Mmmm . . . Mrs. Perez’s Drop-Dead Delicous Lemon Squares from Donna Gephart’s Debut Novel, As If Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough My Mother is Running For President
It’s about time that I shared another author recipe with you! In Donna Gephart’s debut novel, As If Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough My Mother is Running for President!, Vanessa, our main character comes home from school and loves to snack on Mrs. Perez’s yummy lemon squares. Mrs. Perez is the family’s live-in help, because like the title tells you, Vanessa’s mother is busy running for president. This is one of those times when you are reading the book that you wish the lemon square came with the purchase of the book because the characters talk about it just enough to have your mouth water.
But Donna Gephart doesn’t leave you hanging, she graciously includes the lemon square recipe at the back of the book. I had the privilege to interview Donna back in October and I of course asked about the recipe. She said, “I love when readers (adults and children) write to tell me they’ve made the recipe from my book. I like anything that enhances the experience of reading. I found the lemon squares recipe on the Internet, but tinkered with it quite a bit, especially cutting down the sugar. It was fun experimenting in my kitchen to get the taste just right.”
So of course I had to make them! Writing this post up while sitting next to my husband, is making him say, “Mmm . . . I want a lemon bar!” Seriously, my husband said these were the best lemon bars that he has ever tasted. So there you go Donna, you did good.
My two little boys excited to help mommy in the kitchen.
My three year old thought the lemon was yummy after I squeezed it:
And this picture was just too cute to not post:
The dry ingredients for the crust:
And the crust ready to put into the oven to bake:
And wha-la! The crust after it’s been baked! The crust has lemon zest in it, which I think gave the lemon bars a yummy flavor. The part the I usually don’t like is the crust, but this one had lots of flavor in it. I love citrus tastes, so I’m tempted to put more in it next time.
(My husband just said again that he wants lemon bars – he’s getting hungry just looking at the photos!) My little guy loves, loves, loves the beaters. Here he is whipping up the filling:
Ready to be poured onto the crust:
And right before it’s to go into the oven:
The recipe said to bake for just six minutes but my oven took almost twice that long for the filling to set. Here they are straight out of the oven:
And putting my photography skills to good use. Don’t they look yummy!!!
I loved them, my husband really LOVED them. This guy however wouldn’t even try one. Weird that way.
But this guy couldn’t shovel them into his mouth fast enough! He was always reaching for the next one even though his mouth was already full. If I had let him, he would have eaten the whole pan!
If you would like to make these lemon bars, the entire recipe can be found in my interview with Donna Gephart. I’m sure she would love to know if you end up making them. And I’m thrilled to try out another book/character inspired recipe! These would be the perfect treat for a mother/daughter book club, or to make as part of the activity, or simply because they are so yummy!
Links of interest: Don’t forget to check out my book review of As If Being 12 3/4 Isn’t Bad Enough My Mother is Running for President. And the interview and recipe again. Also visit Donna Gephart’s website and blog.
Want more recipes from your favorite authors? Check out my author recipes archive. My next recipe? Shauna Burg’s, author of A Thousand Never Evers, butter bean cookies! Yes, beans in cookies! They were delicious! Yes, that would be beans. In. Cookies.
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Category: Author Recipes, Bookish Musings & Miscellany
Tags: photos of my family, recipes
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I love this post! Yummy good, adorable kids and a great book. My daughter and I both enjoyed AS IF BEING 12 3/4 ….
You are such a good mommy. I never would let my kids “help” that much!
on March 11th, 2009 at 6:05 amToo fun! I love lemon bars. Now I’m going to have make them in the next day or two! Thanks (I think)
on March 11th, 2009 at 7:05 amOoh, I really need to make these. Maybe next week when I’ll have time to bake again! Love the pictures. =) My mom never let my brother or me help so much in the kitchen, I think she was afraid of the disaster we might cause!
on March 11th, 2009 at 7:14 amYour boys are just too adorable, Natasha. I LOVE lemon bars and have attempted to make them several times with no luck. I’ll have to try this recipe out. I think I try to cook the filling too long–I can never tell when it is set enough!! My mouth is watering just thinking about zesty lemon flavors!
on March 11th, 2009 at 7:44 amThe bars look so good! Your boys look like they had a great time helping…very cute pics!!
on March 11th, 2009 at 7:44 amIt looks like you had a lot of fun making it
My family recipe is really difficult to make so I may have to try this one next time. Thanks!
on March 11th, 2009 at 8:16 amThe lemon bars look delicious and I love the pictures of your boys!
on March 11th, 2009 at 8:56 amYum! Your youngest is a kid after my own heart…I have quite the sweet tooth, too.
on March 11th, 2009 at 8:57 amI think I’m baking today!!
Your lil munchkins are just too cute!
on March 11th, 2009 at 10:37 amThe lemon bars look awesome!
I’m also dropping by to let you know that I’ve given you an award! http://athomewithbooks.blogspot.com/2009/03/awards-roundup.html
on March 11th, 2009 at 10:45 amLooks yummy and your kids are adorable.
on March 11th, 2009 at 1:10 pmMmmmm….I want a lemon bar too now. I love citrusy (is that a word?) desserts. Yummmmmmm
on March 11th, 2009 at 3:40 pmYummy. Those look so good! cute kids.
on March 11th, 2009 at 6:39 pmI have awarded you an I Love Your Blog award. (See details at my blog.) I love the variety of topics you discuss on your blog, and I see someone else gave you an award too!
on March 11th, 2009 at 8:55 pmJulie – Oh yeah. I remember your book review of this one. You should make them with your daughter! Makes the book more memorable.
Beth – Well, if you do make them come back and tell us how they turned out.
Meghan – It causes more disaster if they didn’t help out. He seriously begs for those beaters.
Trish – Like I mentioned, it took twice as long as the recipe called for for this filling to set. I guess you just have to watch it closely. And by the way, I hope your vacation was fun! Welcome back.
Foreverreading – Thanks. I think I have adorable boys. But I’m biased that way.
Jen – This one wasn’t that bad to make.
Kathy – Do you bake? Try them!
softdrink – If the sweets are citrus flavored, I’m sure to love them too.
Kelly – LOL. Come back and tell me if you did!
Alyce – Wow. You got a lot of awards over there. Thank you for including me!
Robin – Ah, shucks. Thanks.
Jenn M. – Sounds like a word to me!
Tina – Just wait until I make your cookies!
Sharon – Thank you so much Sharon! I try to keep it diversified over here.
on March 12th, 2009 at 1:00 amI love lemon bars! My mom has two recipes- one with lemon and another that includes rhubarb. Yum!
on March 12th, 2009 at 3:02 pmThese really look fantastic! I’ll have to try them out.
Your boys are so precious!
on March 13th, 2009 at 4:28 pmThese look delicious! And your kids are so cute
on March 19th, 2009 at 5:26 pmThose are some cute boys you’ve got there!
Now I have a craving for lemon bars.
on March 20th, 2009 at 6:42 amFinally got a chance to make these today. Oh Wow! YUM!!
Thanks for posting your demo
on April 3rd, 2009 at 1:55 pmSuziQoregon – So happy that you made them!!! Delicious aren’t they?
on April 10th, 2009 at 12:50 am[...] Katherine Center’s Mexican Tomato Lime Tortilla Soup, Shana Burg’s Butter Bean Cookies, Donna Gephart’s Lemon Square Bars, Mary Ann Rodman’s Tomato Aspic and Kirby Larson’s Lemon Lenquine. So far I’ve [...]
on September 8th, 2009 at 1:54 am