I love it when life gives me lemons

I get these ideas in my head sometimes and I just have to see them to fruition, even if they end up being terrible. Like, the spiced hazelnuts I tried to make as Christmas gifts (big fail) or the paper poppies (bought a glue gun, made two, got bored). Obviously, it's never stopped me from trying! So, this time, I got a bee in my bonnet over lemons.

The produce out west has already spoiled me in just a few short months, especially the quality of citrus. One of my all-time favorite fruits is the Meyer lemon. Sweeter and jucier than a traditional lemon, with soft flesh and thin skin, Meyer lemons are delicious in everything! I saw a couple of bags at the store the other day and just knew I had to come up with something, so I decided to preserve them.

Really, it's pretty easy. I was worried it would need a lot of canning-type techniques, which I know nothing about, but the acid and salt prevent anything from growing in there and keep the process pretty simple.

First, I bought some pint jars. The recipe called for a quart jar, but I had to buy 12 of them and figured that was overkill. The jars need to be washed well and then sterilized. Bathtime for jars!

Next, I gave the lemons a bath of their own, scrubbing off all of the dirt. I had about 12 lemons that were usable plus two that had been mangled beyond preserving state, so I just juiced them to add into the jars later. Do people just stick their thumbs into bags of fruit? Rude. 

After making sure everything was nice and clean, I trimmed the ends quartered the lemons, leaving one end intact. Next, I packed salt into the cuts and rubbed the outside of the lemons. By the way, this is a terrible recipe for when you have any sort of hang nail or paper cut. OWIE.

After putting a tablespoon of salt in the bottom of each jar (I only needed two pint jars), one by one I squished the salted oranges in, making sure the juice ran out and mashing as many as possible. Then I topped them off with more salt, the extra juice from the disfigured lemons, and sealed them tightly.

So, in theory, these babies sit out for about three weeks in a cool place where they can work their magic. You are supposed to give them a turn every once in a while, and I think I may need to add more juice today so they are completely covered. But, in theory, three weeks from now I should have some delicious, salty lemon rinds to try in recipes. I have a couple of ideas (spiraling into an idea frenzy!) and have my fingers crossed that this works out. Hopefully, I have more to share other than regret that I didn't just make lemon bars.

Recipe: Preserved Lemons from Simply Recipes