Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Sweet Lemon Square

There are times in life when lemons are thrown in your direction.  It is your choice, as an adult, to let it sour your existence or create a sweet lemon square in your soul. I am often asked how I deal with the situations that would make most people raise a white flag. My answer is , it is not easy.  It shouldn't be!  I am a professional at dealing with crappy , life changing experiences.  Its not that I want to be,  I have had more than my share of ruff times. Whether you lose someone special or you loose yourself, it needs to be faced. You can choose to meet it all at once or in small chewable pieces, but you have to deal with it. At every corner there will be someone to put you down , which in turn gives you the option to prove them wrong. Someone will always let you know your doing a bad job , while they stand there with their arms folded, wondering why you won't change for them.  There will always be people pointing fingers at the job your are doing, making you feel worthless, yet they themselves do nothing. These are not the people I want to be like. How about you???

Why am I bringing this s$&t up, you ask? Well, I made a couple hats for a lady who was going to give them as a gift.  They turned out really cute and I was really proud of them.  The lady was in love with them to boot.  Said lady, wrapped them up and off she went to the birthday party.  The mother of the child opened the gift and basically chucked them on the floor and looked at her like,Is that all????  When I was told , my heart broke a little.  Don't people care that someone takes the time to get them a gift?  Doesn't it matter that they had a gift custom made, because they took the time to think of what you liked?  As a artist , both in photography and handicrafts, this is a real kick in the butt with a frozen boot.  When I make something, it comes from my heart. I am, in essence, giving away a little piece of myself with every time I create. Are there really people who are just that ungrateful? When you are passionate about something it cuts like a knife, you feel like you are being attacked. To add to my Qualm, I have had my first ever upset with photography :( I wont really dive into that even though I would love too. It not very professional!

The lesson learned???  The ONLY PERSON you have the control to make happy is YOURSELF!!! I learnt this lesson many years ago, before I was 5, from my father.  The greatest man that will ever walk this fine earth, in my eyes.  For those of  you who know me personally, you know this is true.  He really has had the shitty end of the stick , yet he is really happy. He is the first person to try and make you feel better, even though he doesn't know what to say. He lost his wife (my mom), was in a serious car accident, his father had cancer, his insurance company has screwed him over and he has family members who treated him (and me) like crap while he did his best to make his dying mother comfortable ( could use that frozen boot up their a**). His motto, don't go to bed angry and live each and every day like it is your last.  He is the nicest ,kindest and happiest man, despite bad things happening.  Don't ever let people like that define who you become. You are important enough to choose that yourself :)  Even if know one reads this, I feel better that I at least shared.

Now lets make that lemon square :)

Recipe is as follows:

Crust:
1 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
Combine well and press into a greased 9x9 pan and bake for 20 minutes in a 350 F oven.

Custard:
1 Cup sugar
2 tbsp flour
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1lemon ( juice and zest)
2 beaten eggs
Mix well and pour over the baked bottom layer and bake for another 25 minutes.When cooled sprinkle with icing sugar.

ENJOY :)