We have a dormant orchard in our backyard. According to Adam, there are a cluster of lemon, lime, and grapefruit trees — also a loquat, pomegranate, and fig.

Recently, the lemon tree began to droop with lots of lemons. It’s apparently lemon season in Central Texas! Adam told me that he wanted to use a third of the lemons for preserves and that I could make whatever I wanted with the remainder.

I decided on lemon bars. According to the Internets, Ina Garten’s recipe for lemon bars are just the best in the world. Coincidentally, one of the cookbooks I own is Garten’s Barefoot Contessa Parties!

My dear friend Jessica helped me with the painstaking process of collecting two tablespoons of fresh lemon zest and juicing one cup of lemon juice. This was even more heroic because she had a paper cut at the time.

The result of our labors was the perfect blend of not too sour or too sweet lemony filling on top of a shortbready, buttery crust and dusted with powdered sugar.

There are only two small bars left in the fridge. Those preserved lemons will have to wait until next year. Batch #2 is calling our names!