When Leif Gives You Lemons ...

This post is about an adventure of a different sort, a culinary adventure that didn't even have us leave our property. And, no, that isn't a typographical error in the title of this post. We have three citrus trees in our La Quinta yard. Two lemon trees and a tangerine tree. When we arrived in November, we found that our larger lemon tree and the tangerine tree were loaded with fruit. I have decided to name our large lemon tree, "Leif." He produced our biggest crop of lemons, yet, and the fruit just kept getting bigger and bigger as the season continued. There are more than we can use, so we have made a number of deliveries to neighbours and friends (at least those who don't have their own lemon trees). Even the huge lemons, and I mean easily over 6 inches long, are very juicy.

This was the first tangerine crop we have had in four years. About one third were dry, one third half dry and half juicy, and one third were very juicy, sweet, and delicious, but boy did they have a lot of pits. We enjoyed a number of them with breakfast, and I used some to make an orange chiffon cake that was pretty tasty.

But back to the big boy, Leif the Lemon Tree. What to do with all those lemons he produced and ripened throughout the winter? A favourite and refreshing beverage in the desert is just a glass of ice cold water brightened with fresh lemon juice or lemon wedges. There has been plenty of that consumed in the Williamson-Reed household through the last few weeks as the temperatures have been well over 30C.  We found that after the tart lemon water, lemonade was just too sweet so I never made a second batch of that, instead, I just enhance Crystal Light lemonade and iced tea by adding fresh lemon juice.

I have scoured the internet and my cook books to come up with all sorts of other things to try. I am happy to say that everything I have presented to the tasters seems to have been accepted with compliments (or perhaps everyone is just too polite.) There was one recipe failure, lemon pecans, which I didn't even make Sandy try. I will have to give that recipe another go since I think the biggest problem was I left them in the oven about 1 minute too long and the nuts got rather bitter.

So what have I made? Well, let see, my lemon culinary endeavors on the dessert side have included multiple well received lemon pound cakes, a couple of batches of sticky lemon rolls (now a Boxing Day brunch favourite), lemon pecan cookies that seemed to disappear rather quickly, lemon crumb squares that require no eggs (for our egg allergic friend), lemon pudding cake (which is a favourite of Sandy's), and a lemon cheese cake that is to die for. In my not so humble opinion, it is the best cheese cake I have ever had, whether home made, store bought, or restaurant fare. The only problem is, making one is pretty much an all day affair, but boy is that worth it!!!  

For a nice savory dinner, a batch of lemon pasta with grilled chicken or Italian sausage is one of our favourite meals, and likely one you might be served should you stop by for a visit when the lemons are ready.

I have even tried my hand at candy making. So far, my attempts at making hard candy lemon drops have been a complete failure; burnt lemon candy is hardly a treat. On the up side, though, I think I may have mastered lemon toffee. Pretty tasty, but with the heat here, it needs to be kept in the fridge.

About three or four weeks ago, we had a massive and almost overwhelmingly fragrant blooming of all our citrus that attracted lots of bees and hummingbirds.  Already there are a number of teeny tiny tangerines set and a few lemons. I do not think we will have the bumper crops next year that we had this year. Both Leif and the tangerine tree are due for a pruning in September, so it will be interesting to see how next year's crop is doing when we return in the fall.

 Here are a few photos for you to enjoy. Hope they don't make you too hungry!

Leif, the Lemon Tree showing off some of his crop

A lemon windfall after a big windstorm last week

Sticky lemon buns, with cream cheese icing.

Lemon pound cake

Lemon cookies with pecans

Lemon pudding cake with fresh local strawberries

The oh, so delicious lemon cheese cake

Lemon toffee