>I was gifted with a lot of lemons from my neighbor’s tree last week. I didn’t realize just how many I had until I washed them all! What the heck was I going to do with all those lemons?

So far, I have started Lemon Wine. I used this recipe:

http://www.abc.net.au/wa/stories/s394386.htm

Lemon Wine

Chef: Lyn Cook
from Minival near Wylkatchem

You need:

• 6 medium sized lemons
• 1/2 lb raisins (225g)
• 4 lbs sugar (1.8kg)
• 1 oz dried yeast (30g)
• 1 gallon of water (4 litres)
• (eight or even ten lemons may be used if a stronger taste required)

Method:

Grate all lemons and put them aside. Halve the lemons and squeeze the juice into one gallon of boiling water.

When the water boils again, cut off the heat at once. Pour the hot liquid over the sugar and stir until all the sugar is dissolved.

Cut up the raisins and add these to the liquid. Then add the lemon rind and allow the brew to cool. Sprinkle the yeast on top and stir in. Cover and ferment for 14 days after which you strain and bottle. Leave it for one to three months and enjoy (in moderation… this has quite a kick).

This recipe featured by Ted Bull

So far, it smells wonderful! I am on day 10, so we’ll see in a few months.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The second thing I did was make Canned Lemon Curd. I used the instructions from this website:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/how/can_02/lemon_curd.html

but used the actual recipe from this one but I added some citric acid due to the over-ripe lemons (actually, I added too much so this stuff is VERY sour):

http://busycooks.about.com/od/condimentsjamsjellies/r/lemoncurd.htm

Lemon Curd

By Linda Larsen, About.com

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 Tbsp. butter
• 3 eggs

To this, I added the zest from all the lemons I used, which was 6 times this recipe (I have the battle scars to prove it)! I ended up with 9 half-pints. Since I made this so sour, I’ll have to adulterate when I use it (add sugar). While writing this, I found this web page that describes how to use Lemon Curd:

http://www.uga.edu/nchfp/publications/nchfp/factsheets/lemoncurd.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Right now, I have some Bitter Orange Marmalade (Orange-Lemon Marmalade) going in my crock pot (because my stock pot has the wine in it). Not sure if it will get hot enough to thicken, so I may have to separate and cook in batches. This recipe I got out of Stocking Up III by Carol Hupping and the staff of the Rodale Food Center. I used Mandarin Oranges, since I had a lot of those that needed to be used.

Bitter Orange Marmalade
An aromatic and delicious variation of the classic.

You need:

• 5 oranges
• 2 lemons
• 12 cups water
• 3 cups mild-flavor honey

Method:

Place oranges, lemons, and water in an 8-quart stainless steel or enamel saucepan. Cover and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer 2 hours. Remove fruit; seed and quarter. Chop fruit in food processor or by hand. Return to water. Bring fruit mixture to a boil. Stir in honey. Return to a full rolling boil, stirring constantly, until mixture resembles a thick syrup, 15 to 30 minutes. (Keep at a full rolling boil or it will take longer to reach the gel stage.)

Pour into hot, scalded half-pint jars, leaving 1/4-inch headspace, and seal. Process for 10 minutes in a boiling-water bath.

Allow the marmalade to “age” for 2 weeks before tasting or it may be too bitter.

Like I mentioned, I have this in my crock pot. I had it going on high for a few hours before bed last night, then on low all night. Right now, after turning it back up 2 hours ago, it still looks like soup. It is a little thicker, so I may continue it in the crock pot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next (and I hopefull final) recipe I will be making is a Lemon Meringue Pie. I’ll be making this one tonight, using a recipe out of The Joy of Cooking (which is basically this recipe by Alton Brown):

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/recipes/recipe/0,1977,FOOD_9936_26271,00.html

Lemon Meringue Pie

Recipe courtesy Alton Brown, 2003

Lemon Filling:

• 4 egg yolks (reserve whites for meringue)
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 1/3 cups sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/2 cup lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest
• 1 (9-inch) pre-baked pie shell
• 1 recipe Meringue, recipe follows

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Whisk egg yolks in medium size mixing bowl and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine cornstarch, water, sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Turn heat on medium and, stirring frequently, bring mixture to a boil. Boil for 1 minute. Remove from heat and gradually, 1 whisk-full at a time, add hot mixture to egg yolks and stir until you have added at least half of the mixture.

Return egg mixture to saucepan, turn heat down to low and cook, stirring constantly, for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and gently stir in butter, lemon juice, and zest until well combined. Pour mixture into pie shell and top with meringue while filling is still hot. Make sure meringue completely covers filling and that it goes right up to the edge of the crust. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until meringue is golden. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack. Make sure pie is cooled completely before slicing.

Meringue Topping:

• 4 egg whites
• 1 pinch cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons sugar

Place egg whites and cream of tartar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form and then gradually add sugar and continue beating until stiff peaks form, approximately 1 to 2 minutes. Use to top lemon filling.

Yield: topping for 1 (9-inch) pie

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was wrong! One more recipe, since there were just a few lemons left over. I made Lemon Extract! I remembered a wonderful Lemon Poppyseed Bread recipe an online friend of mine gave me (I don’t have permission to post it here) and my lack of the necessary ingredient Lemon Extract. So, I made some!

Lemon Extract

• Zest of 2 large lemons (no pith)
• 1 cup Vodka

Either use a vegetable peeler, sharp knife, or cheese grater to remove the zest off the lemons (ensure there is no pith, or it will make this bitter). Chop the zest, place in a sterilized pint mason jar, and pour vodka into jar. Place the cap and ring on the jar and leave for two weeks (shaking occasionally). Strain into a dark colored bottle.

This should keep for about a year or more if you store in a cool, dark place.