Guest Post: Annie from A Spoonful of Sugar

I hope you all are having a great week. I want to introduce you to my very first guest poster! Her name is Annie from A Spoonful of Sugar and she is an incredible baker! She always posts amazing recipes as well as some other fun things. 

When Lemons Bring You Hope

by Annie

I have been pining for Spring to arrive despite the fact that Central Oregon refuses to let it happen.  My mind has been spinning with the change of seasons, moving away from pumpkin, spices, and heavy desserts, and heading quickly towards light and refreshing ones made with fresh fruits and berries, meringue, and anything that evokes thoughts of the sunny season.  By the time winter is saying farewell, I'm more than ready for a new collection of dessert recipes.

Nothing says, "Hello Spring!" more than lemons.  I have a deep love of all things lemon, and was so happy to find Meyer Lemons at Costco last week.  These wonderfully delicious fruits are a cross between a lemon and either a mandarin or an orange.  They are a bit smaller than a true lemon, and their outside skin is smooth and darker yellow in color than a true lemon.  They are so unbelievably fragrant, and absolutely worth getting if you ever find them in your produce department.

With a couple of pounds of Meyer Lemons in hand, I began thinking about what I wanted to make and kept returning to a simple lemon cookie with lemon frosting.  Seemed simple and lovely, and a splendid way to ring in the fact that it IS officially Spring.  So while I watched snow fall from the sky the other day (read: "I'm so angry it's snowing right now"), I embraced Spring and got to work squeezing lemons.

These are about the most simple cookies to make.  I took a basic sugar cookie recipe and adjusted it by adding the juice of 2 Meyer lemons and about 1 cup extra flour.  Next, I rolled out the dough and cut it into cute fluted circles.  Then I made a buttercream frosting and added the juice of 2 Meyer lemons and a bit of yellow food coloring.  So simple. So full of Spring, and absolutely reminding me of sunshine on this cloudy day.

I'll be honest about this one thing.  The weather has put me in a mood the last month that has been hard to snap out of.  It's like this every year, and I conveniently forget.  Winter holds on with a grip so tight you'd think the temperature high will never make it consistently over 49 degrees, and you'll never get to put away your winter coat that's taking up way too much space in the closet.  And then we'll get a slight glimpse of a day that wants to be warm, only to have it stolen away by a blustery snow falling when it's nearly April.  But I also know this...it's the little things in life that can make you smile at such unexpected times.  In the midst of being irritated over the fact that Spring has been turned away in our area of the country, I found myself smiling this particular day.  My house filled with the smell of citrus, and my mind filled with the hope of warmth, sun, and many more lemon treats to come.

So incredibly thankful for hope.

Thanks so much Annie for taking the time to share your thoughts with us! I really wish I could taste those lemon cookies! I can almost smell the lemon in that picture. Yummy! Go check out Annie's awesome blog for great recipes as well as baking tips at A Spoonful of Sugar.