Strawberry Thyme Lemon Bars

Just a quick, short post today. I've just been trying to get back in the swing of things with school. And to be honest, I have not been doing a very good job. At the end of every day, I sit and wonder where the day has gone. It's a vicious cycle.

It's sort of like baking with herbs, minus the viciousness. I bake one dessert with herbs and then, BAM, it seems like every dessert I make has herbs in it. Ugh, it's so hard to stop with so many flourishing fresh herbs at my disposal!

When I saw a version of these bars over on Smitten Kitchen, I immediately knew I needed them in my life. I mean, they're friggin pink y'all. And they sounded just like summer! Lucky for me, they taste just like summer too.

Lemony Almond Cake with Blackberry Cream

A few months ago while taking a children's rights class, I realized that I was twenty-five years old and had never seen my birth certificate. I decided that it probably wasn't good that my parents didn't have a copy and I didn't have a copy and that no one seemed to have a copy. So I ordered one online. As I waited for it to arrive, I considered the possibility that I wasn't blood related to my parents, mainly because I look nothing like either of them. But alas, my birth certificate arrived, and there in typewriter black letters was the proof that my parents are, in fact, my parents. Damn. ...just kidding! Love you, mom and dad.

Anyway, I went home to hang with my parents this past weekend. Maybe it's the sentimentality present in everything there. Or maybe it's the large patio, the multitude of trees, and the vaulted ceiling of my bedroom. Or maybe it's just being near my parents again. But as much as I absolutely love my new home in Atlanta, being back at home felt rather calming, despite everything that was going on.

My dad is one of those awesome people who stores half eaten fruit pies with untidy fork edges in the oven with a quick-bite utensil. I'm not saying I take after my dad, but I'm sort of saying that. Pie is just freakin' good. Cake, also good. I'm not typically a huuuge cake person. But this cake. This cake is for real, good stuff. Crispy top. Moist almond cake. Soft lemon curd sporadically throughout. This cake is forkfuls of divine.

Mini Lemon Scented Strawberry Rhubarb Buckles

I remember the first time my mum made rhubarb crisp when I was kid. I stood in the kitchen watching her sprinkle butter and sugar over top of the rhubarb, thinking, "Uh, I'm pretty sure she's putting celery in my dessert. Gross." Oh how wrong that child was.

My mum is one of those weirdos (albeit a beautiful one) who doesn't like strawberries (or raspberries or coconut or pineapple...), so I never had the heavenly combination of rhubarb and strawberry until much later in life. And well, the two were pretty much meant to be together.

I had been itching to bake something with rhubarb, so when I finally found some good strawberries at the farmer's market (they've been a little rusty this season), I knew something delicious was about to happen. I wanted a self-contained pastry, but I didn't want a muffin or a tart. So these mini buckles were born. They're probably not buckles in the strictest sense of the term, what with the shortbread like dough that makes up the bottom and sides. In any case, they might be some of the most delicious baked fruit desserts I've made. Truth.