Homemade lemonade
Monday December 08th 2008, 8:38 pm
Filed under: Knit,Life

lemonading in December

I didn’t get this person today at the lab.  Someone else won.

One friend suggested hot tea for all that ails a person.  I don’t drink tea, but I could take that idea and run with it–I zapped and boiled a cup of water with a tablespoon of sugar.  Squeezed a lemon from the backyard tree.  Poured the syrup (calling it that is a bit of a stretch) into the lemon juice.  Voila: I didn’t cook the vitamin C out of the lemons, the sugar didn’t all sink to the bottom but was completely mixed throughout, and it was nice and warm and good on a chilly day. Tart, definitely tart.

My daughter in Vermont missed being able to go pick lemons out of the backyard any time as she pleased, so somehow she found her own Meyer lemon tree at a nursery.  She keeps it as an indoor plant most of the year.  And it produces.  In Vermont!  Cool.

suddenly craving cinnamon rolls

Meantime, the knitting gets a move on and one of the lab workers came over to see what I was making this time. The patient next to me asked, “Is it a gift?”  Yes.  And it put a smile on her face for whoever it might be for.  I wished on the spot I had one ready for her, too.


16 Comments so far
Leave a comment

Honey and lemon… MMmm. I have honey from the farm that is a two minute walk from our house. 🙂

Comment by Jasmin 12.08.08 @ 10:20 pm

My 16 year old daughter has recently started enjoying hot lemonade. She seems to alternate evenings between that and cocoa. BTW, have you ever tried hot Ribena? It’s a black currant juice drink usually served cold but delicious heated!

Comment by LynnM 12.09.08 @ 2:01 am

My brother in law does the same thing- and he gets about two harvests a year! Last year’s winter crop gave him 20 something lemons.

He doesn’t make lemonade with them, but makes awesome lemon bars.

Comment by Liz U. 12.09.08 @ 6:56 am

I’m a big tea drinker, and with milk though. Lemon is for cold drinks, not hot. My mouth is set on that opinion.

Comment by Channon 12.09.08 @ 6:59 am

I know what you mean about the nurse you want..woe if you don’t get them. 🙁

Thanks! I love lemons, and now after reading about your daughter’s tree in Vermont, I’m determined to get my own tree and keep it inside. Even in this sultry (summer only, of course) state it would die in winter. My sister in Texas has a lime tree and free access to an orange tree. So cool.

Comment by Toni Smoky-Mountains 12.09.08 @ 8:43 am

My mother made us that hot lemonade drink, but with honey; which has a lot of healing properties of its own.
Oh my goodness, a lemon tree in the back yard! How cool.

Comment by karin 12.09.08 @ 9:23 am

One of the best tips for a cold I learned while living in Japan, another came from Native American medicines.
Quince is excellent for stopping a cold in its tracks. The Japanese put it with Shochu, their form of vodka, and lots of sugar, but just the hot water and sugar bit should get much of the virtue from the quince.
The other tip is excellent for congestion; grate an onion, squeeze out the juice, add a bunch of honey, and take it. Tastes pretty nasty, but helps congestion, and if you are fighting any form of pneumonia or bronchitis, the nasty is worth the terrific relief.
For post-nasal drip, a nice cup of parsley tea works wonders.

Comment by Diana Troldahl 12.09.08 @ 9:37 am

I like hot drinks so it is mostly herb tea for me–it is made with things like chamomile flowers and rose hips and spearmint–doesn’t that sound exotic. Hot cider is good this time of year but is mostly too sweet. You are fortunate to have the “lemon tree, very pretty, and the lemon flower is sweet”. I brought home a huge bag of lemons from Arizona once and just luxuriated in having fresh lemon slices in my drinking water. Get better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comment by sherry in idaho 12.09.08 @ 10:01 am

Some people can always make lemonade no matter where they are or what they do!

Comment by Michelle 12.09.08 @ 10:28 am

My mother-in-law’s lemon tree in her little greenhouse in Northern Utah has borne fruit for the first time this year. I too, didn’t really appreciate the oranges and lemons growing in my yard in California until we moved away. I hope you start feeling better faster than a dropped stitch can run (at least one of my dropped stitches.)–Laura

Comment by Laura 12.09.08 @ 11:24 am

Picking your own lemons in the backyard sounds so cool and delicious. I’m going to have to see about getting a tree like your daughter.

Comment by Joansie 12.09.08 @ 12:17 pm

I found this: http://www.meyerlemontree.com/ Sounds good, though I only know what Google brought up.

Comment by AlisonH 12.09.08 @ 12:50 pm

The perfect proportion for lemonade is:
juice of 1 lemon. Squeezed when the lemon is at room temp cause you get more juice.
slightly less than 1/4 cup sugar. enough water to make 2 cups total of lemonade. Mmmmmmmmm

Comment by Carol 12.09.08 @ 6:13 pm

Oh, and indoor lemon tree? I would be all over that. If I had a window with sunshine in it.

Comment by Carol 12.09.08 @ 6:13 pm

The anesthesiologist who was the lead doctor for my resuscitation team started a second IV. I tried to compliment him, but evidently wasn’t speaking clearly. “What did she say?” he asked. The second doctor, bemused, answered: “I think she’s critiquing your work.” Yes, I had said “Great job!”

Comment by Barbara-Kay 12.10.08 @ 12:56 am

I do something like that, except hot water, meyer lemon juice, and honey (saves on the syrup step). The kids love it, too, and it’s great for a sore throat.

Comment by Jocelyn 12.10.08 @ 4:14 pm



Leave a comment
Line and paragraph breaks automatic, e-mail address never displayed, HTML allowed: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

(required)

(required)