A lot of people we know have been giving us excess lemons off their backyard trees. I love this as I like to drink lemon water and use lemons to clean. But here’s some other uses for the humble lemon:

Recipes

Make your own Limoncello! By Dot via Craftzine
Perfect Lemonade Recipe by Simply Recipes

• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
  1 cup lemon juice3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)
• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)

Method

• Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely
• While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
• Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength.
• Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.

Microwaved Lemon Curd
Ingredients

• juice and finely grated rind of 4 large lemons
• 185g unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• 3/4 cup (185g) caster sugar
• 4 large fresh eggs, well beaten

Preparation method

1. Put 2 clean jars to warm in a slow oven while you make the curd.
2. Put the lemon juice and rind in a medium microwave-able bowl. Stir in the sugar and butter, cut into small pieces.
3. Microwave, stirring often, until the butter and sugar are melted but the liquid is not too hot-about 60 seconds.
4. Whiskin the eggs vigorously in a thin, steady stream until very well combined. Give the whole a quick whisk. Microwave on full for 2 minutes without opening the door. Remove and whisk very well. Allow to stand for 1 minute.
5. Microwave on full for another 1 minute.
6. Spoon into the warmed jars. Allow to go completely cold before sealing.

Cleaning:
Countertop stains can be removed by allowing lemon juice to sit on the stain for a few minutes. Scrub the area with baking soda and watch the stains disappear. Don’t leave the lemon juice sitting for too long. It can be powerful stuff.

Skin treatments:
Acne remedy: Because lemon juice is highly antibacterial and antiseptic, it can help treat acne. Mix 2 teaspoons fresh-squeezed lemon juice with 1/2 teaspoon rose water. Soak a cotton ball in the mixture and lightly sweep over face (not for sensitive skin). Leave on overnight and wash off in the morning.

Inesect Repellant:
Lemon rind : Most citrus fruits are effective insect repellents. Place rinds on a cookie sheet, and dry in an oven heated to 150 degrees for three hours. Gather a cupful of dried rinds into a large piece of cheesecloth, tie with a string, and hang in closets or storage spaces to keep out moths.

I was amused by this article by Terri Miller on the art of drying fruit in the inside of your car during hot weather.

We don’t own a car, but I think this would work equally well on a hot sunny windowsill in the middle of summer.

A great way of storing excess fruit for those of us who don’t have the storage  space to even contemplate canning or bottling fruit!

Ingredients:

Ever tried making your own baked beans?
Like many, you may be fearful of certain side effects. Treehugger gives some solutions here.

here’s a yummy recipes I found recently. I’m going to give it a go (once the weather is cooler) but by making the beans from scratch:

Veggie Chili with Cornbread Dumplings

Ingredients:

Do you have a favourite baked beans recipe? I’d love to hear it

I was interested to read this article about the environmental benefits of making your own bread, with a breadmaker. These include the use of bulk materials and less travel and packaging. Further, it is alleged that a bread machine can do doughs, artisan breads, gluten-free loafs, and even jams and chutneys.

Treehugger has provided a list of their fave hangover cures, which include yoga, coconut water, wheat grass and playing in the snow. Seriously, the former would cause my hungover head to explode and the latter has never been attempted in adult life….

2. Sleep.
Lots. If you live in Australia like us, no doubt you’ll wake up to a roasting hot house. Not very conducive to good sleeping. You could try sleeping in the bath (recycle the water on your plants), a dull cinema movie or of course, a local library.

3. Toast with vegemite.

Add some avocado and if you’re not vegetarian, maybe some free range bacon. Hot chips never hurt either. Yes, I know Vegemite is owned by evil Kraft, but I don’y like promite, marmite or any of the imitators. Sorry.

4. Pain killers.

`Yes, I know you don’t take pain killers, but you could wash them down with some organic juice.

Prevention:

1. Organic wine
Many people swear organic wines mean less headaches and kinder, gentler hangovers. And if you are sensitive to sulphur, you can get organic sulphur free wine to boot. You can also get organic beer of course, and homebrew has it’s place, though it may be stronger in alcoholic content than store bought beverages.

2. Food:

Serve food at your parties. Make sure you eat. Not just chips, they’ll make you thirsty and you’ll drink more. Things on sticks, turkish bread, dips, cheeses all have a part to play.

3. Non-alcoholic beverages:

Mocktails are great and you can find some particularly yummy ones here. Be wary of milky, creamy drinks if you’re also having a bit of alcohol.

You can also plan something special for the day after to give you an incentive not to drink, count your drinks etc etc. It’s all about choices really, isn’t it?

Today dear readers, is the 2nd day of spring! Woo! Stay tuned for recipes using spring vegetables. I hope you have enjoyed the recipes as much as I have

I’ve not tried watercress recipes extensively, as I’ve found it hard to buy, particularly if you don’t want to go to big supermarkets. If you can’t find it and would like to try these recipes, I’d substitute salad greens of your choice.

Goat’s Cheese and Watercress Quiche

FOR THE PASTRY

• 225g gluten-free flour , plus extra for rolling
• 100g butter
• 1 large egg , beaten, plus extra beaten egg for brushing

FOR THE FILLING

• 1 medium onion , finely chopped
• 1 tbsp oil
• 100g watercress , roughly chopped
• 2 large eggs
• 150ml milk
• 150ml log soft rindless goat’s cheese , in rough chunks
• freshly grated nutmeg , optional

Method:

1. Put the flour and a pinch of salt in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until the mixture looks like breadcrumbs. Stir in the egg and about 1-2 tbsp water to form a soft dough. Knead well then wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Knead the pastry again and roll it out to line a 20cm loose-bottomed flan tin (the pastry won’t shrink, so no need to chill). Patch holes with spare pastry and brush the base and sides with egg.
3. For the filling, fry the onion in the oil until just soft, add the watercress and cook until just wilted. Beat the eggs and milk and stir in the watercress mixture and goat’s cheese.
4. Season and if you like, add a pinch of nutmeg. Put the flan tin on a bakingsheet and bake the pastry blind for 5 minutes. Add the filling and bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 180C/gas 4/ fan 160C and cook for 25-30 minutes or until lightly set

Watercress and Pinenut Mayonnaise

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of watercress
• 1 cup of fresh parsley leaves
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 2 tbsp of toasted pine nuts
• 3 tbsp of plain mayonnaise
• salt and pepper

Method:

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Pick all the leaves from a bunch of watercress. Together with a cup of fresh parsley leaves, throw the watercress in the boiling water for 30 seconds. Drain well and mix the blanched leaves with 1/4 cup of cream. Puree and pass through a sieve.

Place in a saucepan and boil gently until only about 3 tablespoons of green paste is left. Puree 2 tablespoons of toasted pine nuts and add to the paste. Stir in 3 tablespoons plain mayonnaise and season.