Pink Lemonade Bars

 

 I mentioned a few days ago that I would try and post the recipe for Pink Lemonade Bars featured in the little cookie booklet Visions of Sugarplums.  To me these would be perfect for a summer cookie tray, but they would be pretty at Christmas time as well.

PINK LEMONADE BARS

Crust:
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup confectioners sugar

Topping:
4 large eggs, room temperature
2 cups sugar
1 Tblsp. freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
5 drops red liquid food coloring

Confectioners sugar for topping

Heat oven to 350º.  Line a 13 x 9 pan with foil, letting foil extend above pan at both ends.  Coat foil with nonstick baking spray.

For crust, beat butter, flour, and confectioners sugar in a large bowl with mixer until blended and crumbly.  Press over bottom of prepared pan.  Bake 15 minutes or until light golden.  Remove from oven but do not turn the oven off.

While crust is baking, make topping.  In a large bowl, beat eggs, sugar, lemon zest and juice, flour and baking powder with mixer to combine.  Add food coloring and beat until topping is pink in color.  Pour over the hot crust.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes until top is golden and topping has set.  Cool in pan on a wire rack.

Lift foil by ends to cutting board.  Cut bars in 6 rows lengthwise and 8 crosswise to make 48 bars.  Dust with confectioners sugar.  Makes 48 bars.

(No mention of when to remove the foil.  I think I would do it before cutting the bars, so as not to get shreds of foil mixed in with them.)  

There it is!  Enjoy!

Mistletoe & Holly -- another gorgeous Christmas fabric collection!

 

1950s Christmas card

 Wow, here is more glorious Christmas fabric!  This Mistletoe & Holly collection is from one of my favorite designers, Beverly McCullough, who does so much more than simply designing fabrics.  Visit her at Flamingo Toes for more inspiration for sewing, embroidery, and more -  and to visit her shop.  You are sure to be charmed and inspired.

But on to Mistletoe & Holly!  I will just share a few of my favorites from this collection.

Mistletoe & Holly Forest main yardage

Cloud Snowflakes yardage

Sage Snowflakes yardage

Silver Mistletoe yardage

Sage Floral yardage

Cloud Plaid yardage

 
Aren't they beautiful?  I love the vintage look.  I can think of many projects I would use these fabrics for.  In addition to the yardage, there is a full variety of precuts in this collection and also a good number of panels to make different projects from.

A beautiful Christmas card -- "The Lights of Friendship"

 

This is not a super old card -- it's a Leanin' Tree design, likely from the late 1990s -- but I loved the sentiment and the detail in the artwork.  The cover features an original painting by artist Clayton Nicles.  I'm sure if you double-click on the card image you will be able to see it better.

Look at the lovely details: -- a ball of green yarn and a basket of knitting beside the rocking chair; a teacup and bowl of apples at the ready; the teakettle heating over the fire; a well-worn Bible on the mantel.

The tree is simply trimmed with popcorn strings and clip-on candles. 

Gifts are everywhere including in the pocket of the plaid jacket hanging on a hook at left.

And the dear message: "In every home, in every heart the lights of friendship glow."  Don't you love that?  Somehow in our world and culture today we have gotten away from that.  

I want this sentiment to be true of my heart and home.  Wouldn't you agree?  Let's keep the lights on for friendship!

More Readerville projects for handmade gifts

 

Today I will post links to a few more of the gifts I made using the Readerville fabric.  The tote was the first thing I made, and I actually made two of these for book-loving granddaughters.  

I had saved this pattern some time ago: Three-Ten Tote Bag -- three fabrics, ten steps -- and let me tell you, I am so thankful that I did save it and finally got around to making it.  As I mentioned, I made two and they will not be the last ones that I make.

I also made a bookmark, as mentioned earlier, and a pocket size tissue cover.

And then I also made a mug mat (I can't find the pattern I used, but you can see it is six squares of equal size for each side).

and coaster -- 

because both girls are aspiring writers and might enjoy coffee and/or a snack as they work at their computers.

This fun to make gift ensemble was very well received!

Visions of Sugarplums -- a fun find!

 

This fun little find was the Woman's Day annual Christmas cookie cookbook for 2005, bound into its magazine pages.   

The cookie recipes include Shortbread Trees, Cherry Checkerboards, Peppermint Tea Cakes, Honey Hazelnut Triangles, Raspberry Brownie Cups, Pink Lemonade Bars, Chocolate-Dipped Pistachio Biscotti, Santa's Whiskers, Cranberry Double-Chip Cookies, Ginger Drops, Almond-Orange Macaroons, and Lime Snowflakes & Ornaments.

The Pink Lemonade Bars are pretty and sound so perfect for a summer day!  Essentially it seems one might add 5 drops of red food coloring to a regular lemon bar recipe.  I will try and share the recipe later this week.  

Are there other cookies from this booklet that sound tempting to you?  Let me know and I will share.

Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmarks

 

A bookmark is a small gift that almost anyone can use!  Even with all of the books available to read on phones, iPads or tablets, many people (of all ages) still prefer an actual book.  So a bookmark can make a wonderful stocking stuffer or is also a nice flat small gift to give or mail inside of a Christmas card.  

When I made the above tote bag from Readerville fabric by Kris Stammers for Maywood Studio, I had some scraps left over and wanted to make some coordinating pieces to go with the bag.  I had patterns for a coaster, mug rug and tissue holder, but had to go looking for a pattern for a fabric bookmark.

This one, from Pin Cut Sew Studio, really fit the bill: Easy Quilted Fabric Bookmark.  

 

Photo from Pin Cut Sew Studio

This pattern is a really nice one and I especially like that one can use smaller fabric scraps to piece the bookmarks, or just use an entire piece of fabric, as I did.  In the photo above, you can see that the bookmarks on the right and left are pieced from scraps, while the center one is made using larger scraps in their entirety and then simply quilted.  That's the method I chose to use, as I felt my fabric was busy enough without piecing it.  But I do love the look of the pieced and quilted bookmarks too.

Have fun with this idea!  I hope to share the links for the other Readerville projects too -- if not tomorrow, then later in the week.

Christmas in July sale at my Etsy shop!!

 

Just a little public service announcement!  I'm running a Christmas in July sale over at my Etsy shop, 

A New Hampshire Attic.

Now through July 24, all items in the vintage Christmas category are 25% off.  There are approximately 70 listings in this category, which includes vintage Christmas cards, both new and preowned, vintage craft books, candy boxes and even a couple of handmade crafts.  Hopefully I will be listing a few more items before the 24th.

Head on over to browse and shop!