Lovely Lemon Uses

Last week I was stir-frying some veggies as part of our dinner and used 1/2 of a juicy Meyer lemon in the sauce.  In my rush to get the family meal on the table, I left the other half of the lemon on the counter where it stayed overnight.  The next morning, it had puckered a bit and looked dry.  But, all was not lost!!  Never one to toss lemons in the compost bin without them being thoroughly used, I worked with the remaining half to clean off my counters, shine up a bit of stainless steel and brighten my fingernails.  You may think it is a little bit silly to think of the 1/2 lemon as saving the day, but that's the way my brain works sometimes.

Since it has been quite some time since I posted of my love of the lemon, or of anything actually, I snapped a photo of said lemon half and bring with it a few ideas you may or may not know of on how this acidic citrus can work for you.

I hope you've found a useful tip for using your lemons and hope you have a wonderful week!
-Hettie

Lemonade Cookies!!

We are quite partial to lemon everything in this family and I had not yet posted a recipe for lemon cookies.  I actually have another one in the works, but these were requested first.  I call them lemonade cookies because to me, that is what they taste like.  A bit tart and tangy and a bit sweet in each bite and I hope you like them.

Lemonade Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 tbsp. grated fresh lemon zest (or 1 1/2 tsp. Penzey's Powdered Lemon Peel)
• 1 cup unsalted butter at room temperature (I use Trader Joe's Organic)
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar PLUS 1 cup in a bowl for rolling cookies in
• 1/4 to 1/3 lemon juice, fresh (about 1 lemon worth)
• 1 tbsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp. Lemon Extract (If you do not have this on hand, omit.  Penzey's is fine.  If using Boyajian, reduce to 1/2 tsp.)
• 4 egg yolks at room temperature
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur)
• 1 cup cake flour (King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. Cream of Tartar

Separately for glazing:

• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 2 tbsp. milk at room temperature
• 1 tsp. Lemon Extract

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, sift flours, salt, baking soda and Cream of Tartar, set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, combine lemon zest, 1 1/2 cups sugar and butter until creamy.  Scrape sides if needed.
3. Add lemon juice and mix.  Add vanilla and lemon extracts and mix.
4. Add egg yolks, one at a time and mix until just combined.
5. Add flour mixture in two parts to avoid flour/dust cloud and mix until just combined.
6. Scrape sides down, cover bowl and let dough chill for 1-2 hours or overnight.
7. When dough is chilled, transfer to a floured surface.
8. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare baking sheets with either parchment paper or Silpats.
9. Make 1 inch round balls and roll in 1 cup granulated sugar in a bowl or on a plate.
10. Place balls 3 inches apart on cookie sheet.
11. Smoosh balls to 1/4 inch thick disks.
12. Bake for 7 minutes, turn cookie sheets and bake for an additional 7-8 minutes.  The edges will brown slightly.
13. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and repeat until all cookies are made.
14. In a bowl, mix powdered sugar, milk and lemon extract with a fork.
15. Use fork to drizzle glaze onto cookies.  Let the glaze set for about 15 minutes before serving.

 Makes about 30 cookies.

No scurvy in this house!

I am standing on top of small step stool, picking perfectly ripened California Navel oranges... some for me, some for my Mom, some for my in-laws, some to barter with my neighbors, some for... you get the point.  While on the step stool, I can peep over my neighbors fences and easily spot Meyer lemon, Tahitian lime, Clementine tangerine and Pummelo grapefruit trees... the joy of living in a post-WW2 era San Fernando Valley neighborhood!  It's a beautiful, sunny mid-January day and I can't wait to get down from here and peel my first orange of the year from our own backyard!

In the photo above, the citrus all hails from backyards in "the Valley".  They are all homegrown organic and vibrantly colored.  Most of the oranges and tangerines will be devoured within the week.  Almost all of those beautiful yellow lemons will be juiced tomorrow and used for drinking, cooking, baking and frozen for later use.  I think tomorrow or Thursday will be perfect for BBQing Lemon Chicken Skewers and some tart little lime and cream cheese cookies!  Wonderful doses of Vitamin C at the height of the cold and flu season.

Do you have an abundance of fruit or veggies from your local garden or backyard?  What do you do with it?

Lemon Jells

I was finalizing a care package for a friend of mine and wanted to add some lemon flavored candies in the package.  These tasty jells were just the ticket, though I won't be making these again in the middle of a heat wave!  With a sweet inside and an optional puckery outside... you could probably also make them with limes or grapefruits if you chose.

Lemon Jells (makes 64-81 jells)

You will need:

A candy thermometer 

A heavy, non-reactive, 2 quart saucepan

8 or 9 inch square baking pan

Ingredients:

• 
  
  4 envelopes unflavored gelatin
• 
  
  2 cups of granulated sugar
• 
  
  1 cup of superfine sugar (for coating)
• 
  
  Up to 1 tablespoon citric acid (optional for puckery coating)
• 
  
  1 cup cold water
• 
  
  3/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
• 
  
  1 teaspoon fresh grated lemon rind (or 1/4 tsp. Penzey's powdered lemon peel)
• 
  
  Optional 1-2 drops yellow food coloring

Directions:

1. 
   
   Spray baking pan with non-stick cooking spray.  Set aside.
2. 
   
   Put 1/2 cup of the cold water into a bowl.  Add gelatin to soften.  Do not stir.  Set aside.
3. 
   
