Lemon Kind of Day - Updated

Well I am sad to see the last of the fresh lemons go....but they were so wonderful to cure a bit of the winter blues while they lasted!  We were able to make lots and lots of fresh lemonade, even raspberry lemonade one day with frozen raspberries.  I used fresh squeezed juice on chicken and in salad dressing, zest on veggies, lemon bread and lemon coconut bars and now I have just finished putting the lemon rinds in a large 2 quart jar filled with vinegar and I have checked on my preserved lemons everyday.

You would think that one might get a little sick of lemons...but we haven't, in fact we all laid around last night and lamented on  how we should call the sweet aunt and run down and get some more....you know...run down as in a state away.....doubly good, I little out of town jaunt and bring home fresh lemons....


But I guess we will have to make ourselves happy with the preserved lemons and that fresh lemony smell when we spray the cleaning vinegar on our cleaning surfaces after sitting and steeping for the next four weeks....and it looks so pretty on my counter that I started a bottle of orange peels soaking in vinegar!  Fresh smelling and natural cleaning supplies that won't joke us to death when you spray them. You can visit My Old Kentucky Homestead where I got the idea from.  Love the internet!!!

I also researched and studied how to preserve lemons since my hubs had been in Afghanistan and had enjoyed a recipe that called for preserved lemons and he wanted to make it at home or us. So off to the one and only Arabic store we could find in the big city....we learned quite a bit there....and enjoyed some melt in your mouth roasted lamb kabob...

mmm.....getting hungry....

we ended up not getting any of the preserved lemons at the time because 1) they were a little expensive and 2) I didn't know how to use them except or that one recipe. Now, I know not only how to use them, but to make them. It if you can cut a lemon, you can make preserved lemons, or limes if you prefer! 

I don't know why I hadn't heard of these before because when I researched it......preserving citrus fruit has been going on for centuries in practically every country that had access to citrus fruits, including the United States!  This just made me realize how much I don't know about the world, and my own little world!!  The US tended to pack them in Vinegar while the Middle Eastern and North African countries tend to pack them in salt, which is what I did. The preserved lemons can be used in sushi (which I have been experimenting with the last couple of months), fish and chicken, ceviche, ice cream and venison...Yes, venison!! Which will be good, as it is time to put in for our deer tags and we are all hoping to draw out to fill our freezer once again!



...and now....I can't find my pictures..that for once...I took...how maddening! FOUND them....thanks to my #3!

But I can tell you it was a success because all you do is lay kosher salt on the bottom of the glass jar after gently scrubbing the lemons.  Cut of the blossom end (and the little knubs if you are using Eureka lemons).

The cut length wise into the lemon making an x, but not cutting all the way through. You basically have a quarted lemon that you now put 1 tablespoon of kosher salt in, covering all over.

Layer in the glass jar, tamping down as you go to release the juices. Keep layering until about an inch from the top. At this point I was really pushed hard on the lemons to get the juice covering the lemons and to put more in there, as I was only going to do one jar to see how it went.

Cover with another tablespoon of salt, and add fresh squeezed lemon juice if there isn't enough.

Then cover and let sit at room temperature for a few days, after which you can store them in the fridge where the should last for a year or longer.  Leave them be for 3 - 4 weeks and then use to your hearts content! You could also water bath them or ten minutes if you would like them to sit in your pantry.

I can't wait to use them in this Moroccan Chicken with Lemons and Olives recipe. I drool every time I see this recipe!

You ca also visit this site or more ideas on preserving lemons.

Now if you'll excuse me...I am going to go enjoy a lemon coconut bar..

Lemon Coconut Bars

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
3/4 cup cold butter or margarine
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup flaked coconut

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and coat a 9 x 13 x 2 inch pan with coconut o
2. In a bowl, combine flour and confectioners’ sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly 

3. Press into the bottom of a lightly greased. baking pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
4. Then, in a mixing bowl, beat the eggs, sugar, lemon juice and baking powder until well mixed. Pour over crust; sprinkle coconut evenly over the top.
5. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
6. Cool on a wire rack. Cut into bars....if you can wait that long! 

photo credit 

{Minute Monday}

Did you remember through the week that change is sometimes imperceptible?  Or did you constantly have to remind yourself, like I did every few minutes, like I did?

Bus I did learn a few things...

1) A good way to get a major appliance cleaned out underneath of..... say, lint, lost change, buttons, chewed gum and sunflower seeds is .....to have it break down. All clean...and thankfully, it is back up and running.
2)Potty training may be easier then you think, if you do nothing, go nowhere and commit to running to the potty with your twins every 15 minutes and dancing crazy everytime they go.
3) The paci/binkie/bobby/pacifer was easier to ditch then I thought.
4) Having church at the 1 pm block bites when you have babies that need to have a nap....but are instead up at 1:30 am to play because they finally got their nice long nap at 6:30 pm, which in the end will be good because you will get all your laundry done and folded while baby happily giggles and plays like no big deal that the rest of the world is snoozing.
5) Your husband will be the sweetest thing ever when he says....."go ahead...go back to bed", and then stays home to make sure that the oldest five get off to school on time dressed, fed and happy (well, maybe just the elementary students are happy!)
6) When and if we get our little homestead farm.....there won't be any going back to bed for me...or the animals will not be happy.

7) Making preserved lemons is easier then making lemonade!
8) I would rather cook and eat at home, then at a restaurant. Thank you dad, really, it was sweet, but I always feel heavy and awful after your well meaning gesture.  And the quality restaurants that are out there...are beyond your's or my budget when feeding a family of 10! You're the best.

I'm sure there are more things that I learned, but I am getting old...and for lack of sleep...can't remember all of them, but I do know the older I get the more I have to learn.

Thank heavens!

And thank heavens we have the internet to have all the information we want at the tip of our fingers and can pretty much learn anything we want......

If you have a minute, you can go to The Prairie Homestead and read dozens upon dozens of amazing women sharing their knowledge. I love it!

Or go to Forgotten Way Farm  for a chance to win drying rack, campfire cooking, videos and more! You know I did!

Or if you have ironing to do and need some interesting tv and/or talking going on...like I do...go watch Fresh, a movie about the food industry's failure to honor nature's way of providing food through old fashioned practices. It can bee seen for free through tomorrow.

And tomorrow, I'll share pictures of my preserved lemons!! Now for one last class of fresh lemonade. 


Photot Credit

The ABC's of an Abundant Life

A is for Attitude

Charles Swindoll—author, educator, and Christian pastor—said:

“Attitude, to me, is more important than … the past, … than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness, or skill. It will make or break a company, a church, a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day.”

We can’t direct the wind, but we can adjust the sails. For maximum happiness, peace, and contentment, may we choose a positive attitude.

B is or Believe in Yourself

Don’t limit yourself and don’t let others convince you that you are limited in what you can do. Believe in yourself and then live so as to reach your possibilities.

You can achieve what you believe you can. Trust and believe and have faith.

C is for Courage

There will be times when you will be frightened and discouraged. You may feel that you are defeated. The odds of obtaining victory may appear overwhelming. At times you may feel like David trying to fight Goliath. But remember—David did win!

Courage is required to make an initial thrust toward one’s coveted goal, but even greater courage is called for when one stumbles and must make a second effort to achieve.

Have the determination to make the effort, the single-mindedness to work toward a worthy goal, and the courage not only to face the challenges that inevitably come but also to make a second effort, should such be required. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says, “I’ll try again tomorrow.”

You can read President Thomas S. Monson's message in it's entirety here.

Wishing you a restful Sabbath.