advance.

All the ingredients were out on our middle island ~ so we were ready to go. The first thing we did was to soften the butter in the microwave…. ½ cup at a time. We went on to finish the recipe that you will see in the photo. You may be wondering where the “oops” comes in. Well, it was at dinnertime when my mom went to use the microware. She found a dish with ½ cup of the softened butter! Helen and I only used a ½ cup instead of the full cup of butter in the crust. It was a little crumbly but just as good! So there…. now you have an option for diet lemon squares! Here’s a trick to help get the squares out easier. After the pan comes out of the oven and cools for about 15 minutes, take a knife or a flat metal spatula and go around the edges of the pan to loosen the edges before it cools and sets completely. You can make these ahead of time and freeze them.  Actually my mom and I love to eat them frozen!

On St. Patty’s Day My Mom and I wanted to make a green dessert. We pulled out a recipe she made for us when we were kids. I also made it for a St. Patrick’s Day Party last week for my Friday Night group. It’s very fluffy and creamy and sort of melts in your mouth. The only warning is that it is very sweet ~ so make sure you have hungry kids around. It’s so simple to make. Mix one can of crushed pineapple with a box of instant pistachio pudding. Fold in 3 cups of marshmallows into that mix. Finally fold one container of cool whip (we used light) and refrigerate . Like I said yummy, but very sweet!

Hope you like them! Bon Appetite!