Lemon Project Box

 I'm very lucky to be able to pop up to Wells Fruit and Veg to pick up top quality green grocery items.  Recently my friend Maggie has been phoning me when she is up there at the stall, and suggesting 'project boxes' that we can share.  I had mentioned lemons but Maggie already had many left over from a previous purchase in her freezer.

Mr S needed a change, and was showing signs of cabin fever, so I persuaded him to accompany me up to Rocky Mountain, on Thursday.  Whilst I looked around the lovely fruit and vegetables and made my purchases, he went off to explore the nearby disused railway, afterwards we went for a walk around Rocky Mountain Plant Nursery.

Amongst this and that I picked up a box of lemons. These were smaller less than perfect lemons from South Africa.  When I say less than perfect, I mean they were not the uniform glossy ready for the market Class I fruit, but at £2 a box., it would have been wrong not to get one, and use it as an opportunity to try all sorts of preserves.  I had wanted to try making my own salt preserved lemons, which I use so much in my tagines, roasts etc...

 

A trial of making home made Lemon Cordial turned out so successful that tomorrow I shall be making more...

I shall be using this to add to the second ferment of the water Kefir.  

In dealing with so many lemons, I realised that my zester which I think I have had forever, is quite past it.  Tomorrow I am off  to see if either of the two hardware stores can come up with the goods.  If I draw a blank, it will be on line shopping, but I am giving the local shops a chance....

Another Saturday Project was turning my surplus garden grown cucumbers into dill pickles, again a first for me. The prepared pieces had been resting overnight, having been salted, and were ready to be packed into jars, when my friend Jayne, a friend from years ago called me...she of the pickled gherkin loving brigade.  I hope there are some left for when we are welcoming house guests once more.

The cordial has given me the inspiration to try making my own limoncello. I shall just have to imagine the lovely drinks we enjoyed on our holidays in Sorrento.

 This evening I shall be sitting down with all my books, and the internet open, searching for recipes to use up the large bowl of lemons which remain.