Lemon Lavender Tea Cake

It's been over two months since my last post! Boy does time fly. I honestly cannot believe that I am already a third of the way through my chief year. This year has had its challenges for sure, but has been incredibly rewarding in so many other ways. Aside from working along side some of my best friends and colleagues and having the opportunity to both teach and learn from my residents, I get the wonderful opportunity of trying out new recipes! 

Earlier this summer, the Boy and I had a weekend off together (I know, weird, right?) and spent it at a lavender festival in Highland Springs. I had been DYING to go to a lavender festival ever since this tiny little lavender obsession of mine started and was thrilled that this was only 30 minutes from home. 

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Lemon Tart

Hooray! It's our last month of residency! While we are overjoyed to be done with training, it also means that some of the wonderful friends we have made over the past three years will be moving away. It made me think of the saying "when life gives you lemons, make lemonade." Although being sad your friends are moving is hardly a lemon compared to the horrific recent events, I'll consider it a relative lemon. But why stop at lemonade? Our friends Jen and Curtis were celebrating their housewarming this weekend so we went ahead and turned our lemons into a lemon tart  to share. 

Happy First Day of Spring! Lemon Macarons

Happy first day of spring! With flowers beginning to bloom, despite allergies popping in to say their first hello of the season, I can't help but be excited for the change in weather. Warmer temperatures mean putting away those winter jackets and boots and pulling out the spring dresses! 

It's funny how easily we can adapt and how perspective can change when you are put into different situations. 3 years ago, in the beautiful city of Philadelphia, "Spring" would mean 50 degree weather and no more snow, at which time we really did pull out the spring dresses. We would even see sunbathers out on the lawn on the warmer days at a nice and hot 60 degrees farenheit. But after moving back to good old SoCal, I've become quite accustomed to the dry California sunshine, where 50 degrees in the winter is chilly and if it ever drops down to the 40s or dare I say 30s, we are bundled in winter gear: layers, coats, boots, scarves...the whole shebang. The Philadelphia girl in me would be ashamed if she saw me now. "Spring" now means beautiful 70s-80s sunshine. Unfortunately it's usually short lived as Summer rounds the corner at breakneck speed with 100+ heat even before he's called for. But let's not get ahead of ourselves and just focus on the beauty of Spring.  

Spring makes me think of bright yellows and greens and now with Easter just around the corner, pastel pinks and purples. So as a tribute to spring, this post is going to be on something bright, something yellow, something spring: lemon macarons!

Blueberry Lemon Muffins

It's not exactly spring yet, but I couldn't resist picking up a beautiful box of blueberries at Trader Joe's last week. Outside of making a blueberry grilled cheese sandwich, what better use for them than for some call day blueberry lemon muffins. Moist yet crispy on top, these will melt in your mouth. I also had a few lemons left in the fridge that needed to be used up hence the blueberry lemon muffins. Not to mention it was the perfect excuse to use these absolutely adorable silicon baking cups by "Fred and Friends" that have been sitting in the cabinet for months now.