End of the Road Ranch

What to do with a bushel of lemons

  Last week, one of Dh's clients gave us a bushel box of lemons just picked off their tree, at a lower elevation.  So Saturday I processed lemons. 

Not wanting to waste any of it (I am trying to get better at this) I decided to dry all of the zest to keep all year for baking.  First I washed all of the lemons with a veggie brush and then dried them thoroughly with a towel (I didn’t want any extra moisture for the drying process).  Then I set up my box grater inside a cookie sheet and started to grate away on the smallest set of holes.  You have to be very careful to only set the yellow skin and not the white pith underneath, which is bitter and not very lemony at all.  This took a lot longer than I expected, and I was tempted a few times to skip right to the juicing, but I hung in there. 

I saved about 6 lemons for making decorative peel curls to decorate the tops of scones, breads or fish.  I may eventually candy it, but that’s a lot of work for a handful of lemon peel.  I used a zester tool, but a vegetable peeler would have worked just fine.  I took long strips of peel off the lemon from tip to tip of the fruit.  I put these onto a plate to be dehydrated.

I have a large Excalibur dehydrator but it is in storage this year since we are temporarily at my parent’s house while we are building our new home, I'll get it out at harvest time but it isn’t worth it for small jobs like this.  I just put the plate and the cookie sheet of zest in the oven with the pilot light on.  It only took a few hours until it was nicely dried, but I always leave dehydrated things out for a day or two to let any undetected dampness dry. 

After I got the zest drying I decided to make a lemon cordial for sipping after dinner during the summer.   We don’t drink a lot, obviously I drink very little, being pregnant or nursing continually, but it is nice to have a few sips of something refreshing now and then.  I post these directions later, as I'm running out of time this morning.  This took 4 lemons.

Next I juice all of the lemons with my citrus juicing attachment to my Kitchen Aid.   I froze the juice in muffin tins (aprox 1/3 cup each) to make using it a little easier.  I always want more than an ice cube sized portion, but that would work too.  As they froze I dropped the bottom of the muffin tin into hot water for a few seconds, tuned it upside down and put the pieces into a LABLED Ziploc bag and back into the freezer.  I got about 3 dozen 1/3 cup servings plus I made lemonade twice while it was still in juice form (before I got to freezing it). 

Wow!  That all took about 4 hours, but I think it will prove worth it when I can make good lemonade (made with apple juice, not the traditional sugar and water) and have all my own lemon juice for canning the tomatoes this summer. 

I am trying to instill the ideas of "Waste not, want not" and "Waste is as a sin" (I don’t believe it really is, but it sure doesn’t show gratitude to either God or our husbands, both of whom are providing for us).  I was definitely not raised like this, so I figured I better start working on it now, before the kids get old enough to learn my old ways .

Have a great day out there and don’t forget to be cheerful - the joy of the Lord doesn’t hide somewhere inside, it shows on our face and in our voice.

lemons, lemons, lemons

{ 08:53 , Monday, March 26, 2007 } { Posted by motherearth }

Hey, you could always do the Master Cleanse (Lemonade Diet).

:o)

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{ 11:48 , Monday, March 26, 2007 } { Posted by morningsunshine }

thank you for that reminder at the end. I don't know why you decided to add that to a post about lemons, but it is EXACTLY what I needed to hear today after fighting with the kids about school, etc.

Lemonade!!

{ 08:17 , Monday, March 26, 2007 } { Posted by OklahomaJamie }

When life gives you lemons, make lemonade!!

I'm not much help, that's about the only thing I can tell ya. I like to slice lemons really thin, soak them in sugar for a few hours or even all nite in the fridge, and add water to taste. Ummmm!! You could soak them, then add enough water to make it more runny, and remove the lemons and freeze it as a concentrate I bet.

Jamie