Tuesday, January 25, 2011

Life Gave Me Lemons

One of Chris's coworkers invited our family to get together with his family and we've done so a couple of times. It's nice to go out to breakfast with another couple and their little kid. During the course of the last get together they lamented that their lemon tree had so many lemons that they didn't know what to do with them. My response was "Send some over, I've got a stand mixer." And so it began.


It started out with four lemons. After combing through my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook I decided to make lemon bars. The 'furnished' home we are in even had a zester and old fashioned juicer (you know, where you take half of a lemon and crush it onto the juicer and twist it). I have got to get my own zester and juicer.

The lemon bars turned out pretty tasty. I'm not a huge fan because of the lack of chocolate in lemon bars, but I still went back for seconds. We ended up sending most of them with Chris for work (with some set aside for our friends who sent the lemons). They were such a hit that more were requested.

Which meant that I needed a few more lemons. And somehow a dozen more were sent over. So I made the extra lemon bars and then eyeballed the rest of the lemons, debating what to do with them. I actually wanted to try lemon meringue pie, but the stirring and cooking never seems to coincide with the kids leaving me alone long enough to stir and cook.

After more time spent looking through my cookbook, I decided on lemon sponge cake. I was adventurous and put it in a bundt cake pan, but it didn't come out of the pan easily. So it doesn't look all the pretty and had a chunk missing. I made some lemon glaze and dribbled it over the cake.


Oh, it is so delicious. It's angel food cake with a lemon kick. When Chris found out I made it from scratch, well, he used some foul language to express his delight.

I still have at least six lemons left, so that pie might still be made.

4 comments:

Ikkin said...

What about just adding lemon to water for you and/or the kids? I go through a bag of lemons every couple of weeks because I'll bring them to work and then add a slice to my water each time I refill. I drink more water and it feels slightly luxurious. It's also great after working out-refreshing without the sugar taste of lemonade.

Hugs said...

I had that thought one day and then completely forgot, so I'm glad you said something!

Ikkin said...

I'm all about the easy options-although right now I think I'd fight someone to the death for a slice of that lemon sponge cake. It sounds heavenly.

Hugs said...

Hang on for seven months and I'll make it as part of our 'welcome home' party we are going to throw for ourselves.