Cloud dough and lemon squares from a clumsy mom.

We've had some lemons sitting in our fruit bowl for a couple of weeks now and instead of letting them go bad, today I decided to use them up in a batch of coconut lemon crumble bars. The recipe was labour intensive for squares (the filling includes whipping egg yolks and tempering them with a cooked cornstarch/sugar mixture) and incorporated a lot of whisking. One thing I found odd about this recipe was that the base did not require any pre-cooking before the filling was poured in.

The squares turned out nicely with a smooth texture but I was a bit disappointed in the recipe overall. The filling was more akin to a lemon pudding. I had been expecting a light, tart and bright filling similar to most lemon square recipes I've made before. The topping had coconut in it which was also different but I enjoyed the crunch it lent to the crumble.

This afternoon I wanted to do something fun with Jacob so I decided to make cloud dough for us to play with together. I had heard of it before and thought it would be something that would be relatively easy to whip up for us to enjoy. I put the ingredients into my KitchenAid mixer and once the dough came together I put it into a ceramic baking dish for him to play with. I figured a heavy dish would be harder for him to tip over. I laid out a large sheet of plastic on his play mat and stripped him down to a diaper. I set him down on the mat in front of the dish and showed him the dough.

He wasn't interested.

At all.

In fact, he wanted away from the cloud dough as fast as possible and was not willing to touch it. I tried placing his feet into the dish so he could step on it and feel it squish between his toes, hoping that would entice him. That didn't work either. So after a few minutes I put the dough away and gave him a bath. I had to change my clothes too - that stuff can become a floury mess very quickly!

The dough can be stored in an airtight container for one week.

Wouldn't you just love to squish this between your hands?

I'll be heading to bed early tonight as I've been trying to get ample sleep the past few nights. I think my body needs it after the tumble I took Friday. I had set out to do some grocery shopping and no sooner had I wiped my boots off on the grocery store entry mat than I slipped and fell forward, instantly landing facedown. My sunglasses went flying off my head and I was completely mortified. I jumped up quickly and assured the bakery worker who had asked me if I was alright that yes, I was just fine. I scurried away and finished my shopping and errands. On the drive home I began to realize that I had landed a lot harder on my knee and elbow than I thought and by the time I was home I could no longer bend my arm. I debated going to the ER to be checked out but ultimately decided to see how I felt in the morning. I've been feeling better with each passing day and am hoping it's just muscle tenderness now. 

I think my little accident is a sign that I need to slow down and be more present - there's no need to rush around the way I do. I think we can all benefit from slowing down a little each day.