Cake #9 Fig and Lemon Bar

It is Sunday, so I am posting late about the cake I made this week; however, I did get a chance to make the cake on Saturday, but Saturday was so hectic (and so much fun) that I did not get a chance to post until today. Yesterday, Ted and I woke up early to get ready for the Luna Carpet people to come and give us an estimate on carpet in two rooms. Of course, they said 9:00am but did not get here until 11:00. So at around 10:30 I started to make the cake, because I had to bring the cake to a girls day at Fiore vineyard in North Harford, we brought food and for five dollars we were able to get a glass to take home, six wine tastings and one full glass of wine, it was a lot of fun! It was a teacher's special, and the band that the was playing was called Chalk Dust- they were both Social Studies teachers from North Harford High. Anyway, I had decided that I would bring my cake of the week to contribute.

This Fig & Lemon bar "cake" was the first time for this project that I had to reduce fruit down to make a paste or compote. I used a cup of figs, some lemon juice, some water, and some raw brown sugar. The result was tasty! It tasted like the inside of a fig newton. Anyway, while I was making the compote Ted helped me out with this cake, because we were worried about timing with the carpet guy, and he made the batter which was flour, cinnamon, baking powder, butter, light brown sugar, eggs, and the rind of one lemon. By the time we got everything into the oven, the doorbell rang and the Luna man was here.

He was really nice and not pushy at all, we knew we wanted to spend about a thousand dollars, (yay tax rebate!) his final price was 1232. We told him that we were sorry for his time, but Arcade floors could do it for 1000. He said "let me check my numbers and see what I can do." He came up with 980, and we were sold! We didn't really know how much Arcade floors could do it for, but we used them before for a bedroom and stairs and they were about 1000 for those two areas, and they didn't include hall away, where Luna does, so it was pretty good. The first carpet in our room and it is going to be a gray- sliver carpet, and the next one is in the computer room and it is going to be a light brown -tan color. We figured that our computer room would turn into a bedroom for our daughter Evie and the nursery would stay a nursery for our next child.

Anyway, we got him out of our house at 12:15, and I sliced the the lemon and fig bars and drove to North Harford with my bestie Colleen. I know what you're thinking, Laura drove, it has been hard after the accident, but I am trying people! The wine tasting was a lot of fun, and I believe the teachers like the fig and lemon bars, but when you are comparing it to wine,it is hard to be the favorite, after all wine is...wine.

Here is what the picture from the book shows them looking like:

Here is what my bars looked like:

Next week I am making a fruit cake- hopefully it is not the traditional type of fruit cake that everyone chucks on Christmas!

Until them, keep baking!