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!