We’ve been experiencing several concurrent days of frost
here in California, and while the weather is certainly not as severe as in many
parts of the country, it is dire when it comes to my prized Meyer lemons. So
Saturday found me picking 3 flats of Meyers, yielding a total of 71 pounds.
On Sunday I began to make use of the lemons, and it’s much
harder than you might think. Here is what I have done so far:
1. Limoncello
I started off with peeling 15 lemons for limoncello.
I’ve got those peels mixed with 1.75 liters of Skye vodka, marinating for a
month in my large glass sangria dispenser. Then I’ll make some lemon simple
syrup to combine and finish it off. I keep my limoncello in the freezer and it
can be used over ice cream, served plainly over ice, and in a version of the
favored lemon drop cocktail. It’s a perfect summer drink (try adding some to
your iced tea for a tasty adult version!), and will store nicely chilled until
that time.
2. Simple Syrup
I also made a quart of lemon simple
syrup, which involved 2 cups of sugar, 2 cups of water and 6 quartered
lemons. I just boil it all for 10 minutes, let it cool, strain and pour into
jars. We use this to flavor sparkling water, ice tea, hot tea, and of course,
those lemon drop cocktails.
3. Lemon Zest and Juice
I have recipes that call for lemon zest, and often just make
a topping for veggies using garlic, lemon zest, salt and some toasted bread
crumbs. So I like to have some on hand. I do two types, a fine zest using a
microplane and a long curly zest done with a traditional zester. I make little
piles on a sheet of wax paper and throw them in the freezer for an hour or two.
Once frozen, they can go in a Ziploc or Tupperware in the freezer for future
use. Once I’ve zested the lemons, I juice them and freeze them in half-pint and
pint jars. They are perfect for desserts, lemon curd, lemonade, soups, any
recipe calling for lemon juice. You can even defrost them slightly in the
microwave and just pour out the amount needed, popping the remainder back in
the freezer. I now have 8 jars of
juice in the freezer.