Our first real weekend with just the two of us in the house! It does not get much better than that.
We filled our time with leisurely mornings, biking to the farmers market, amazing food, house projects, sunshine and family time. Matt cleaned and painted the storage room floor while I tackled priming the dining room. I ran into a misfortunate combination of previous wall paint and primer not sticking, so fell back on Option B…putting the primer on in stages so that it could dry in stages. This method, although frustrating and inefficient, seems to be doing the trick, and the room should be smooth sailing after one more round of primer.
While waiting for projects to dry, we pulled out our bikes and rode to the farmer’s market. This was our first bike adventure on the island, and was a great one. A quick 3 mile jaunt to town and then we were picking out fresh grown-on-Vashon produce! We filled our backpacks with new potatoes, leeks, zucchini, tomatoes…all of it looked so good…then biked home. I spent the afternoon making a beautiful batch of lemon bars while Matt put a second coat on the basement floor.
Dinner was another treat: pan fried cornmeal crusted cod with fresh market veggies!
On Sunday we slept in again, and cooked up a great farm style breakfast with a new potato hash topped with farm fresh eggs. I primed some more and then Matt and I took an adventure to the vacant lot next door. We have had our eye on this 1.5 acre parcel since we first saw the house listing, thinking it would be a great way to expand our farm capability. We learned more about the owner, and he has not been seen in years, so we are planning to reach out and see if he would be willing to sell. Our adventure confirmed that this property would be awesome. Not really a great spot for a home, but awesome for more land to add to ours.
We relaxed in the hot tub for a few minutes (why not?) before getting ready to go to Tacoma for a family dinner at Grandpo’s. On the way we took a trip to Costco and Home Depot and stocked up on food and stuff for the house. Gotta make use of those off-island trips! Dinner was awesome with the extended Pignataro family. Laughter and Italian food all around. My lemon squares were a hit.
Actually, the whole weekend could be represented in those bars: light and sweet and rich, fresh and bright… something you want to savor and gobble up all at once. Just like the beautiful summer weekend. 
Summer Lemon Squares
Makes 1 – 9×13 inch pan, or thicker 9×11 pan
Crust
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup white sugar
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup whole wheat flour
Heavy pinch of salt
Filling
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a medium bowl, blend together softened butter, flour, salt and sugar. Press into the bottom of an ungreased pan.
3. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm and golden. In another bowl, whisk together the remaining 1 1/2 cups sugar and 1/4 cup flour. Whisk in the eggs and lemon juice. Pour over the baked crust.
4. Bake for an additional 20 minutes in the preheated oven. The bars will firm up as they cool. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.
Moose & Turtle on Vashon 