{recipe} springtime treats

I am so glad that spring is here, even though the "springy" weather has yet to show up. I am extremely hopeful that the 69-70 degree weather that is promised for this weekend will show up.☺ Being cold all the time is getting really, really old.

I, for some strange reason have been baking a lot. You think with having to keep track of points and being diligent with them, I would resist the urge to bake confections. Nope. I seriously don't have that kind of will-power. {sigh} I guess I should consider it a victory when I only eat one thing/piece/cookie instead of half of the thing/batch/cake.

What have I been baking you ask?? I have made cookies, cupcakes and most recently, I made a Carrot Cake for a friend's birthday. I am so happy that it turned out. I was a little nervous as it was one of two times I have made a cake from scratch. I feel more confident in my ability as a 'baker of confections' than a 'sewer of zippers'. ☺ After searching for a good recipe, I resorted to one of my favorite cookbooks and found this recipe. Everything I have been making out of it has turned out well and been oh-so-tasty. ☺

She doesn't like raisins or nuts in her cake, so I omitted them and added a little extra carrot. I also used a 9 inch round because a) I didn't read that detail too carefully and b) I don't own 8 inch rounds. I also used one 8 ounce can of crushed pineapple, thoroughly drained. I loved how it looked when I was done. I may not be able to make paper rosettes, but I can make a mean carrot one. ☺

One of the other things I made were Glazed Lemon Scones. Um, can we say, oh my goodness?! I get together with one of my girlfriends every Tuesday and we sew. She is so gracious and lets me bring my bin of sewing things and sprawl them out all over her dining room. A couple of Tuesdays ago, we had been talking about how lemon bars just sounded heavenly. I had been looking through several old issues of FamilyFun magazine and ran across this recipe. I knew I had to make them, especially with all our talk of lemon bars.

The recipe makes 8 scones, but they were a little on the big side. I might not have cut them exactly into equal parts, but I am going to make two balls next time. It would be nice to get a few more scones and be able to use up the glaze. Mmmmm.