   In saucepan, add remaining water and 2 cups granulated sugar.  Set on medium-high heat to dissolve sugar, stirring often.  When it comes to a boil, set candy thermometer on side of pan.  Do not stir!
4. 
   
   Let sugar mixture cook until it reaches the hard ball, 260 degree setting on the thermometer.  Remove from heat.
5. 
   
   Add gelatin.  Mixture will foam up.  Stir until combined (about 30 seconds).  Add in food coloring if using and lemon juice and rind.  Stir until combined.
6. 
   
   Pour mixture into square baking pan.
7. 
   
   Leave pan on the counter for 3-4 hours until the jell is set.  Do not refrigerate.
8. 
   
   Combine superfine sugar and citric acid if using in a small cereal bowl.  Lightly sprinkle jell square so it is easier to handle.  Gently flip pan and remove jell with a flexible spatula.  It should plop right onto your cutting board. 
9. 
   
   Cut jells into 8 or 9 1 inch columns (depending on your pan) and cut those into 8 or 9 pieces each.
10. 
    
    
11. 
    
    Now comes the messy and fun part.  Coat each jell with the sugar/citric acid mixture.  Your hands will get sticky. 
12. 
    
    Place pieces in a container with a bit of sugar in the bottom.  If stacking, add wax paper in between each layer and add a bit more sugar to the bottom of the new layer.  If your area is hot or humid, the sugar/citric acid will soak into the jells and might need to be reapplied if you prefer.

Enjoy!  Oh, and here is a reaction from Em... despite the massive puckery faces he made, he kept coming back for more!  Have a great weekend everyone!

Lavender mini pillows

I am not much of a scented items person... overly perfumey things (people, candles, room fresheners) tend to make me sneeze and hunt for, what I call, fresher, unscented air. As a result, I am prone to opening my home windows rather than grabbing a bottle of "smells like flowers" spray.

Some of you may remember a blog I wrote about my love of bringing in fresh gardenias from my garden... since the gardenias are not currently in bloom, I wanted to find another light scent I could have in the house. Enter the lavender pillows. Knowing what I wanted to make, I delved into my fabric stash and found some pretty lightweight fabric pieces leftover from another project. To make one pillow sachet, you will need two pieces of fabric that are 5 1/2 by 7 1/2 inch rectangles. If you plan to make a bunch, set up an assembly line to iron, sew, fill and top stitch all the sachets.
I sewed each one with a tiny 3/8" single seam leaving a 1 1/2" gap on one of the short ends to turn and fill the pillows with. (See pins on left of photo for turning gap.)
With a chopstick (a sewing tool fave of mine), I got the corners nice and pointy and grabbed a few quick items to help me fill the pillows. I found the lavender buds at my local health food store (organic and non-organic buds are also available online) and bought about 5 ounces to make 6 pillows. I also purchased some dried organic rosebuds to put in another set as a gift.
For the lavender, I was able to use a kitchen funnel. I spooned the rosebuds in with a tablespoon being careful not to crush them. Each pillow has about 2/3 - 3/4 of a cup inside.
Once filled, I closed each pillow with a blind stitch (tutorial) and got them ready for the last step.
I top stitched 1/2" all the way around, maneuvering the lavender so it would not get in the way... for mostly flat little pillows, this was actually the hardest step! You could hand sew a top stitch or leave them as-is, but I liked the look, so I went with it.These pillows are in my bathroom, bedroom and living room and will give off just enough scent to last with me through the winter of closed doors and windows.
Lightly jostling them brings the scent right back, but you can also microwave them for about 10-15 seconds to revive them if you wish.
If decide to you make yourself a set and would prefer another scent, there are many other choices besides lavender and rosebuds... lemon peel, cedar, sage and myrrh to name a few. Please let me know if you have any other suggestions and I'll add them to the list.
Happy Crafting!

Dinner with family

Last night, Rob's cousin and Aunt came over for dinner. I decided to make one of my staple dinners-- lemon chicken skewers, and used a new dessert recipe as part of my New Year's Resolutions.

Lemon chicken skewers. This is a cinch!

Ingredients:

• Boneless, skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes (easiest to cut if a little frozen). One breast per person usually works well and will make about 2 skewers. Marinade below was used for four chicken breasts.
• Juice from 2-3 lemons - at least 1/2 cup
• Juice from 1 lime (optional)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped garlic
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. ground pepper (white or black)
• 2-3 medium onions, chopped into 1 inch pieces (big enough to skewer)
• 1 pound white mushrooms, whole
• About 15 wooden or metal skewers. If wooden, soak in water for 20 minutes before using to avoid scorching on grill or BBQ.

I made this indoors on a Lodge cast iron grill pan. Outdoors is even better... less cleanup!

Directions:

• Throw lemon/lime juice, oil, parsley, salt, pepper, garlic and sugar into a big bowl. Whisk to combine.
• Put all ingredients in the marinade and mix around to coat everything. Seal bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours, stirring at the one hour mark if possible.
• When done marinating, put chicken on skewers alone. Veggies on their own skewers. Can add tomatoes, pineapple, bell pepper or anything else you like as long as they are lightly coated with oil.
• Grill or BBQ until done. Can re-coat chicken and veggies while grilling with marinade but do not use it to pour over everything after done cooking as it held the raw chicken.
• Serve with Jasmine rice, Pita and Naan bread, a giant salad and any side veggies you like. Cous cous is another great side with toasted pine nuts and golden raisins.