I love Lifehacker.com. It's a great web-source for all things to make your life better. Whether that means simpler (work smarter not harder), more organized, deep/meaningful, etc... Lifehacker probably has an article for everyone. Today, I stumbled upon a group of posts all about our beloved citrus fruits.
They're all pretty similar but I thought I'd provide them all for fun anyway. Enjoy!
Living with your In-Laws
Now here is a post of the utmost relevance. My husband and I are currently living with his parents. Yep, that's right. We're in our 30's, at the beginning of our second year of marriage, and several months ago embarked on another gypsy journey which landed us in Austin, Texas. We didn't plan to stay here, we were actually headed for Virginia where we thought we would live with my mom and step dad for a few months until we set up shop.
Well as it happened, we kinda decided Austin is the place for us to be for a while. It's an awesome town, but I'll get into all that jazz in some future post. The point of this one is that we are living with my husband's mom and dad, his grandma, his younger sister and her husband, and his youngest brother. Yep, there are 8 adults living in a house together, living our separate yet intermingled lives, and doing it pretty well considering all the obvious things one would consider when pondering such a situation.
It's not always pretty, it's not always comfortable, and sometimes it can be annoying (due to a certain news channel my father in law likes - I hope he doesn't get mad if he reads this). I'm not sure I can remember the meaning of privacy, but we've learned to cope with it. Before a few days ago we hadn't slept in a room with a door since August. But despite all the implied circumstances that come with being newlyweds living with the parents and the rest, each of us living together is doing a really great job at going with the flow.
Well as it happened, we kinda decided Austin is the place for us to be for a while. It's an awesome town, but I'll get into all that jazz in some future post. The point of this one is that we are living with my husband's mom and dad, his grandma, his younger sister and her husband, and his youngest brother. Yep, there are 8 adults living in a house together, living our separate yet intermingled lives, and doing it pretty well considering all the obvious things one would consider when pondering such a situation.
It's not always pretty, it's not always comfortable, and sometimes it can be annoying (due to a certain news channel my father in law likes - I hope he doesn't get mad if he reads this). I'm not sure I can remember the meaning of privacy, but we've learned to cope with it. Before a few days ago we hadn't slept in a room with a door since August. But despite all the implied circumstances that come with being newlyweds living with the parents and the rest, each of us living together is doing a really great job at going with the flow.
The Traffic Affliction
If you're anything like me, sitting in traffic must be one of the worst situations for your well being. I hope for you that this is not the case for your life, but I know it is an affliction for millions of people. And what I mean by a traffic affliction is that your blood pressure rises, your anxiety and fear increase to astronomic levels, and you develop an angry rage at every person who gets in your lane or gets to an exit before you, and even at those brazen drivers who risk it all to drive in the shoulder lane!
The sad thing about the traffic affliction is that all of our measurable physical and mental reactions to being stuck in traffic are a result of our perception. The way we think about the situation (and not the situation itself) has ignited the fight or flight response in our brain and endocrine system, and we have on some level begun to equate the consequences of traffic to being chased by a large predatory prehistoric mammal.
Our hormones go into overdrive, signally to every part of our body that we are at risk of death, causing the ego to become angry at everything standing in our way of survival. This has a really terrible effect on the body and not to mention the emotional and mental parts of our being, and I believe if we don't learn very quickly how to resolve the traffic affliction is this lifetime, we are bound to many lifetimes of learning to eradicate our egoic road rage!
The sad thing about the traffic affliction is that all of our measurable physical and mental reactions to being stuck in traffic are a result of our perception. The way we think about the situation (and not the situation itself) has ignited the fight or flight response in our brain and endocrine system, and we have on some level begun to equate the consequences of traffic to being chased by a large predatory prehistoric mammal.
Our hormones go into overdrive, signally to every part of our body that we are at risk of death, causing the ego to become angry at everything standing in our way of survival. This has a really terrible effect on the body and not to mention the emotional and mental parts of our being, and I believe if we don't learn very quickly how to resolve the traffic affliction is this lifetime, we are bound to many lifetimes of learning to eradicate our egoic road rage!
Lemon Infused Olive Oil
Infused oils make a great base for dressings, marinades, casseroles,
sautes, and baking recipes. Oils infused with citrus peels, however,
make an excellent polish bursting with scent for wooden furniture,
cutting boards, and toys. Ever thought of making your own salt or sugar
scrubs? Use this lemon infused oil for an energizing addition. Recipes
of this sort to come...
Before you make this oil, you'll want to check out the article Juicing Lemons the Right Way so that you've got plenty of peels to work with.
Making the Infused Oil
What you'll need:
Glass pint or quart sized mason jars with lids
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I get it at Costco)
Kitchen shears or a good knife
Before you make this oil, you'll want to check out the article Juicing Lemons the Right Way so that you've got plenty of peels to work with.
Making the Infused Oil
What you'll need:
Glass pint or quart sized mason jars with lids
Organic Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I get it at Costco)
Kitchen shears or a good knife
Moroccan Preserved Lemons
Once you get your hands on some winter/spring citrus abundance,
you're definitely gonna wanna make your own Moroccan Preserved Lemons! A
salty-sour citrusy North African traditional accoutrement for chicken,
quail, and fish dishes, its super yummy too in lotsa pastas, and even
Mexican food. Any time I need an extra boost for something I'm cooking,
I slice up some of these preserves or pour some of the brine into my
mixtures. It.Is.Simply.Awesome!
