When You Have Lemons...

November through March is typically Lemon Season. Bob went with me to our naturtal food store, and of course, I came home with a half case of lemons to process. 

We ran out of our 3 year supply (!) of frozen organic lemon juice this year. We also ran out of store bought, organic lemon zest which goes great on ice creams, in cakes, etc. Liz and I love zest! So...

Today I started to make frozen lemon juice and dried zest from the same organic lemons, but a lot of them were still green when I brought them from the mud room.  So, I brought them inside to warm up and hopefully turn yellow. Liz has a really easy to use juicer on her Bosch so I borrowed that.

A 'zested' lemon before being rolled against the chopping block to be 'plumped up', then cut and juiced.

Leftover lemon skins, with or without zest, can be wiped down chopping blocks and wood surfaces,  with it and some salt or no salt. Let stand for 15 minutes - then wipe. Lemon oils make a good disinfectant, oiler, and smell great!

So really, the entire lemon can be used. We give the leftovers to our chickens.

When zesting, I like to use the zester with little holes - with the black handle. It makes the zest on the right.
The zest/grater makes a finer product - on left -  but is easier to use. I finish up with that one.

Dried zest in painted lid jar. Jars ready for freezing.

Lemon juice ready for the freezer.  When needed, it can defrost in the refrigerator, then stay in there for 6 weeks or so. It's good for marinades, dressings, in many recipes, to stop fruit from browning, and so on. It also has medical properties -  spray lemon water around the house, in the air; or boil, then simmer some to fill the air with natural bactericides; it bleaches hair, and food spots on linens - especially out in the sun.

Just sayin'...

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