Baked goods

The family reunion over the weekend was a potluck situation and since it fell on my birthday and I have an unabashed sweet tooth, I decided bake up not one, but TWO contributions.  It was one of those magical times that I selected two recipes I had not made before and both produced wonderful results...must be birthday luck! The fact that both came from  Deb from Smitten Kitchen, who has never steered me wrong, also might have had something to do with it. 

These peach shortbread bars are the perfect summer dessert.  The only thing that would have made these even better is a juicier bunch of peaches, but they were fantastic even with the rock hard ones I had. The recipe recommends slicing the peaches between 1/8" and 1/4" thick and I would err on the side of 1/4", especially if you have great peaches. Also, the extra step of browning the butter is totally worth the effort.

Next, pink lemonade bars.  The pink comes from freshly pureed raspberries and really takes the traditional lemon bar to the next level.  There is actually not a single thing I would tweak about this recipe...it is perfect.  I wholeheartedly recommend baking a batch before the fresh summer berries are gone!