Lemons Several Ways: Recipes

Don't you just love lemons? Here is a little history about lemons:

Lemons are originally from northern India. The name means “golden apple”.

Lemon trees were grown as ornamental trees in Mediterranean gardens. Lemonade is believed to have been invented in Egypt over 1,500 years ago. Lemonade originally started as a lemon and honey wine, drank primarily by peasants.

About one fourth of the world's lemons are grown in the United States, mostly in California. A lemon tree may bear as many as 3,000 lemons annually. Most lemons ripen naturally in autumn and winter.

Basic Lemonade Recipe:

1 cup hot water
1 cup lemon juice
1 cup sugar

Pour hot water and sugar into small pitcher and stir to dissolve. Add lemon juice. Put the top on the pitcher and refrigerate.

To make a single serving, put 1/4 to 1/3 cup of syrup into a glass, then fill with water and ice. Easy and delicious!

Recipe #2: Snapple Lemon Flavored Ice Tea:

2 quarts water
3 tea bags

Boil water in large pan. When water comes to a raid boil, turn off the heat, put tea bags into water and cover. After tea has brewed an hour, pour sugar into a 2 qt. pitcher, and add the warm tea (so the sugar will dissolve easily). Add the lemon mixture (below).

Lemon Mixture:
¾ cup sugar (or a 16 oz. bottle of light corn syrup)
1/3 cup + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

Now here is the kicker: Lemon as a Medicine from this site:

When Chinese doctors reveal their remedies, there is always something worthwhile to read. The clever cure of an infected finger or toe is dealt with in this way. The top of the lemon is cut off, the finger or toe is inserted into the lemon, and bound up. In the morning the infection is ready to be cleansed and well on the way to healing.

I've been drinking a ton of Crystal Lite lemonade; maybe I will try some of the old fashioned variety today.

Using Lavender for Linen Spray Recipe

Lavender is flowering now. The word "lavender" derives from the Latin meaning "to wash," and is an essential ingredient in many bath and shower products.

I purchased some lavender spray to use when ironing linen, and love its scent on clothes after a good dose prior to pressing a blouse or pillowcase. The mist not only helps to take out wrinkles from the fabric, but it also smells good, to boot.

If you are inclined to make your own lavender spray instead of purchasing it, here is a recipe from a reader posting to Lilybee:

To make Lavender Linen Water for spraying on sheets or other linens before, during or after ironing, you'll need:

Half a teaspoon (50 drops) of lavender essential oil
3-5 drops peppermint spearmint or rosemary essential oil (optional)
1 oz vodka 1 and a half cups of distilled water (from the drug store)

Sterilize a glass container (a big pasta sauce jar would work well) by pouring some boiling water into it and leaving it for a few minutes. Then mix the essential oils and booze together in the jar and shake. Add the water and shake some more.

When you're ready to use it you can either decant it into a plastic spray bottle or sprinkle it on fabric by hand. The mixture will cloud over time and eventually separate, hence the slightly smaller batch size.

Lavender is easy to grow in sandy, alkaline soil if there is good drainage and full sun. Its uses have been known for ages, especially for:

healing skin (used for burns and abrasions);
disinfecting;
relieving
lung congestion

Summertime and lavender...romantic images.

Visiting Friends and Family in Denver

July 11-13 was fun! I visited friends Kathy and her daughter, Ellen and we were treated to dinner by my daugher, Heidy, in downtown Denver.

Heidy is pictured at the Denver Art Museum prior to her evening's work at Racines Restaurant. It was a pleasure to meet some of Heidy's co-workers and to hear how much they like working with her, and what a great girl she is. Of course, I have always known that, but it was sweet to hear it from her "unbiased" co-workers - proud mama here.

Ellen and I spent some quality "auntie" time making clay animals attached to and baked onto the top of pencils described in a prior post a few weeks ago. And we painted with Scratch 'n Sniff Watercolors that we mixed up from Kool Aide. Both craft projects were big hits with Ellen. Talk about taking your crafts to town!

Good friend Kathy works for the Downtown Denver Partnership as Director of Public Policy & Strategic Partnerships. She is very busy with all her work tasks, and it was exciting to hear how the partnership is preparing for the Democratic National Convention next month. And that is just one of the things on her plate.

Kathy is making a reservation this week for the National Public Radio Story Corps. The Story Corps is something I really enjoy listening to, and I do hope she is selected to speak about the significance of adopting Ellen from China five years ago. Ellen came to Kathy through Chinese Children Adoption International, a process which took over a year to complete. As you can see from the pictures, the motherhood role for Kathy has been of major significance in her life.

On to crafts again tomorrow.