As far as I am concerned, gophers are narcissistic little jerks. It’s all about them, they do not possess a spark of empathy! I was spared until I came to the States since gophers only live in North and Central America. But they found me eventually.
I had a garden when I lived in San Diego with massive Torrey Pine trees. Other than bamboo, nothing much grew underneath, so I planted a stunningly striped heirloom kind. In time, they all were felled by gophers, one by one.
These days, a dramatic agave plant practically collapsed into itself when the gophers discovered it. And the tiny, towel-sized bright green lawn that I allow myself in dry Southern California is peppered with gopher mounds.
One of my favorite plants was lemon grass that really flourished. I liked brushing my hands over it to inhale its intoxicating citrusy aroma. One morning it was just gone. Not a trace, not a hole where it had been. Nothing. I wondered for a second if I had lost my mind or, if not that, then maybe our gardener had moved it somewhere else? In the end, I knew that the gophers just pulled the whole thing down under. Like I said, no empathy.
Nowadays, I have a scraggly little lemon grass plant that grows in the dense ground right next to the walkway. Even the strongest gopher isn’t burrowing there. But the plant gives me enough tender shoots to make some outrageously tasty lemon bars.
The bars have a buttery coconut shortbread crust and a lovely filling with lots of freshly squeezed lemon juice and bright yellow eggs. It’s spiked with lemon grass and not overly sweet, but definitely pretty addictive.
Move over Betty Crocker, (who, even as a made up character, invented the lemon bar)! And you too, gophers!
I found this fabulous recipe in Bon Appetit. I didn’t change a thing, but sometimes I use Meyer lemons instead of regular lemons. I also adjusted the baking time to 30-35 minutes.
