Hello!  How have you been?  I’ve missed you 😉  Life has been busy … insanely busy at times.  Time just slips by and before you know it … almost two months have passed without writing a single blog post … you find two jars of lemon curd in the cabinet that have reached their expiration date and a tube of sugar cookie dough in the back of your refrigerator that has also reached its expiration date … slightly embarrassing, but not enough to stop you from making Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars!  Regarding the title of this post … life has given us some lemons … some are on the tree in my yard and some not.  First, the recipe … then I’ll try to explain what’s been goin’ on.

These cheesecake bars are a variation of my Blueberry Cheesecake Bars with Sugar Cookie Crust, with a few adjustments.  I upped the cheesecake filling … yippee, more cheesecake!

I can’t believe that I didn’t  think of making a lemon variety of these bars sooner!  You could make your own lemon curd, but the ready-made curd is sooo good and sooo easy … used one of the jars from my pantry.  Your bars will be a prettier color than mine … no brown spots … you will be smarter than me … you won’t turn the oven temp up (and on convention roast) to hurry up and put the pork roast for dinner in the oven 😉  Once again … learn from my mistakes.  However … lemon cheesecake bars were amazingly delicious … brown spots and all!

Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars with Sugar Cookie Crust

• 1 – 16.5 ounce package of refrigerated sugar cookie dough (such as Pillsbury) at room temperature
• 16 ounces cream cheese (softened) (2 – 8 ounce packages)
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 cup of lemon curd (I used Trader Joe’s)

1.  Press the cookie dough evenly in a greased 9″ x 13″ baking pan.

2.  In a small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese and sugar.  Add egg and beat until smooth.

3.  Spread the cream cheese mixture over cookie dough.

4.  Use a spoon to dollop the lemon curd on the cheese mixture.

5.  Using a knife, swirl the lemon curd and cream cheese mixture (like you were making a marble cake).

6.  Bake at 350° for 35 minutes or until edges of crust are golden brown and filling appears firm.

7.  Cool completely, cut into bars, refrigerate.

Now, life as I know it … I have been contemplating … how to explain why I haven’t posted in so long or should I even acknowledge it?  The truth is … I couldn’t decide if I should write this post or not … the recipe, yes … the other info, I’m not so sure about … but here it goes …

Generally, I don’t share every moment of my personal life … don’t want to be guilty of providing  TMI.  My life is like everyone else’s … good and bad, happy and sad, exciting at times and boring sometimes!   There is a lemon tree in my backyard … those aren’t always the lemons in  my life.  Please don’t take it wrong … don’t want to sound like a “negative Nelly” … good things have happened, too!

I’ve been blogging for a little over four years now and my hubby, The Peanut Butter Man, has been hospitalized four times during that time … once planned for ankle surgery, three times not planned.  Shortly after Easter this year, I called 911 and he was transported to the closest hospital.  He was dehydrated and had internal bleeding in the digestive tract.  He was home in just a few days and is fine today (the nagging wife reminds him to drink water 😉 )  I admit, it was frightening and life threw us a curve ball … glad it’s over.

About a year ago, I started having some physical problems … difficulty walking and my left thumb twitching … went to my doctor.  As time passed, the tremors progressed from the thumb, to the hand , to the arm … truly affected all of me.  To make a long story a little shorter … after a year of trying different medications, being poked and prodded, visiting several doctors and finally a brain scan … an answer … despite rumors … I have a brain … it just doesn’t work right … something that has been common knowledge for a very long time 😉  Seriously, the actual diagnose is that I have Parkinson’s Disease.  Good news, I’m taking medication that has really helped.  I won’t lie … not happy about having this disease, but learning how to deal with it … such as not holding a Nutter Butter Bunny Ear in my left hand while trying to draw a straight line of pink candy with my right hand … it’s like trying to hit a moving target 😉  I have to remind myself to lay the Nutter Butter down and draw the line!  Yesterday, I tripped and fell while walking up my front porch steps (not the first time) … never been known for my coordination … the hubby says that at least now I have an excuse … guess that’s a nice way of looking at it 😉

On a happier note … our nephew just got married … made the wedding cake and groom’s cake.  The lovely ceremony and reception took place at the Los Angeles County Arboretum … beautiful place to visit!

The hubby and I bought a new (to us)  trailer for camping!  It was a quite a job finding the right trailer at the right price … traveled from Orange County to Santa Barbara … OK, driving along the beach wasn’t too hard to handle 😉  We were just about ready to give up searching and found one about five miles from home … perfect trailer at a perfect price!  I love our vintage trailer, but this one has a bathroom … big plus in the middle of the night!  We are going camping with the new trailer tomorrow in Temecula, about three hours away from home.  The reason for going to Temecula is that I am attending Bloggy Boot Camp!  This will be my first “in person” blogging conference!  I am so excited to learn new things … walking away with new knowledge, new friends and being re-energized!  Are you going???

My girl friends and I made our annual trip to Big Bear Lake … tried out new recipes and ate too much, as usual.  I’ll be sharing a few new recipes very shortly.  The weather was great for a hike and picnic … drinks and appetizers around the fire pit, too!

Best of all … Son #3 graduated … MPA with honors!  If you been following this blog … never used the hubby’s or sons’ names … don’t want to embarrass them anymore than I already do 😉   I share a bit of info, here and there … no names or photos of the boys.  Son #3 won’t know what to think, when I tell him that I shared a graduation photo on the blog.  He probably wouldn’t mind if I shared his photo, but this is just for fun …

To sum everything up … life has interfered with my blogging and I’m determined to fix it!  In the meantime … when life gives you lemons … Make some Lemon Curd Cheesecake Bars.  They won’t fix life, but will make it a little sweeter 🙂

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