I love this time of year. The weather starts cooling off, Thanksgiving is right around the corner, it's time to start pulling the Christmas lights out of the attic, and the lemons are about ready to pick. We bought this little lemon bush about 6 or 7 years ago and planted it in the ground. Which means it can grow bigger but it is still susceptible to freezing weather--which happens here occasionally. It is the only thing that we love to eat that is somewhat easy to grow here. You have to watch the freezes--especially in March when the blossoms are on, and this year I had trouble with birds and with Ike, but we got 15 lemons which is 15 more than I used to have. The last couple of years we have gotten 40 lemons--that's quite a lot of lemons from one little bush. So, what do we do with all of those lemons?
We give a lot of them away and use a few in cooking--lemon bars, lemonade, lemon pie, lemon chicken, and our favorite, lemon jelly. Chris's sweet aunt from California brought some lemon jelly to a family reunion and then was sweet enough to remember to email me the recipe. I suggest you give it a try. It is good stuff! I don't think she'll mind if I pass along the recipe. I think she said it was a state fair winner in AZ. If you don't have fresh lemons where you live you might find some at a store that will do but I'm sure they won't be quite as good. :)
Lemon Jelly
(makes 4 ½ pints + a sample)
4 lemons (our lemons are so big, we only need 1 1/2)
1 ½ c. water
4 ½ c. sugar
1 foil pouch of Certo (liquid pectin)
Finely shred enough lemon peel to make 1 tablespoon. Squeeze juice from lemons to make ¾ cup. Combine peel, juice and water. Let stand for 10 minutes. Strain to remove pulp and peel. Measure 2 cups of juice mixture.
In a large pan, combine the juice mixture and sugar. Cook over high heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture comes to a full rolling boil that cannot be stirred down. Quickly stir in the pectin. Return to a full boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and skim foam. Ladle into hot, sterilized ½ pint canning jars, leaving ¼" headspace. Wipe jar rims and put on lids. Process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes (I use my steamer). Start timing when the water starts to boil. Remove jars and cool on a wire rack.
6 comments:
That sounds so yummy! And what are ya putting in that soil to grow lemons so big? I was driving past this house by Krahn yesterday and there's a huge grapefruit tree out front with hundreds of fruit on it that looks like they're going to go to waste. I almost stopped to knock on their door to see if I could pick some. Maybe someday I'll have the nerve...I was very impressed with the lemon tree. You green thumb you.
What fun it was for me to check into your BLOG today! Your lemon tree reminded me or ours. Ours must have more than a hundred lemons on it this year, so many in fact that with all the fruit on the south side of it that it decided to tip over. We have it propped up with sticks, buckets and ropes. Needless to say we will have lots of lemon flavored things this year. One of my favorite things to do is to make small packets of lemon zest in plastic wrap, stuffed into a small jar in the freezer for use through the year--along with cubes of frozen juice. Boy howdy! I love you guys even though you are far away.
I love lemon stuff...I have some lemon lotion thqt I could eat. I love the jelly/lemon photo...(great back lighting). I think I need to have a lemon tree someday.
Dear Liz,
This sounds like a wonderful recipe that I am going to make as soon as possible. Susan has a lemon tree in her yard in Mill Valley, so I'll pass this on to her too. I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving. I have fun getting to know your kids thru your blog.
Love and miss you Liz,
xo/Judy
MOM, i hope you save some of that beautiful lemon jelly for me when i come home! i'm impressed you got that many cause if i remember right it froze earlier this year didn't it? and those silly grackle birds loved them also.
uhh - where is the next entry please - it has been two weeks!
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