5.21.2013

Lemon Heaven


You know what is overwhelming? A gift of over 200 Meyer lemons! My daughter lives in the abundance capital of America, Sonoma. They have a teeny tree, no bigger than five feet tall, with literally a thousand lemons on it. They were small, but plenty juicy.

So, let's see--what to do with that overflowing plethora? Actually, I went through them pretty fast. First, I filled the dehydrator with slices. These are nice to have around for flavoring tea or water. Here are my other projects:

Spiced Lemons--I found a recipe for Spiced Oranges in the UK Country Living magazine and adapted it to lemons.

Lemon Vanilla Marmalade--I have to admit this didn't work out so well. I burnt it twice. I am saving it to use as a marinade on BBQ meats.

Lemon Ginger Exlier-- this is delicious added to hot or cold tea, plain or soda water, or pour over fruit or ice cream. Simply boil equal amounts of water and sugar, turn off the burner and add the lemon zest and chunks of ginger. When it's cooled add in the lemon juice. Strain out the zest and ginger. Bottle and refrigerate.

Lemon/Thyme Mustard--I read that mustard is easy to make with mustard seed, vinegar, etc. I just substituted lemon juice for the vinegar and added in the zest and some fresh thyme. Even though I used the mildest yellow seeds, it turned out quite strong. It is supposed to mellow with age (it's going to take a long time). Basic Recipe.

Lemoncillo--soaking a bunch of them in vodka right now.

Preserved Lemons--packed in salt.

Lemon Salt



Some more ideas that I haven't got to yet--

Lemon Sugar--whirl the dried lemons in a spice grinder, mix with sugar.

Lemon Curd

Candied Lemons

Bonus:
You can get double the juice from your lemons, check this out:





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