Lemon Juice Cubes

We have so many lemons and so little time...enter our new electric citrus juicer which came highly recommended by my sister.  She uses it to make fresh squeezed orange juice for her weekly pancake parties.

Tribest Citrustar Electric Juicer

With this lovely kitchen gadget, I juiced nine lemons in nine minutes.  I didn't have to strain the juice or remove the pits and ended up with ten ice cubes.  I think next time, I'll measure out two tablespoons to each cube so that I can defrost the exact amount of juice that my recipes call for.  This juicer is a great time saver and now I'll be able to continue to make all kinds of lemony goodies even after the lemon harvest season ends.

A New Project

As I mentioned earlier this week, Mr. CP is building us a dining table, but before he has finished, I've already signed us up for another new project.  While I still have my eyes peeled for a Selig Z chair, a couple of weeks ago, we picked up these vintage mid-century teak Danish style lounge chairs from a local Ebay seller.  Unfortunately, the chairs don't have any labels to indicate who designed them or where they were made, but the style is clean and simple, the chairs are pretty comfortable, and it looks like it will be relatively easy to have them reupholstered.

We plan to use eco-friendly material for the cushions (i.e., latex foam or maybe old school wool).  Though it would definitely be more economical to use a high density polyurethane foam, we want to avoid added flame retardants and the chemicals that are off-gassed from polyurethane materials.  As for the upholstery material, I'll be on the hunt for something neutral and maybe tweedy, but not scratchy.

Our First Vintage Find

If you asked me 5 years ago how I would decorate a home, I would not have responded that I'd be on the hunt for vintage mid-century style looks.  However, as I started to look more closely at furniture and assess what hundreds of dollars can get you, it seems vintage mid-century pieces are a pretty good way to go.  The pieces tend to be very well made with solid wood and sturdy construction.  They've already been around for decades and still look great!

Our first vintage find is this set of four mid-century Eames H-base Shell chairs in orange.

I've seen these classic chairs in magazines and staged homes.  They come in a variety of colors, with pricing depending on how common or rare the color is.  Collectors and vintage furniture salespeople tell me that shades of blue and pink are the hardest to come by.  Mr. CP is in the process of designing and building us a beautiful solid walnut dining table and I think the rich color of walnut will look great with these chairs.

Lemon Basil Shortbread Cookies

Yesterday, I used my second out of 40 lemons to make a batch of lemon basil shortbread cookies to share with a birthday boy and some friends.

Ingredients
1 cup white sugar
3 sticks unsalted butter, near room temperature
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (plus slightly more, if needed – see below)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons lemon zest, finely chopped
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons freshly and finely chopped sweet basil leaves

Directions
1)  Let the butter soften to room temperature, then cut them into chunks and add them, along with the sugar, to the bowl of  a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment.  Beat the butter and sugar on medium speed until well mixed.

2) Add the vanilla, lemon juice, lemon zest, and basil, and beat on low until well mixed.

3)  Sift the flour and salt together, then start gradually adding it to the contents of the mixer bowl while the mixer running on low.  (I spooned the flour in slowly to prevent the mixer from spitting flour everywhere.)

Note:  Start with the 3 1/2 cups of flour,  but if that is not enough to pull the dough cleanly off the sides of the  bowl (you should not have any loose bits) sticking to the bowl – then  add just a sprinkle at a time until it does.

4)  Pull all the dough out of the mixer bowl and mold into a thick disc.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or overnight.  I like to roll out the dough in between to sheets of parchment paper so that it's already on the thin side before going into the refrigerator.  This makes it a lot easier to roll out the dough after it's firmed up.

5)   Remove the dough from the fridge and roll it out so that it is about  1/2″ thick.  (If you left the dough in the fridge overnight, you may  have to give it half an hour or so before it’s able to be rolled out).  If you like thinner shortbreads, roll out the dough to somewhere between 1/4" and 1/2" and adjust the baking time accordingly.

6)  Use your favorite cookie cutter and cut the dough into cookies.

7)  Incorporate all the excess dough back into a ball, then a disc, then  roll out and repeat the cookie cutting.  If the dough starts to become  greasy, put it back in the fridge for about half an hour.

8)  Place the cookies directly onto a baking sheet, no greasing required.  In an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees, bake the cookies for about 20 minutes, until the edges start to brown nicely.

I baked my cookies in a small convection oven on the regular bake setting.  I baked the thicker 1/2" inch cookies for about 18 minutes and the thinner cookies for about 15 minutes for slightly browned edges.


9)   Wait for about a minute, then carefully remove the cookies onto a  cooling rack.

This recipe was adapted from one that I found on TheShoebox Kitchen.wordpress.com.

The lemon and basil flavors are subtle but noticeable.  I think next time, I'll add a tad bit more lemon juice and lemon zest.

40 Lemons

It was time to raid the lemon tree again...I had done a few small harvestings before, but this time, in order to avoid letting the lemons go to waste by growing too large, I picked about 40 lemons.  In total, I think I've probably only taken about 1/3 of this year's fruit!

This is our lemon tree after I picked the lemons.  It's hard to see, but there are a lot more hiding in the back and amongst the leaves.

Last month, I brought about two dozen lemons into work to share with friends and colleagues.  This month, I am going to try to use as many as possible in various types of recipes.  I also plan to freeze lemon juice into cubes.  A friend of mine told me they will keep in the freezer for about a year.

We did not spray pesticide or use fertilizer on our tree, but still use a biodegradable fruit and vegetable wash to clean them.

All clean!

As a result, you'll be seeing a lot of lemon related recipes and uses here.  =)

This morning, I made lemon ricotta pancakes with fresh blueberries.  I didn't have good lighting so I do not have any photos to share, but the recipe is below. 
Ingredients
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt 
2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup ricotta cheese
2 eggs
2/3 cup milk
1 lemon, zested and juiced
2 handfuls of fresh blueberries 
Butter, for griddle

Directions
1)  Preheat a nonstick griddle.

2)  Combine flour, baking powder, nutmeg, salt, and sugar in a small bowl. Whisk together the cheese, eggs, milk, blueberries, lemon juice and zest in a large bowl. Whisk the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until just combined.

3)  Brush the hot griddle with butter.

4)  For each pancake, pour approximately 1/4 cup measure of the batter on the griddle and cook on both sides until light golden brown. 

(Adapted from Bobby Flay of the Food Network)

I served my pancakes with homemade lemon curd that I prepared with my last batch of lemons.  They also taste great with real maple syrup.  Enjoy!

Friday Wishlist - The Selig Z Chair

I've been on a search for some vintage mid-century modern chairs and sofas in an attempt to avoid foam cushions containing brominated fire retardants.  It's quite a task.  In my search, I stumbled upon this beautiful Danish teak chair - the Selig Z Chair.  It seems to be pretty difficult to find and Google searches are only bringing up photos of already sold chairs to make me drool even more...

{via Mr. Modtomic}

{via Apartment Therapy}

Green & Black's Organic Chocolate

I like sweets, but I am kind of picky when it comes to the types of desserts and baked goods that I eat.  I love chocolate cake and brownies if not too sweet and without much frosting or fudge, but I don't really crave chocolate in its bar form very often.  That might all change now that I've had Green & Black's Organic Bittersweet chocolate containing hazelnuts and currants.  It's the perfect balance between not too sweet and not too bitter and as a bonus, it's organic.  Yum!

Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate with Hazelnut and Currant

I think I'll try the espresso version and the baking chocolate soon.  =)