Monday, April 4, 2011

sunshine in the rain...

The sun has been a little elusive in this part of the country of late.   Despite the rain, the daffodils are opening up...a burst of sunshine on a bleak day. 


 I've been bringing a little of that sunshine indoors...to brighten things up.

We have also been enjoying the flavour of the season...and that would be lemon. 


If you are looking for a light and luscious spring dessert...try Lemon Dream Squares.  As Cindy cut my hair last week...we discussed food.  She described to me the yummy lemon dessert squares that she had enjoyed recently at our favorite local 'tea shoppe'.  Since they sounded so much like my Danish Cream Square recipe...I went home and improvised.  And a good improvisation it was!  Simply prepare1 package lemon pie filling and substitute for the vanilla pudding called for in the recipe.  Omit the chocolate drizzle....and garnish with lemon curls.


I'll leave with you a bouquet of yellow blooms....and a poem that has been around for a few years (penned in 1804).

Daffodils

~by William Wordsworth Longfellow

I wander’d lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o’er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretch’d in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee:
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocund company:
I gazed — and gazed — but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

Though the day may be grey...the daffodils are still smiling this morning.

16 comments:

  1. This is one of my favorite Longfellow poems, Judy! Daffodils are among my favorite flowers as they always look so cheerful!
    I wish they would last a little longer but the week or so they are in bloom it is good to enjoy them.

    Your revised recipe for a lemon Danish Cream Square looks delicious!

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  2. They are...and do remember that though the sun is not shining.....THE SON IS. I think God knew we would need spring flowers to remind us the growth is on it's way. Sometimes I get impatient in the wait. Thank you for bringing a bring spot to my morning.

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  3. Who didn't memorize that in school?
    We're waiting for the sun too, but spring is showing her face little by little....she's just around the corner, eating a pan of those squares.
    Have a great time today on your girls' day out!

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  4. Looks like we are both on the same page....ANd it's raining again...I'm thinking that maybe I should pick mine and bring them inside...they will have a safer place.
    I'm hungry for those square right now.

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  5. One of those squares and a good cup of coffee from Decades - or Second Cup - would really hit the spot! Yum!

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  6. I have a large bouqet of daffodils on my coffee table right now too .. They were blooming March 4 the year we were married. Here we are a month later. .and they are finally blooming. It is a late spring. . .dripping wet. .and yet it is spring.
    Your improvisation looks fantastic.

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  7. The dessert looks delicious, my favorite flowers in spring and a great poem..all good things!

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  8. Bit by bit spring is coming - and the daffodils are dancing and fluttering around here, too.

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  9. Dear Judy, May you have a sweet Spring!
    The daffs are so pretty and I always enjoy seeing them in bloom.

    A lovely way to greet us after a long winter!
    God bless,
    d

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  10. It's still raining out there? Good heavens! Enough already. (If it helps, it's snowing here again today. I'm ready to throw myself back in bed and pull the covers up high.)

    Those lemon squares look delicious. And your last photo...ohhhh so very beautiful.

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  11. That last sentence says a lot! Oh, to find things to be thankful for in the clouds ... May the sun come out for you today!

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  12. Well, you may have rain but you also have flowers and that makes me more than just a tad jealous. :))

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  13. Daffodils paired with these lovely squares would make gloomy days go away for sure :0)

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  14. Don't you just love daffodils? And I think I might love that dessert...both versions! :-)

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  15. I sure enjoyed seeing your little bit of Daffodil/sunshine!!! I love anything LEMON!!!

    I would be happy if I just saw a weed up here...LOL!!! Still lots of snow...but it's starting to get green in Missoula...much lower elevation!

    Spring is coming, I just know it, I can feel it in my bones!!! ;)

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  16. The daffodils and the yummy lemon recipe make me thankful again that I have the privilege of visiting your beautiful blog. Can't wait to try that recipe.

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