Skip to main content

When Life Gives You (Meyer) Lemons...

...you make Meyer Lemon Cake!

There's an oft-used, New-Agey belief out there that holds that if one can imagine something happening, then indeed, that thought will come to fruition.  The "So Mote It Be" principle, I guess we can call it - the minute a picture or idea etc. comes into our brains is the minute it begins to become real.

Well, it happened to me this weekend.  With these.


I first read about Meyer lemons in Alice Waters' The Art of Simple Food, oh, sometime last summer.  Then, I came across mention of them in other food reading and recipes.  A lemon-mandarin orange hybrid and sweeter, smaller than regular lemons, they seemed like an exotic California staple that I'd never come across here in the Midwest.

Until Sunday, when I was doing groceries at the local Walmart (I know, I know).  Right there, in the produce aisle...with a celestial beam of light shining upon it, was this:



Heck yes, I snapped it up like nobody's business (did I just actually use that phrase? what exactly does it mean?).  And with yesterday's snow day, there seemed like no better time to experiment with them.  One of the first hits that popped up when I typed 'Meyer lemon recipe' into the Google was http://www.tastespotting.com/tag/chez+panisse.  Chez Panisse is Alice Waters' restaurant.

Serendipity?  I think so.

Further cyberspace travels bring me to a blog called Onions and Chocolate, where, as you can read, is the recipe for the cake.  There's a lot of folding in this recipe, which I find nowadays, I don't mind.  In the end, I got this:





A moist, dense lemony cake with a pound-cake like texture.  I also did a powdered sugar-lemon juice glaze, which was okay...but I think I'd try something different next time (a lemon anglaise, maybe?).  And, I might add more citrus next time (orange), or go with a strawberry coulis instead of the glaze.

See, here's the thing.  Recipes are all over the place now...but I will forever be tweaking and turning and twisting.  It's kind of fun.

But, back to lemons.  When my son and I taste-tested the Meyers versus regular lemons, there is definitely a difference...but I don't know if I'd say sweeter.  I think I'll have to try them again!

And again, likely.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Garden Party, Pt. 2

6:30 is too early for a Sunday, ne c'est pas?  Alas, that is the time I arose this morning, and while my body wanted to fall back asleep, my mind was already off and running.  So, up I got. Something tells me I'm going to regret this later...like when I'm trying to watch the new Avengers movie tonight. Last Sunday was my last day off, and that was only at my request.  There are no more days off in the foreseeable future, between the part-time bar job and the near-40 hour demands of the restaurant.  It's a hard-knock life, I reckon, but that's how it goes when you're in search of The Dream.  So we savor the tranquil moments while we can.  Like yesterday, for example.  By some stroke of excellent luck, it was just me and the youngest son in the house for a few hours.  I took him out for lunch, and then I made him do yardwork with me.  I showed him how to mow the yard, and he discovered it's not terribly fun nor easy.  Ah, yes. Tranq...

Go Placidly

My food truck business started back up this past weekend, and from here until November, the weeks will be packed.  Sandwich-slinging Thursday-Saturday and bartending work Monday-Wednesday.  And Sunday, I guess, is the day to sleep in and hide in my house. Hiding out is the one thing I feel like doing a lot of these days.  My food truck's ReOpening wasn't the only thing happening in my hometown this weekend past.  A 13-year-old boy was accidentally shot and killed on Saturday and then yesterday, the police department busted one of the biggest meth labs in a long time. Both are tragic...one is a sad loss, one that will devastate a loving family for the rest of their lives.  One is tragic only because of the profound stupidity/ignorance/addiction of a few people who happen to be living in a town mostly filled with good-hearted, hard-working people. And if it's not drama at the local level, then there's the constant bombardment of news that seems to be vividly...

Groceries This Week and The Three-Week Challenge!

Now, this is what I'd like my pie charts to look like every week: Somehow, I just can't get around buying condiments!  That's been a slice in my chart the last several weeks...this week, it was jelly for my kids' lunchtime PB & Js. The snacks slice is a bit bigger than I'd like, but I took advantage of the 2/$4 deal on graham crackers (got some frozen homemade cream cheese frosting I need to use up - hence, improviso s'mores!).  Also, Ritz crackers to substitute in for the "Lunchables" my daughter wanted to buy for her soccer games on Saturday. But, fresh produce at nearly a quarter of spending?  Yes, that's awesome.  My cart was laden with watermelon, apples, oranges, and muskmelon.  YUM!  The significantly smaller 'Meat' slice is due to a small purchase of lunchmeat for weekly wraps and sandwiches. I am pleased with the variety of spending, as well as the low receipt total this week. Spending This Week: $60.86  -  Total Expe...