Ina Garten

Give Yourself Grace

If you live in Riverside, it is very common this time of year to open your front door and find a bag of citrus. A few days ago, I discovered a mystery bag of these riches at my front door with an overwhelming amount of lemons. When life gives you lemons, Lemon Bars are the perfect recipe to break out for the Mangia by Pia project.

I imagined beautiful triangles of shortbread, tart filling (with the perfect sweet-to-sour ratio), and a snowy layer of confectioner’s sugar. They would look just like the ones Cheryl made at Jammin Bread restaurant/bakery. I planned on gifting the treats to friends. Then life had other plans.

I knew something was wrong even before sliding the pan into the oven. In less than 35 minutes, my fears were confirmed. The tops of the bars were dark brown (burnt), and the filling was runny. An epic baking failure. No cute little triangles that friends could pick up with their fingertips. They would need a soup spoon, and no amount of confectioner’s sugar was going to cover the dark surface of the not-so-tasty treat.

Normally, I would have driven the offensive culprit  to the closest landfill. I’d never tell anyone about the failure and would mentally wear the shame like a heavy winter coat. I would spend hours beating myself up about the wasted effort. Then move on to berating myself about using the best Kerrygold Irish butter and farm-fresh eggs that had been gifted by Marcella Waggoner. The icing on my mental slide would be questioning my ability; I would feel stupid, and a voice in my head would say mean things.

Encouraged by my sister and daughter to take a photo for the blog and talk about the elephant in the room. I decided to share a few thoughts on failures, challenges, and not meeting the mark.  

In today’s world, where perfect lives are on display through social media, it is pretty easy feel ‘less than’ especially when we make mistakes. The fact is that even the most put-together person faces challenges and misses the mark. Instead of setting up camp and saying mean things to ourselves, we need to keep taking the shot. The most important thing today is to give yourself grace.  I encourage you to practice positive self-talk and ignore those voices of self-doubt in your head.  In a few days, I’ll be right back in the kitchen for Lemon Bars 2.0 and practicing my mantra. Mangia by Pia, It’s Not All About the Food.  

Ingredients for the crust

• ½ lb Unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ C Granulated sugar
• 2 C Flour1/8 t Kosher salt

Ingredients for the filling

• 6 Extra-large eggs at room temperature
• 3 C Granulated sugar
• 2 T Grated lemon zest (from 4 to 6 lemons)
• 1 C Freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 C Flour
• Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
• For the crust, cream the butter and sugar with an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. 
• Combine the flour and salt and with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. 
• Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather it into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
• Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
• For the filling, whisk together the eggs, sugar and lemon zest. Add lemon juice until it is blended.
• Slowly add 1/3 of the flour at a time. 
• Pour over the crust and bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature. Cut into triangles and dust with confectioners’ sugar.