"When Life Gives You Lemons..."

We've all heard the saying about lemons. While I enjoy lemonade, I've never been quite sure what it means. Make the best of something sour? Is lemonade the best we can do?

I have a lemon tree in my tiny garden. It gives me lemonade and so much more. I look at the bright, manic yellow of the lemons and I smile. I have the luxury of being able to pick a fresh lemon just about whenever I need one. When the tree is in blossom, the scent is heady and full of promise for the coming fruit. My lemon tree is the vision I held in my mind during the long planning, organizing and agonizing that comes with moving to another country. The tree symbolizes lemonade and more to me.

The origin of Citrus is far more mysterious. It is thought that lemons and the rest of the citrus family originated in India, Burma or possibly China. The spread of the fruit can be traced through ancient trade routes, whether by The Silk Road or by ship. They made their way to the south of Italy with the Romans and to the rest of the Mediterranean with the Arabs. Citrus made their way to the Americas the same way. Lemons arrived with Columbus and never looked back.

Lemons are the true workhorses of the citrus family. For culinary uses, they can be used for both sweet and savory. As a cleaning agent, they are anti-bacterial, deodorizing and are useful in aromatherapy, too.
Maybe we need to reconsider, "When Life Gives You Lemons...". Maybe when life gives us lemons it is giving us the opportunity to enjoy a glass of lemonade and consider what wonderful things could be done with the rest.

Lemon Curd

You will need:
The juice and zest from 4 large unwaxed lemons, about 1/2 cup
200 grams of sugar
100 grams of butter
4 large eggs
a pinch of salt
your favorite double boiler set up

Start some water heating in your saucepan
I whiz the zest and sugar in a food processer, add the butter, then whiz the eggs in one at a time. Then the juice and the salt
Pour the mixture into the container used on top of the sauce pan and cook at a low heat, stirring constantly as it thickens. You want to make sure it doesn't boil. Remove from the heat and allow to cool before using as a pie filling, cake filling, straight out of a jar with a spoon, or as a gift. From start to finish, making Lemon Curd takes about the same amount of time that it takes to make fresh lemonade. Well, maybe a little more.
I would add one warning. You will see recipes that suggest cooking directly on the stovetop instead of a double boiler method. Have nothing to do with these recipes unless you either A) are an incredibly skilled and patient cook, or B) enjoy lemony/sweet scrambled eggs. Trust me on this one.

* If you are wondering about how to "de-wax" or clean fruit, fill a sink with cold water and add about a cup of vinegar and let the fruit(any fruit) sit for about 10 minutes. This will also discourage mold with berries.