A Lemon a Day

At this time of the year,  it seems that the citrus trees in this part of the world are literally dripping with fruit.

I can't help but think what a terrible waste it is when I see piles of  gorgeous lemons, grapefruit and oranges just rotting under trees.   So when a neighbour very kindly handed me a HUGE bag of lemons from her very bountiful lemon tree - I was determined to come up with creative ways to use each and every one of them.

A quick search of the Internet led me to this delicious recipe for Lemon Cordial.

Lemon Cordial

What you need :

8 lemons juiced

1 tabs of lemon rind

1.5 litres of water

1.5 kilo sugar

2 teaspoons of citric acid

How to :

1. Squeeze lemons and place in large container.   (I put mine into a bucket!)  You will probably need to strain the juice to remove the seeds;
2. Grate some lemon rind (before you squeeze them) and put into the lemon juice;
3. In a saucepan, boil water and sugar until the sugar is dissolved.   Then add the 2 teaspoons of citric acid - give it a stir to dissolve and then leave to cool;
4. Pour the syrup over the lemon juice and give it a good stir;
5. Grab yourself a funnel and some clean bottles (with lids) and pour cordial into bottles.
6. Cool/put the lids on and store in the fridge (you could probably freeze it if you put it in plastic bottles).  It actually made almost 2.5 litres of cordial.

To serve :

Once chilled, pour a little of the cordial into the bottom of a glass - top with ice and soda water (or just plain cold water) - and voila!   Delicious lemonade.

Thirst quenching - fresh and a great way to use all that surplus fruit.

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Next :  Lemon Yoghurt Cake

(stay tuned!)