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

A Classic Banana Milkshake

Photos by David Chappell

In the mood for a banana milkshake? Don't want to take the time to dig out the blender the ingredients, and then have to wash everything afterwards? Here's a simple way to make a simple classic. It will only get complicated and time consuming if you mind the bits of banana that will make it into the finished product. I personally don't mind and think they add something to this classic drink.

Ingredients: 
1/2 c. Banana Puree or about 1 medium banana
1 c. Cold Milk
1 scoop ice cream or Whipped Cream (optional)

Step 1. Mash the stuffing out of the banana. You want as smooth of a liquid as possible.


Step 2. Using the fork; Blend in the milk a little at a time. You want to incorporate air with the liquid into the puree.

Step 3. Serve. You may want to put this into the freezer for about half an hour. If it's just for you and you don't care that it's not really cold, just add your cream of choice on top and enjoy! If you are going to be serving these to guests, you should put them in the freezer just long enough to get them cold. Don't make them to long in advance, because the longer they sit the flatter they will go. If you have to make them a long time in advance, you might want a blender. Then you can keep the mass in the fridge and blend them just before serving.

Tomato Ketchup

Photo by Anagoria

You know it's really hard to find a good ketchup anymore. Even those that are on the store shelves pale in comparison to the real deal. Usually they are so acidic that they are inedible, or they just taste "off". If you are like me and want good flavored food that doesn't have all the acid and weird ingredients try this. This recipe over 150 years old!

1 gallon Tomatoes, ripe skinned
2 pints Vinegar - the more natural the better.
4 tablespoons Salt
1 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper
3 tsp Mustard Powder / Flour (you can use 1-2 teaspoons of mustard seeds soaked overnight in water)
1/2 tsp Allspice
1/2 tsp Cinnamon (make sure that it's real cinnamon)
1 c. Sugar

Mix everything and boil until it's the thickness you desire. Bottle and seal or cork tight.

Quick Brownies - One of the Best

Photo by Miansari66

You know, I love my brownies. I love them with butter, icing, frosting, chocolate chips, walnuts, simple, complex, big, smalll, thin, fluffy, heavy, light (no not all at once, silly). I could make myself a cookbook just about brownies. So how is it that I can almost choose this recipe to be one of my favorites. I don't know. It just is. It might actually be because it's the first one that I made on my own as a child. First accomplishments, you know. I encourage you to make this one yourself and try it. It is simpler than most brownie recipes, and you can always add nuts or chips if you choose. Toppings? Use whatever you like. Just remember to have a tall  glass of milk on the side.

Quick Brownies

1/2 cup Butter (melted or creamed)
1 cup Sugar
2 squares Chocolate (melted)
2 Eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup Flour
3/4 cup Walnuts

Mix in order or you will be starting over! Mix the butter and sugar, then add the chocolate. Then add the eggs then the flour. Once you have a batter add your additions if you have any. If your batter gets a bit thick you can add milk 1/2 tablespoon at a time until your batter is the right consistency (tip. make the recipe as is first, so you can see what the consistency should be like). Pour into a shallow pan and bake at 300 degrees. Don't over bake.

What the Gill!!!

I know that you are well aware that gills belong to fish, but did you know that, like a hogshead, a gill belongs in the kitchen as well? I was perusing an old cookbook and ran across a recipe that calls for a "gill" of milk. Odd right? So what the heck is a gill of milk? A gill is 4 fluid ounces or 1/2 cup. My mom told me about a "bowl" and I've been trying to remember what a "hogshead" is so I thought it might be handy, fun, interesting to list some of the more interesting measurements and conversions that you might run across some day.

These are rough measurements, but close enough

drop = 1/96 teaspoon
smidgen = 1/32 teaspoon
pinch = 1/16 teaspoon
dash = 1/8 teaspoon
salt spoon / scruple = 1/4 teaspoon
coffee spoon = 1/2 teaspoon
teaspoon = 1/3 tablespoon
dessertspoon = 1/2 tablespoon
mouthful = 1 tablespoon
spoonful = 1 tablespoon mounded
knob = 2 tablespoons
butter the size of a walnut = 2 tablespoons
handful (fluid measurement) = 1/8 cup
butter the size of an egg = 1/4 cup
jigger = 1.5 fluid ounces
wineglass = 1/4 cup
gill / teacup = 1/2 cup
saucer = 1 cup (rounded)
pottle = 2 cups
bowl = 3 cups (this is according to the British and American measurement standards)
peck = 8 quarts
1 pound of eggs = 9
1 hogshead is about 1000 cups!


Here are the oven temperatures too, should you ever need them


Very Slow Oven = 200 – 250F
Slow Oven = 250 – 350F
Moderate Oven = 350 – 400F
Quick or Hot Oven = 400 – 450F
Very Hot Oven = 450 – 500F