This recipe came from a friend from an old job who brought me a jar. I had never heard of it or seen it before, and oh man did they blow my mind! Oh man and the chicken piccata Mr. Tucker made? Out of this world! So thank you Mr. Tucker for sharing these delights with me!
You'll need about 6 medium scrubbed clean, fresh lemons, course grind sea salt or pink salt, and a quart size glass jar. I don't recommend using table salt or kosher pickling salt. This is a gourmet condiment, so use the good stuff.
This recipe came from a friend from an old job who brought me a jar. I had never heard of it or seen it before, and oh man did they blow my mind! Oh man and the chicken piccata Mr. Tucker made? Out of this world! So thank you Mr. Tucker for sharing these delights with me!
You'll need about 6 medium scrubbed clean, fresh lemons, course grind sea salt or pink salt, and a quart size glass jar. I don't recommend using table salt or kosher pickling salt. This is a gourmet condiment, so use the good stuff.
Limoncello! With Guest Recipe from Carrie Guthrie Gray
Oh man. So you live in a place that has tons of citrus. Southern
California, Arizona, Florida...you can basically drive around a suburban
or farming neighborhood and see signs indicating that this or that yard
has FREE CITRUS! If you're really lucky, your neighbor will tell you
they don't spray or use nasty fertilizers (most of these people don't),
and then they will hand you 40 pounds of either Lemons, Oranges, or
Grapefruits. Sometimes Tangelos or Pummelos too! OOOO Weeee! One day I
took a short trip around the neighborhoods near mine, and came home with
black trashbags full of Lemons, Oranges, Tangerines, and Grapefruits!
Getting Laid Off
My philosophy on endings being new beginnings makes some things
easier to deal with. Once the dust has settled from a major life
changing event, it begins to make sense. But don't let that fool you
into thinking you won't (or that I didn't) completely fall to pieces for
a while if and when you happen to get laid off. Even if you hate the
job and it was the least fulfilling thing you've ever done with your
time, losing it is like an Earthquake. Your foundation gets wobbly and
unstable, and then you get a tsunami of anxiety and fears for the
future. All normal. How are you now going to pay for all of your
financial obligations? What are your kids going to eat? Are you gonna
lose your house? Pulling your hair out and wondering if you're worth
anything at all in this great cosmic mess - not at all unusual. And
we're talking about a j-o-b that you don't even like!
However there is hope and there are solutions! Yay! Allow yourself to feel the grief and wallow in your misery for a while. But not too long, because you don't want to waste this opportunity to do what fills you up and makes your life as awesome as it is. And you sure don't want to prevent it from becoming what it is about to bloom into! Right? Right!
However there is hope and there are solutions! Yay! Allow yourself to feel the grief and wallow in your misery for a while. But not too long, because you don't want to waste this opportunity to do what fills you up and makes your life as awesome as it is. And you sure don't want to prevent it from becoming what it is about to bloom into! Right? Right!
Dried Lemon Peels
If you like making your own herbal tea blends, you will love having
dried lemon peels on hand. They give teas a touch of light
rejuvenation, and mix well with berries and floral teas, or even some of
the mints. Lemon peels help to stimulate digestive processes, so make a
beneficial addition to before or after dinner drinks. In this way they
also help soothe digestive upset.
You'll want to read Juicing Lemons the Right Way so that you have a great way to get the peels without wasting the juice, and vice versa.
Once you've gotten the peels chopped or cut, there are several ways to dry them. I used those wicker paperplate holders from days of old, which I bought at Goodwill for about $1 per 6 of them. These are easy to use and don't require that you lay papertowels down. I'm good for anything less wasteful. Just spread the peels over the wicker plates, making sure there is space between and they aren't clumped together or stacked.
You'll want to read Juicing Lemons the Right Way so that you have a great way to get the peels without wasting the juice, and vice versa.
Once you've gotten the peels chopped or cut, there are several ways to dry them. I used those wicker paperplate holders from days of old, which I bought at Goodwill for about $1 per 6 of them. These are easy to use and don't require that you lay papertowels down. I'm good for anything less wasteful. Just spread the peels over the wicker plates, making sure there is space between and they aren't clumped together or stacked.
Juicing Lemons the Right Way
If you're making lots of limonade, or if you're freezing lemon juice for
future use, you're going to have loads of lemon peels left over. I say
this is juicing lemons the right way, because being the lemon wizards
that we are, we have a use for those peels too! So before you get to
juicing, scrub your lemons clean and peel them carefully, keeping the
lemon structurally sound on the inside. In other words, peel all of the
lemons (except one, you'll see why in a minute) without injuring the
outer membrane that keeps the juice and pulp held together nicely.
Making Limonade!
Who doesn't love a glass of Limonade in the summer? Limonade is the French word for Lemonade, but in some cases it is actually a different drink altogether. So in this post I'm going to give you the recipes for both, and you can see which one becomes your go-to for lemon refreshment.
Limonade the French way is quite tasty and satisfies the craving for something a bit bubbly. I've read that it can be more like sprite than our American lemonade, but I've decided to make it a less processed and more gourmet affair.
What you'll need for 1 serving:
- Cold Sparkling Mineral Water (or Club Soda)
- Fresh Lemon Juice (or frozen-then-thawed)
- Simple Syrup
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