Luscious Lemon II

Many people know the tiramisu in Italian restaurants as a dessert that incorporates ladyfingers, mascarpone cheese, chocolate, coffee, and perhaps marsala wine. But I recently tried a recipe from Whole Foods for Lemon Tiramisu, which gets its creaminess from part-skim ricotta cheese, and its lemony zing from Limoncello as well as lemon juice.

There's no baking involved and, after a few hours of refrigeration, this lemony treat easily 'falls' from its upended serving dish onto a plate, ready for serving. Check out this recipe for a summery version of an old favorite.


Lemon Tiramisu
Serves 6-8

2 pounds part-skim ricotta cheese
1/2 cup sugar
pinch of salt
zest of 3 lemons
juice of 3 lemons
1/3 cup Italian lemon liqueur
2 teaspoons cold water
6 ounces ladyfinger cookies (about 40 small cookies)

Special equipment = 1 3/4 quarts capacity bowl or mold

In a large mixing bowl, use a spatula to mix the cheese, sugar, pinch of salt and lemon zest together well. Taste cheese mix and add more sugar if needed, according to taste. Set aside.

Strain lemon juice and mix in a small bowl with the lemon liqueur and the water. To start assembling tiramisu, dip the ladyfinger cookies (one by one) in the liqueur lemon juice mix briefly, and then arrange the cookies in the bottom of the serving bowl. After covering the bottom, place the soaked cookies up the sides of the bowl, overlapping slightly if necessary to cover all around the bottom and sides of the bowl.

Add all the cheese mix to the bowl and press slightly with spatula. Cover the top of the bowl with the remaining soaked cookies. Cover with wrap and place in the refrigerator to chill for about 2 hours. Once firm, the tiramisu may be turned over onto a plate to unmold or have the servings scooped from the bowl directly onto plates.

Al Johnson's Goats

At Al Johnson's Swedish Restaurant in Sister Bay/Door County Wisconsin, the goats that graze on the roof are almost as famous as the Johnson family's authentic Scandinavian cuisine. Soon after the Johnsons transformed their restaurant operation by importing log buildings from Norway to Door County, in 1973, one of Al's friends put the first goat on the roof.

Today a short lawn - complete with clover flowers - grows across the entire roof of the main building. Approximately half a dozen goats, from young kids to older adults, graze and play there, snooze, and bask in the sun on each temperate day, between May and October. But throughout their work days, the goats are seemingly oblivious to their celebrity status and the hundreds of photos taken by amazed onlookers.