Writing in Wonderland

 

Mom's Homemade Lemon Bars

 

 

 



As the month of December rolled around you could smell in the air the sweet tangy lemons and chocolate being melted.  I instantly knew that it was Christmas time.  For the last five years of my life my mom has been baking lemon bars and other cookies for Christmas.  Through the years of her cooking I can never figure out how she can bake so many cookies in one night.  She at least bakes seven different cookies each year.  But I personally enjoy the rich creamy lemon bars. 

 

As I watch from the kitchen counter which is covered in layers of cookies, I watch as her hand whisk's the lemon juice into the cream cheese.  Looking into the bowl, the tangy scent rises into the air filling the house with the delightful smell.  As my mom carefully grates the lemon I could see the lemon juice spraying the counter with each delicate stroke.  She sprinkles the grated peel into the mixture and mixes it again until it is smooth and rich.  As she smashes the gram crackers until the pieces are only little crumbs she then adds chopped pecans into crumbs.  After she sprays the bottom of the 13x9 inch glass pan she lays the crumb mixture.  Once the patting down of the crumbs she pours the lemon mixture onto the crumbs, and put's the pan into the oven for thirty-five minutes. 

 

When the cookies are baking I ask her " why do we make cookies for Christmas?"

She responded with " well I wanted to make something for my family and friends so I decided to make cookies because it seemed the easiest, and they all looked really good in the cook book."

"How come we don't make these cookies more often?" I asked.

"Well they are a lot of work and time consuming."

"How are these cookies related to our culture?"

"These cookies are not really related to our culture I just enjoy making them so it just became a tradition to make them every year at Christmas." she responded.

 

When the oven timer went off she picked up her blue oven mits and open up the oven.  When the oven was opened the cookies were raised and creamy.  When my mom placed the pan on the stove she sprinkled some powered sugar on top to give it that one final touch.  The crust was golden brown and the top filling was sun kissed yellow.  We let the cookies cool for twenty-five minutes to let everything harden and settle down.  As my mom cuts the lemon bars into twenty-four bite size squares a memory flashes to my mind of the first time I tried my moms lemon bar I was eight years old and I wanted to help my mom in the kitchen but I was to little to help mix the ingredients, and I tried to eat some of the cookie that she had already made.  As I take my cookie it seems as if I was biting into a lemony pillow.  With the salty crunchy bottom, and the rich creamy light lemon filling  stuck on my lips I take another bite.