when life gives you lemons...


...make lemonade!

Five weeks after Bug Bug was born, my two oldest friends came to visit from the east coast to meet her and lend a helping hand. We went lemon hunting in the backyard and made fresh lemonade from the spoils. Later in the weekend, we up and did it again, the lemonade was so damn good. I have a very productive Meyer lemon tree, and we picked it clean. This tree pretty much always has lemons, year-round, but in March and April, it's just filled with them. Still, it took at least a year, if not more, for the tree to recover from that deep cleansing. And four years later, my friend Sandy is still talking about the lemonade we made.

Last week, and again yesterday, we picked a bunch of lemons. I sent some home with my cleaning lady, gave my mom some, made scones with some, and yes, made a huge pitcher of lemonade.

I like my lemonade tart, and although Meyer lemons aren't as sour as other lemons, they are definitely tangy. I probably add a little more sugar than I usually would. Also, Josh likes it sweeter. :-)

Lemonade (from Mark Bittman's recipe):
3 parts water
1 part fresh-squeezed lemon juice
1/2 part sugar or sugar syrup (which is just 1:1 sugar:water, cooked over medium heat until the sugar dissolves)

Stir together water and lemon juice, adding sugar or sugar syrup to taste. Adjust as needed. Serve iced. I suppose you could garnish it with mint if you really wanted to be fancy, but I'm good with straight lemonade any day. Tastes great any time of year, but it's especially refreshing on a hot, summer day.

Comments

Nanette said…
Ooooh, if you ever need to get rid of more lemons, send them to me via Josh. I'll put them to good use! :)
Unknown said…
i do like em sweet.

but i'm willing to go with less sugar....
Jami said…
N - good to know! Will do! I feel sad for our tree when it is full of lemons - like it is our duty to pick them and share them.
Anonymous said…
C - i didn't know u had this blog. i miss ur lemon tree lots - looking forward to gettin me sum lemons this september.

luv,
h