LEMONS & MORE LEMONS

A lovely lemony theme evokes feelings of spring and summer, with warm days and blooming flowers. The cheerful hue and natural fragrance creates a welcoming atmosphere that is inexpensive to create. Lemons make a diverse palate pleaser for your menu, lending a sweet pucker to a dessert or an acidic bite to the entree. Incorporate lemons in your party favor for a relaxing treat, create summery drinks to take it easy and try a new sweet treat for fun.


The sun is beating down on us in Haiti. The sweat pours down our faces as we toss and turn in the beds, hoping for some cool breeze through the open windows. The air conditioners are working overtime, yet the thirst and the heat are unbearable.


It is during summer lemons are definitely desired. We buy a whole bunch of the wonder heat buster fruit. Now, having lemons priced so outrageously and in short supply due to the increased demand. We enjoyed making this tasty sweet lemon soda.  I decided to bottle them as best as I could. The locals and I made the best lemon drink from those 10 lemons I had. The drink disappeared quite faster than I thought but it began a ritual of having a bottle of squash ready in the fridge at all times when I returned home for that summer trip.

for the squash


1 bottle of Plain Soda 
8-10 Lemons
2 cups Sugar
2 cups Water
Salt – a fat pinch


Direction

1. The first step is to make the lemon syrup.
2. Take a deep pan. Add the sugar and water to the pan and bring it to a rolling boil. Boil 5 minutes.
3. During this time, juice the lemons and keep aside.
4. To the sugar syrup, add the salt and lemon juice, give a quick stir and take off the stove.
5. Cool and store in bottles in the fridge.
6. To make the sweet lemon syrup , take one portion about 1/4 glass of lemon syrup.
7. Tilt the glass sideways and carefully top the glass with soda. Give one quick stir with a spoon and serve cold.
8. Store the remaining soda and syrup. Use whenever you feel beaten by the heat.

Classic Lemon with a kick of Vodka



1 oz. Vodka
½ oz. Lemon juice
1 packet (or 1 tsp) of sugar
3 oz. Lemon lime soda
Extra sugar for dipping
Sliced lemon for garnish



Directions:


Use a lemon wedge to swipe the glass rim and dip into sugar. Add a packet of sugar into the bottom of the glass. Pour vodka and lemon juice into a stainless steel shaker over ice, and shake until completely cold. Add ice and lemon slices to glass. Pour in vodka and juice mixture, add soda and serve.





Classic lemonade for everyone

1 cup sugar (less if you like it a little tart)
1 cup water (for simple syrup)
4 – 6 lemons for 1 cup fresh lemon juice
3 cups cold water
Lemon slices and ice

Directions:
1. To make traditional lemonade, try dissolving the sugar before mixing to ensure a perfect cup every time. Make a simple syrup as the base, heating sugar and 1 cup of water in pan.
2. Extract 1 cup of juice from lemons while sugar is dissolving.
3. Add the juice and the simple syrup to a pitcher. Add 3 cups of cold water (or more to taste) and refrigerate.
4. Serve with ice and lemon slices.

Sparkling Mint Lemonade with Honey Syrup

• 1 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Honey Simple Syrup (recipe follows)
• 3 cups water
• Mint sprigs
• 3 cups sparkling water or lemon Italian soda, cold

1. Combine lemon juice, simple syrup, & water in a 1 1/2-quart pitcher, and refrigerate.
2. Pour lemon-juice mixture into beverage dispenser, and add sparkling water just before serving. Garnish with lots of fresh mint & enjoy! *Makes 8 cups

Simple Honey Syrup

• 1 cup honey
• 1 cup water

Heat 1 cup honey and 1 cup water in a pan, stirring until simmering. Remove from heat, let cool, and refrigerate. *Makes 1 1/1 cups.


Lemon Extract



1 cup of lemon juice
3.5oz of caster sugar

to serve:


 still or sparkling soda water or plain water ice cubes


Wash the lemons carefully, cut in half and juice them. Measure the juice, then take about 100 g (3.5 oz) of sugar per 250 ml (1 cup) of lemon juice.
Place sugar and lemon juice into a small saucepan and bring slowly to a boil. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring every now and then.
Cool a little, then bottle and keep in the fridge.


To serve, place some ice cubes into a glass, pour some lemonade extract in over the ice cubes and top with (soda) water, to taste.


Lemon Bars

                                             
 Crust
• 1 cup flour 
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup butter 






Topping
• 3 medium eggs 
• 1/2 cup sugar 
• 2 tablespoons flour 
• 1 ¼ teaspoons lemon zest
• 1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Powdered sugar to garnish


Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 9x9 pan with nonstick spray.

2. Mix flour, salt, and sugar together. Cut in butter or mash together with your hands until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pat mixture evenly in the pan and bake about 15 minutes until the edges are lightly brown. Cool and reduce heat to 350.

3. While you're waiting for crust, mix all the topping ingredients together (except the powdered sugar) and mix until well blended. Pour mixture on top of the pre-baked crust and bake for about 15 - 17 minutes.

4.  Cool completely to cut and remove from pan. To prevent sticking, rinse knife off with cold water between slices for neat squares. Sprinkle with a bit of powdered sugar and serve.

Milky