Easter Experiments

You may remember my parents and siblings live in Texas.

Quick second grade geography review: Texas is far away from upstate New York.

 

I am blessed.
My boss Jen, and her husband, Jeff, have invited me to join their family for Easter celebration this year! I will not be alone in upstate New York this holiday, I will be with some wonderful friends!

Jen asked if I could bring Easter eggs.  I hardboiled them yesterday afternoon, and this morning I dyed them. Dying Easter eggs really makes me miss my family, but the Glee soundtrack kept me in high spirits as I got creative with some crayons and food coloring.

When I asked what else I could bring a discussion about a family member who loves skittles got us brainstorming about skittle baked goods!  Additional challenge was made when I found out this family member also does not like frosting- no skittle cupcakes were to be had. [womp, womp.]

I knew that a skittle cookie couldn’t just be a chocolate chip or m&m cookie recipe with a skittle substitute. [that makes me cringe just thinking about it] General sugar cookies with skittles just seemed too easy.  The more I thought about the skittle flavors, the more I knew I wanted a citrusy base for the cookie.  After doing a little research, I came across the perfect recipe for the base of my skittle cookie experiment: Baking Bite’s Lemon Sugar Cookies.

I ended up splitting the dough into two parts, and only adding skittles to one of the bowls.  When I prepared the cookies for baking, I had three trays; one with skittles, one with a red sugar topping, and one of plain lemony sugar cookie goodness. 

I’ve taste tested all three cookies and am proud to say they are splendid!

 

These cookies call for two tablespoons of lemon zest. 
What happens when you zest two lemons for a recipe?  You end up with two naked lemons:

I didn’t want to the lemons to go to waste, so I got to thinking about freshly mixed lemonade, which also happens to be on my 101 in 1001 list!  I found this recipe for “perfect lemonade” on Simply Recipes, and I got to work.

The recipe calls for the juice of 4-6 lemons.  Since I only had two LARGE lemons, I decided to use the juice from them and adjust the recipe accordingly.

I cut the lemons in half and squeezed the juice into a liquid measuring cup.

 

When all was said and done, there was 2/3 of a cup of lemon juice. 

I added the appropriate amounts of Full Circle cane sugar and filtered water in a sauce pan and heated to make a simple syrup. Then I combined the lemon juice, syrup, and more filtered water into a pitcher.  I am cooling the lemonade in the fridge.

How cute is this lemonade set I received from Jen last fall? I plan on serving the homemade lemonade with lemon sugar cookies, fresh berries, and chips & salsa to some friends who are coming over tomorrow evening. With the nice weather and sunshine we’ve been having lately I can’t think of a better way to celebrate the coming of spring than sipping homemade lemonade with friends on my back deck as the sun sets!

How are you celebrating Easter & the coming of Spring?