Uses for a Lemon

This is a progressive post. In other words you get multiple posts in the space of one! All three of today's "projects" came from one lemon. Starting from the squeezing and ending in my favorite of my own creations. Let's get started!

The lemon

Start with the selection. You don't want to walk into the store and just grab the first lemon looking thing that you find. You want the juice and light lemons don't have much. Look for the heaviest one you can find. Once you get it home and are getting ready to carve it to pieces, do not just grab a knife and dive in. Like I said we want the juice and we want all of it, or at least as much as we can get. To that end put the lemon on the counter or a sturdy table. Lay your hand flat on the lemon and firmly roll the fruit around. Yes, roll it around, but not so firmly that you crush it. Rolling help break up the pulp inside and releases more of the juice that simply squeezing it. After you have a thoroughly distraught lemon that is soft and squishy it's time to cut it open, cut it with a very sharp knife.

Ironically the students at Hogwarts who were "in the know" about silver releasing more juice, weren't far off. Silver knives can take and hold a better sharper edge than iron or steel. So it can get a better yield, but as you aren't likely to have a silver knife lying around just use your common muggle knives. Cut it half and then grab a spoon. You can use a juicer if you want, but this way works better. Use your spoon to make insertions on either side of each segment. You don't have to be tidy, in fact, a mildly sloppy job will get more juice. Once, you have gone all the way around squeeze the lemon into a glass until you can't get anything more from it. Wait you aren't done! Put the head of the spoon into the lemon husk and squeeze the fruit again, but this time as you squeeze, twist the spoon. Why not just stab the spoon in and twist the first time around? You could, if you want to make a mess. Ok so now you should have about 1/3 cup of nice fresh, additive free, lemon juice.

Fizzy Lemonade

Fizzy Lemonade

This is the quick and dirty method. Simply add 7-up, sprite, or some other fizzy tasteless beverage to the glass of juice you just made. Add enough to make your taste buds happy.

You can also add 1/3-ish cup of sugar to the juice (depending on your tastes) and heat it gently to make a syrup. Then add carbonated water, again, to taste.

Add the sherbet first!

Fizzy Citrus Float


I came up with this because I was tired of what I already knew about and there isn't anything like it that you can just buy. Sometimes you want something new. Anyway, mix up a batch of Fizzy Lemonade. Add a few scoops of sherbet to a bowl, or goblet. Pour the lemonade on the top of the sherbet at first to get a head started, then pour down the side of the container. Pour slowly and control the foaming, or it will go everywhere. Then either garnish and serve, or just eat it.

Fizzy Citrus Float All photos by David Chappell