When life (or your tree) gives you too many lemons, forget the lemonade, make whiskey sours. In the previous blog post I showed a picture of the little tree that could. This dwarf Meyer lemon tree makes a lot of lemons. Last year I stored frozen ice cubes of lemon juice in freezer bags. It was great. Whenever a recipe called for fresh lemon juice I popped out a few cubes.
This year there were even more lemons and my 21 year old daughter suggested whiskey sours. I knew she was learning a lot in college! Anyway the results were delicious, as you can see.
I also attempted candied lemon peel – with less success than my daughter’s whiskey sour! I did not get enough of the white stuff (pulp?) off and I didn’t change the water enough. The result – gooey, slightly bitter, inedible – not so good.
Better than the candied peel was the idea to peel the skin and freeze it for later use when lemon zest is required. I tried hard not to get too much pulp. (Things were going oh so well!)
I peeled the lemons first then squeezed them. The kitchen is a bit sticky, but it’s in the name of good eatin’.
So here’s to great gardens, great food and family!
Barbara,<br /><br />Looks like fun and to get more lemons than you could use.
Thanks, for the ice cube trick. I harvested a huge bucket of Myer lemons yesterday; gave most to a friend who makes marmalade and was wondering what to do with the rest. PS My mom used to make whiskey sours in the 60's. <br />Pamela
Life recently gave me too many lemons too, and I made a tart. For those folks who still buy it in the store, "Sweet & Sour"(for the Whisky Sours) is easy to make! One part water to one part sugar to one part juice – I'm sure there are a bunch of variations, but you can alter it to taste!
Thanks for the comments, Randy, Pamela and Lori. Lori, thanks for the simple ratio. Sounds good.<br /><br />Wanted to mention that for my ice cube tray, each cube equals about 2 tablespoons. Good idea to measure for future recipes. It took about 6-7 lemons to fill a tray. Only a bazillion more lemons to deal with. Do I hear another whiskey sour calling????
Ah, whiskey sours, very nice choice. I knew there was a reason I visit here. Be sure to save some for your summer gin and tonics.
Great harvest, great fun! Maybe you want to try Lemon Pickle, a staple of Indian cooking. I'm sure there are recipes on the Internet.
Enjoyed the photo of you and your daughter ( I have a20yr old) and your ice cube trick is what my mother did (bagging them after, also making lemon meringue pie. Is there an easy way to grate lemons for seasoning?<br />We also donate them to the senior center or church…..<br />Thanks and have fun<br /><br />Lynn D
@Turling – I just visited your blog (Greenhorn in the Garden, http://greenhorninthegarden.blogspot.com/) and love the post on olives. I tried to comment but was unable. Is it me? What am I doing wrong? <br /><br />TM – lemon pickle – good idea. Still have tons so maybe it will happen.<br /><br />Lynn D – lemon meringue pie would be great. I'm hoping my son makes us some lemon sorbet as
Barbara, I've had others tell me the same thing. Even when I respond, I have to hit send several times and I'm at a loss. It's a test of patience, I guess.
Very nice – I loved the how-to pictures. But I'm distracted now because I can see details about your class keepin em' going – how to care for your newly planted natives – and I'd really love to take that class. I have various babies newly in the ground now, and hearing the wind howling outside, I wish I'd kept them indoors! But who knows – some of them are tough I think. We'