Waste Not Want Not - Lemons

I want to start a new series here at Lemonade and Gingerbread. I'm famous(at least in my family) for looking for ways to save money and not waste items around the house. So I thought I would share some of the ways with you each week. G-man's cousin actually told me I should write a book with these ideas - but let's start with sharing them here on the blog :0)

And of course being Lemonade and Gingerbread, I have to start with lemons. Has anyone priced the cost of lemons lately. They are downright expensive. Luckily we have one small tree and two of our neighbors have huge trees and are willing to swap us for other fruit we grow.

Here is what I do when we get a bunch of lemons from the garden to make the most out of them.

First I peel off all the rind. I find it is easier to peel them before squeezing.

Once they are peeled I cut them in half and juice them. The juice goes partly into a squeeze bottle in the refrigerator and the rest goes into the freezer. 

I then take the lemon peel and add water to cover and a cup of sugar. I let the lemon peel boil until the sugar water thickens and the peels look slightly candied.

I remove the peels from the lemon syrup and let them dry and then put them in Ziploc bags in the freezer. The sugar syrup gets saved in a mason jar in the refrigerator. 

The lemon rinds are great chopped up in bread or cookies, also great to float a couple in a cup of tea. The same with the syrup, I use it in place of honey in tea. Then of course there is always lemonade to be made using a little bit of each of the ingredients.

Enjoy

Mama S