To twist a Steinbeck title, “This is the summer of my discontent.”
You see, I’ve spent the last few months in an assortment of delightful activities like jury duty, taking family members in for surgery, de-cluttering the house, giving said house the HGTV treatment (which means making it look as if no one lives in it), and putting it on the market to sell. Which it did — in 3 days.
Then the insanity of all this deepened into frantic packing in order to move out the last day of this month. Suffice it to say that I’ve been away from Main Street for so long that I thought I might need a compass to find my way back.
I’m Back
Fortunately, I just followed the delightful aroma of all the good food that the talented Authors of Main Street have been cooking up this month. I love food. I love cooking, talking about food, sharing recipes, and eating of course. (I don’t like cleaning up the mess though and would love a sous chef to step in to handle that odious task.)
In all my romantic comedies, food is talked about and enjoyed. I’ve started sharing the recipes within the books and on my websites. Today, I’d like to share a recipe that’s perfect for the summer. It’s a lemon dessert the heroine makes in Cinderella Blue, my new book — coming in August if I can just get my office set up after this move.
Lazy Lemon Soufflé (okay, this is really a pudding, but let’s be fancy-schmancy and call it soufflé)
Ingredients
· 1 cup white sugar
· 1/4 teaspoon salt
· 4 tablespoons plain white flour
· 1 lemon
· 2 eggs
· 1 cup milk
· 1 tablespoon melted butter
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Select an ovenproof baking dish that will make a lovely presentation since you’ll be serving directly from the baking dish. Also put on some water to boil for step 6.
2. Grate the rind of the lemon until you have 2 teaspoons of rind. Squeeze the lemon to yield at least 3 tablespoons of lemon juice. In a bowl, mix sugar, salt, flour, rind, and juice.
3. Separate the eggs, putting the whites in a glass or metal bowl, not plastic. (Egg whites won’t beat well in plastic.) In a large measuring cup or small bowl, beat the yolks, milk, and butter. Add this to the flour mixture. Then beat the egg whites until stiff. Fold this into the flour mixture.
4. Pour the mixture into the ovenproof bowl. Set the dish in a larger ovenproof pan. Pour hot water in the outer pan. (This technique is called a water bath, and it keeps soufflés and puddings from burning or getting hard on the bottom and sides.) The water should come up the side of the baking dish holding the pudding about an inch.
5. Bake at 325 for about 50 minutes. You know it’s done when you insert a knife around the sides and there’s no liquid left because it’s all been absorbed.
6. Serves 4-6. This delicate lemon dessert is as light and delicious as any soufflé you’ve ever had, but it’s much easier to make which is why I call it a lazy soufflé. Oh, and it’s good either hot or cold.
Perfect Combo: Dessert & Free Book
Whip up this dessert, chill it, and spoon it up while you read one of my sassy, sexy romantic comedies! In fact, I’ll make it easy to get one of my books. Leave a comment with your name, and I’ll send you a Smashwords coupon for a book of your choice!
Bon appetit! Bonne lecture! (Good Reading)
(Joan Reeves writes funny, sexy Romance Novels. For your consideration, get your flirt on with any of her novels, available at most ebook sellers, with audio editions available at Audible and iTunes. Joan publishes Writing Hacks, a free subscription newsletter for writers, and Wordplay, a free subscription newsletter for readers. Find Joan Online: Blog ~ Website ~ Facebook ~ Google+ ~ Twitter ~ YouTube)
Authors of Main Street 