When Life Gives You Lemons ...

Well ... it wasn't really LIFE that gave me lemons ... it was STEPH who gave me lemons ... a whole bag full of them! :0)

A little selection, as the grey plastic bag wasn't really very photogenic! :0) Now ... I KNOW the saying is ... "When life gives you lemons make lemonade" but I decided to be a bit different ... THERE'S a surprise ... NOT! Tee! Hee! Hee! You see ... I had been re-reading my Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries books by Kerry Greenwood and one of the cooling drinks the characters were enjoying was home made lemon cordial made up with mineral water. Hmmm ... that sounded pretty good to me! :0) So I went in search of a recipe. What did we EVER do before Mr Google came into being! :0) I found about five different recipes and in my usual style ... I ended up making up my own using the others ... "more as a guideline, really." :0) I thought some of you might be thirsty ... and have an excess of lemons!! ... so I'm sharing my eventual brew's recipe.

Home Made Lemon Cordial

4 cups of water (filtered if you prefer)

4 cups of freshly squeezed lemon juice

(I used 12 lemons, this will vary depending on how juicy your lemons are)

zest from 4 lemons

4 cups of sugar

How To ...

1. Rinse all lemons well to remove any wax (or birdie poop if they're home grown!!).

2. Pour your 4 cups of water into a large saucepan and add as many of the lemons as will fit in the saucepan.

3. Heat water and lemons, bring water to the boil and allow to boil for about one minute. This not only infuses the water with the lemon oil from the fruit skins, the heat makes the lemons WAY easier to juice ... handy tip! :0)

4. Remove lemons, allow to cool for handling.

5. Using a fine grater or zester, grate the zest from 4 lemons into the lemon-infused water.

6. Juice all lemons ... don't add yet!

7. Add 4 cups of sugar to lemon-infused water, stir over heat to dissolve all sugar.

8. Add lemon juice and heat to just before boiling.

9. Pour mixture into a large jug through a strainer and pour into sterilised bottles for storage. (I filled three standard wine bottles) Put lids on straight away. Allow to cool, then store in a dark cool place or refrigerate. 

And that's IT!! See ... easy, peasy! :0) To serve, find your favourite glass, add the same amount of cordial as you would for a commercial cordial, add a few ice cubes and top up with cold mineral water. Add a slice of lemon and you're set ...

I used recycled wine bottles to store my lemon cordial ... I'm sure you'll enjoy emptying them ready to use ... right Fiona?!! :0)

What I particularly like about my home made lemon cordial is that it isn't as super-sweet as commercial cordials. In the process of mixing and matching my recipes to make my own, I cut back the sugar ... if you have a particularly sweet tooth, you could add more. I find it very refreshing and think I will be making more of this during summer. :0)

Do you like my pretty glasses? I have a set of six of these sweeties that were given to Mum as a wedding giftie ... so they're about 45 years old. You can't really see it in these photos, but they have a rosy tint to them when they're empty. I'm keeping my eye out for a matching water jug ... Mum didn't ever have one, but I'm sure I've seen one in this design at some point in my antique store hunting ... and what fun I shall have looking! Tee! Hee! Hee!

In other news ... I finished my pretty floral quilt flimsy on the weekend ... YAY! Now I just have to save up my play money to get the Fabulous Fiona to quilt it for me. Want a peek??

Ta Da! All together and ready to be quilted. You can see that I did indeed decide to go with the olive-y green outer border to match the giant rick-rack. It's turned out very differently to what I originally envisaged ... I thought softer greens and shabbier dusty colours ... but ... the green was in my stash, matched the dark green tones of the leaves and I'm pretty happy with how it's come together ... all from the stash! :0) So ... does that mean I can now buy MORE fabric?!?! Tee! Hee! Hee!

So that's what's been happening in the Meares' Madhouse this week. How has your week been going? Hopefully you've had some time to stitch and create. Which reminds me ... OPAMers ... it's almost THAT time of the month again, so make sure you update your finishes list and email your tally through to my Sweet partner-in-crime, the Sweet Peg or me in the next couple of days. We will probably start the blog hopping on the weekend, so don't forget to update! :0)

Okey doke ... that's it from me for today ... I'm off to play Polly (bet that surprises you ... NOT!! :0) ) and I'm going to enjoy an episode of  "60 Minute Makeover" ... I might find some new renovating ideas ... OOPS! Did you just hear my Beloved Geek Boy groaning?! Tee! Hee! Hee! Til next time ...

LEMON-Y BEAR HUGS!

CHEERS!
KRIS