Setback for Gay Marriage? Have a Lemon Bar!

Washington state’s law legalizing same-sex marriage will continue to be held up and come November be put to a vote, after opponents of the law submitted more than 200,000 signatures calling for a referendum—a formidable show of force in the state of 6.8 million, especially given that they required only 120,000. So the dream of equality propagated by the late, great Seattle gay-rights activist Faygele Ben Miriam, profiled by Eli Sanders today in Tablet Magazine, will have to wait a little longer. In the meantime, how about some lemon bars?

No, really. As Sanders found in the course of his reporting, Ben Miriam often made lemon bars, which he gave out at progressive meetings and events. And here, courtesy the Ethical Culture Newsletter, is the recipe for “Faygele’s Lemon Bars”:

Crust
2 sticks of butter at room temperature
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioner’s sugar

Topping
4 large eggs
1 cup granulated sugar
Pinch of salt
Tsp Baking Powder
3/8 cup lemon juice (fresh!)
Squeeze of lime
Freshly grated lemon zest (from juiced lemons)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 13” x 9” pan
In food processor or mixer, combine crust ingredient until they hold together and form a dough.
Press on bottom of prepared pan.
Bake 15 minutes
Beat or whisk all topping ingredients until blended.
Pour topping over crust
Bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown and set.
Cool in pan on wire rack. Dust with confectioners sugar before cutting into bars.

Opponents Block Washington State Gay Marriage [AP/Fox News]
Gay Marriage’s Jewish Pioneer [Tablet Magazine]