If Life Gives You Lemons...

Our next door neighbors are so good to us.  We look out for one another and help each other when needed.  On Thanksgiving morning, we received a call from them telling us not to worry if we heard anything, because everything was alright.  She then proceeded to explain that her husband and son were out duck hunting on the bayou in their bass boat.  It was before daylight and they made a turn and the wind was blowing real hard.  The waves lapped over the edges of the boat and swamped it.  It sunk and they had to be rescued by Wildlife & Fisheries.  They had a lot to be thankful for, though.  No one was injured and, believe it or not, they were able to return the next day and recover the boat!

They called us again on a happier note.  Their lemon tree had produced more than they could eat.  They invited us to go pick all we want.  Tricia walked over and picked a basketful.  We plan to go get some more or they'll all go to waste.  I wish I would have something to put beside them so that you could see their size.  These lemons are double the size of the store-bought lemon.

Here's what we like to do with them.  We slice them in half on a cutting board.  We use an old fashioned juicer to extract all the juice from the lemons.  We do this also with oranges and tangerines.

We pour through a sieve and into a 4 cup measuring cup.  This strains out the seeds an pulp.  I use a spoon to press any remaining juice in the pulp through the sieve.

I pour into ice cube trays.  Remember ice cube trays?  We don't use these to make ice anymore, but they still serve a number of purposes.

When they are full, i put them in the deep freeze for four hours or so.  You've just got to be careful, because if you spill some, it makes a sticky mess.  Ask me how I know.

Once frozen, we pop the lemon juice ice cubes into a gallon sized zip loc bag.  Then, whenever recipes call for lemon juice, we grab the bag out of the freezer and thaw out however many cubes we need for the recipe.

When life (or a good neighbor) gives you lemons, make lemon juice (or lemonade, if you wish).