i am not sure how the weather has been where you live - but winter in minnesota this year has been brutal! i think i heard that we had over 35 days below zero - IN A ROW! alex asks all the time "remind me again why we live here?". i have no answer to this question.
one of the only things that gets me through the brutal minnesota winter is citrus season - namely texas ruby red grapefruits. they are a bright spot in a rather dull and wicked cold winter.
this year i decided to try and use grapefruits more in my cooking and baking. i started by thinking of desserts and dishes that i love and trying to work grapefruit in. the grapefruit yogurt cake was the first recipe and it turned out splendid - i have made it twice this winter. the grapefruit avocado and kumquat salad was another attempt that worked out great.
i printed out the lemon bar recipe from smitten kitchen a while back. i always intended on making it - but it always got passed over until i had the brilliant idea to make grapefruit "lemon" bars. i figured i would need to up the zest amount to get the grapefruit flavor, as i did with the grapefruit yogurt cake, and the grapefruit flavor did come through. i also left in some lemon zest for a little zing and i am glad i did.
all in all - these turned out wonderfully. if you are a fan of grapefruit - make these soon!
grapefruit "lemon" bars
adapted from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook via smitten kitchen
for the crust:
1/2 pound unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
grapefruit layer
4 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 2/3 cups granulated sugar
2 tablespoon grated grapefruit zest (about 2 large grapefruits)
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2/3 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice
2/3 cup flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch baking sheet.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Combine the flour and salt and, with the mixer on low, add to the butter until just mixed. Dump the dough onto a well-floured board and gather into a ball. Flatten the dough with floured hands and press it into the greased baking sheet, building up a 1/2-inch edge on all sides. Chill.
Bake the crust for 15 to 20 minutes, until very lightly browned. Let cool on a wire rack. Leave the oven on.
For the grapefruit layer, whisk together the eggs, sugar, grapefruit zest, lemon zest, grapefruit juice, and flour. Pour over the crust and bake for 30 minutes, or about five minutes beyond the point where the filling is set. Let cool to room temperature.
Cut into triangles or squares and dust with confectioners’ sugar.
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these carrot cake cookies almost converted me from a pumpkin lover to a
carrot cake lover. yes, they are that good. the cookie itself is soft
and moist - yet strong enough to hold up as a sandwich cookie. i added
more spice to the mix because that is how i roll. i think it is a major
improvement over the original recipe. i usually could leave the frosting
out of the equation but in this case - the frosting makes these
cookies. the cookie itself is not very sweet and the creamy sweetness of
the cream cheese frosting balances out the cookie with the perfect
amount of sweetness to compliment the spices in the cookie. these carrot
cake cookies would be the perfect picnic or backyard barbecue dessert. 
i love the idea of using rice krispies in a cookie. i have adapted the
recipe a bit by adding toffee and cinnamon but i think the rice krispies
are what make them special. the cookie itself is crisp but the middle
is still chewy. the toffee melts the perfect amount to be chewy but
still hold that toffee texture i love. ever since i made 
these cookies are INCREDIBLE! i am not exaggerating - they are
perfection. the crispy cookie and the white chocolate would be amazing
on their own but the addition of the sea salt - oh my! the salty crunch
on top makes these cookies one of the best i have ever made.Session dataSession data 
these peanut butter and jelly bars fit the bill perfectly. not only are
they simple to make - you can easily double the recipe for a large
crowd. i need my peanut butter to be chunky - the smooth stuff just
doesn't feel like peanut butter to me - so i substituted chunky for
smooth. any kind of berry jam will work great and for those of you
grape jelly fans - that would work as well. i added a bit on honey to
the batter and honey roasted peanuts to the top because i think peanut
butter and honey are naturals together. 
the mixed apple pie was probably one of my favorite pies i have
made because each apple was so different - different flavor and
texture. they combined perfectly. the all butter pastry crust was flaky
and i had a lot of fun making up the top crust. i have done lattice - i
have done full crust - i have done crumble topping. i wanted something
special this time. i took the top crust and cut out circles with a
biscuit cutter and overlapped the circles. it looked like a flower. i
will be using that one again - it makes a traditional pie new again. 
this cake met every expectation i had and then some. i used a different
recipe for the cake because i have one i love and the baked recipe makes
a three layer cake which i thought was overkill. i made everything else
from the baked recipe. this was not an easy cake for me to make as i
seem to be cursed when it comes to caramel but it was worth all the
effort. the balance of the sweet & salty flavors is perfection. the
cake itself is pure decadence but with fleur de sel and caramel it puts
it into a whole other world.
i get why people love these brownies and i am sure they are equally
fabulous on their own but i am telling you they are a little slice of
heaven when marbled with a cream cheese swirl. i upped the amount of
espresso powder and decreased the sugar by a bit because i do that in
most recipes. both adaptations worked really well and i think they
enhanced the deep chocolate flavor in these brownies. 
