This weekend was wet and windy, to say the least. Our normally dry basement has an inch of water in the low spots, especially near the front corner. So much rain has fallen in the last two days, it’s no wonder that water is seeping through the fieldstone foundation of our 150-year-old house.

Then, the wind gave us a scare last night when it caught the unlatched storm door and ripped the spring out, splintering the door jamb. We awoke to a loud, unfamilar banging. Howard thought it might be an intruder, though Bella slept through the entire incident, losing some points as effective guard dog.

I only ventured out into the rain a few times this weekend. It was restorative to just be home to putter around.

Howard’s mother gives us a calendar every year. This year’s calendar is a Bon Appetit Page-A-Day calendar. I’ve saved a number of the recipes, but I hadn’t actually tried any yet.

The weekend’s recipe was Lemon Shortbread. The lemon flavor came from lemon zest. So, when I before I juiced the Meyer lemons for my Meyer Lemon Pie for Pi Day, I zested the lemons for the shortbread. Two for one!

I dug out the pretty stoneware shortbread mold that I bought a long time ago and never used before. The recipe made two pans of shortbread. I used a metal cake pan for the other pan. I have to say that it came out of the metal pan much easier than the stone pan. I’m not exactly sure why. There was enough butter in the shortbread that it should not have stuck.

A plate of shortbread was perfect with a pot of tea shared with friends on a rainy afternoon!

Meyer Lemon Shortbread

1½ cups flour
2/3 cup sugar
¼ cup cornstarch
1 Tbsp Meyer lemon zest
½ tsp salt
¾ cup cold unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch pieces

Preheat the oven to 300F. Blend flour, sugar, cornstarch, zest, and salt in the food processor. Add the butter, pulsing the food processor until moist clumps form.
Gather the dough into a ball. Divide in half. Press each half into a 9-inch cake pan. Pierce all over with a fork.

Bake until cooked through and pale golden, about 40 minutes. Cool shortbread in pans on racks for 5 minutes. Cut each warm shortbread into 12-16 wedges. Cool completely in the pan. Gentle turn pan over and press the pan bottom. The shortbread should pop out of the pan in one piece. On a cutting board with a large knife, cut through the wedge lines.