From the middle of February through the middle of April, everything seems to be yellow in the desert.  While other colors do appear – the bluebells are blue and the chuparosa are rosa, for sure – the Sonoran Desert is awash in a myriad of yellow blossoms that include acacia, Mexican poppies, brittle bush, senna and palo verde trees.  Those are just the native plants – don’t get me started on the non-native species!

For anybody who grew up in the Northeast, the blooming of the forsythia was the sign that spring had truly arrived.  When I first moved to Tucson and thought that I would miss these boughs of golden blossoms, the senna started blooming in February, its sweet fragrance noticeable only at ten paces.  I said to myself, “That will be my forsythia now.”  And when the brittle bush bloomed in March I thought, “Ah, another forsythia contender.”  And, when the palo verde trees bloomed in April showering the desert yet again with billions of blossoms on their thorny green branches, I was almost giddy never having seen such a profusion of yellow against the deep blue sky.  Perhaps I could live without forsythia…

Veering towards today’s topic…  My favorite yellow item to pluck off a tree in my garden is a ripe, juicy lemon.  Now mid-March, the lemons are coming in fast and furious.  Recently, I have seen neighbors walking past the house with empty buckets only to walk back a few moments later with buckets full of the tart yellow fruit from other neighbors’ trees.  And I wonder about their culinary intentions.  I have a litany of plans for our lemons – lemonade, tequila sours (a recipe thanks to friends in New Mexico), a citrus-almond cake (based on a Nigella Lawson recipe), Moroccan preserved Lemons, lemon brûlée tart, French lemon macarons, salad dressings, various pasta dishes, or a squeeze of its sweet, aromatic juice on a perfectly grilled steak – a practice I learned in Tuscany.

And, while there is no need for comfort food now that the sun is brilliant and the days are longer and warm – even for Doreen in Portsmouth – I can’t help gravitating back to my mother’s lemon squares.  And, of course, my mother got the recipe from a family friend who probably got it from another friend, another family.  Who DID invent the lemon square?  When I taste one, I ask myself, “Who cares?”  All I know is that I am glad Mrs. P gave the recipe to Mom and that I still have it today.  Because I need a batch of lemon squares – who doesn’t?

 – David 

Lemon Squares

Variation: add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon pulverized lavender buds to the shortbread crust.  Lemon and lavender are a wonderful duo!