Love deeply. Laugh. Cry. Talk to God. Be realistic about the to-do list. Stay in touch. Hug. Dream. Smile. Break Bread often with Family. Spend Time with your Girlfriends. Shop til you Drop! Extend Grace. Be Quick to Forgive and Slow to Anger. Walk. Breathe. Sing. Dance. Read. Eat Chocolate. Savor a Good Glass of Wine. Wiggle your Toes. Sleep well. Life is Good!

Thursday, March 8, 2012

When Life Gives you Lemons ......



Dehydrate them!




I picked up two overstuffed gallon size zip bags of lemons 
from Jimmy Lowes last week! I had no idea what I'd do with 
them. But for $1.99 I couldn't pass them up!
So when the hubs asked if I was gonna do any canning 
or preserving this week, I said "no" and then quickly 
backtracked with "depends on what I do with the lemons."



I had time restraints because of the Pantry Project
so I sliced them and put them on the dehydrator!




It took between 36 and 48+ hours to dehydrate all the 
slices @ 115 degrees.  I didn't want them to harden off 
(drying on the outside and remaining moist on the inside, 
so it was a low and slow process ... not unlike loading 
the crockpot and walking away). The finished product 
will barely fill a half gallon jar and will last indefinitely after 
vacuum sealing. But they won't last that long around here!!



What will I do with them?
What can't you do with them?!!


Well, you can't roll and juice them, but
you couldn't roll and juice lemon slices anyway!

Toss a couple into a glass of cold water!
Make lemonade!
Ever tried lemon/mint water?  Refreshing!

or 

Rehydrate and lay over fish while baking.
Use them just like you would fresh.
All you have to do is rehydrate them
by covering what you need with water.

Or, how about ...

lemon powder? lemon sugar? lemon scented potpourri, even!
Before I begin sounding like a Forrest Gump knock-off, I'll stop!


Check out this website for more ways to use dehydrated citrus!

I could have zested them before slicing 
but I did that with the last batch 
and then canned the lemon juice! Yes, I did!

Oh!  And the leftover ends which still had
plenty of pulp went into the freezer 
for thawing and squeezing over ... whatever!

I hate to waste anything!!


I'm gonna scoot and use the last lemon
in a citrus combo juice!  Gotta get my juice on!


Pucker up!


8 comments:

  1. I have a lemon tree and always have more lemons that I know what to do with. I hadn't even thought of dehydrating them. I am going to put that on my to do list.

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  2. Good for you! I peeled and scraped the pith off about ten pounds of meyers last fall and canned them in a light syrup and juiced another five or more pounds and canned the juice!

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  3. I've never thought of dehydrating lemons! On a warm sunny Arizona afternoon it would be wonderful to drop one into some iced water. gotta try this one! Do you make lemon juice powder? I've seen it in the stores... to expensive!

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  4. BTW, you can also freeze them! I have! Works fine!

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  5. I bought lemon juice powder from King Arthur. Wonderful! But I did make lemon rind powder from the lemons I peeled and canned last fall!

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    Replies
    1. I just heard about King Arthur for the first time yesterday, was going to tell you about it! They have what appears to be an exceedingly yummy recipe on their site right now... http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/pistachio-shortbread-recipe

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  6. That make me thought about the Lemon Festival in Menton French Riviera. 2 weeks in february/March where you can see parades made with lemon and orange, citrus exhibition... Nice to see ;-) http://www.fete-du-citron.com/Lemon-Festival-Menton-French,34.html

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  7. Thanks Caro!! I'll check it out!! Can't wait for you to travel back from France!!! We miss you!!!

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