When Life Gives You Lemons.....

.....Make Lemonade! Or so they say. 

My good friend, Gina, always says 'make limoncello'. Either way it works.  

Growing up, I loved me some lemonade mix. My mom and grandma Eckenrode (Sally) always kept it on hand for us and it was refreshing sugary drink on hot summer days that was easy for kids to make on their own. An extra bonus when they got the pink lemonade. 

I've somewhat grown up since then and don't keep the sugary stuff on hand.  I was recently in the mood for lemonade so I foregone the mix and got to squeezing some lemons. It's a lot of work squeezing the lemons but I promise the outcome is well worth it.

Once you have your lemon juice it's super simple! 

All you need is simple syrup (sugar water), cold water, and lemon juice. Don't be lazy and use lemon juice from a bottle! It won't taste as good. Get to squeezing, peeps!

Lemonade

Lots to Ladle (slightly adapted from foodnetwork.com)

1 cup of sugar

1/2 cup of water (to boil)

1 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 5-6 lemons)

1/2 gallon ice water

(sliced lemon, thyme springs, fresh mint to garnish) - optional 

Bring a 1/2 cup of water to a simmer over low heat, mix in sugar until dissolved. Pour sugar water mixture into a pitcher. Add lemon juice and remaining water. Mix well. Serve with sliced lemon and herbs.

Lemon Loaf

Last Sunday was Easter. Last Saturday our local bar was giving away opening day Phillies tickets.....

I hosted a nice little Easter brunch for our two close friends, Melissa and Jack. I prepared as much as I could on Saturday so it would be easy breezy on Sunday morning. The lemon loaf from this week's Tuesday with Dorie made it to my Easter menu. I thought it was a perfect complement to the overall meal. It was really easy to put together. The hardest part was probably zesting the lemons and of course waiting for the loaf to bake. Waiting wasn't hard for me...but it was hard for somebody else (somebody who thought they were going to win Phillies tickets)! That certain someone (cough, cough, Nadya) pulled the loaf out of the oven about 8 minutes too soon. Unfortunately, I didn't notice until Easter morning when the center of the loaf looked rather moist. I tried to save it by heating it back up but that didn't help. I'll have to make the lemon loaf again. The pictures from all the other bloggers look amazing! If I had more lemons on my hand Easter morning I would have started all over. I'll be sure to blog about my lemon loaf success. Until then, check out my fellow Tuesday with Dorie Bloggers and their lemon loaves. 

Lemon loaf failure, topped with glaze

For those of you wondering, we did NOT win the opening day Phillies tickets but we did have a fun time. 

Thanks so much to Truc of Treats and Michelle of The Beauty of Life for hosting this week! I'll be sure to make again soon! You can find the recipe here

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken

Yes, roasting a whole chicken sound intimidating but it really isn't. 

 

I promise. I'm still such a novice in the kitchen and I find roasting a whole chicken to be very simple yet so rewarding. I've roasted a whole chicken several times and I'm always happy with the results. There are so many ways you can roast a chicken and so much you can do with the end result.

I always fall back on the very simple lemon rosemary recipe from the one and only, Martha. I find that it has great flavor. The sliced up lemon really helps keep the chicken nice and moist and I've always loved the flavor of rosemary. 

Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken: Martha Stewart

• 4 sprigs rosemary
• 2 lemons, washed and quartered
• 1 whole chicken, (3 1/2 pounds), rinsed and patted dry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Coarse salt and ground pepper

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stuff rosemary and 1 cut lemon into chicken cavity. Tuck wings under and tie chicken legs together with kitchen twine. Set chicken on a rack in a roasting or baking pan.
2. Rub chicken all over with oil, and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Roast until an instant-read thermometer registers 160 degrees when inserted in the thickest part of the thigh (avoiding bone), 45 to 50 minutes. Serve with fresh lemon quarters.

Glazed Lemon Cakes

I've been eye-ing up this recipe ever since Christmas. My sister, Katie, gave me an awesome cookbook for Christmas based on my favorite magazine, Everyday Food. I'm always flipping through my cookbooks for dinner ideas and I somehow also end up staring at these glazed lemon cakes. It's not that I'm a huge fan of lemon they just always look so refreshing! Since I had all ingredients on hand, (bought buttermilk at the store with the intention of making these) I decided to whip them up for breakfast today.

The recipe yields 6 "jumbo" muffins. I made 12 regular size muffins. You can make it into a Bundt, mini muffins, mini loafs, or really whatever shape you want.

Overall, they were really easy to make and in my opinion very tasty. I didn't think the lemon flavor was too much. If you're in the mood for a mild lemon taste I'd suggest omitting the lemon juice from the icing and just make a standard glaze with confectioners' sugar and milk. Maybe I'll try that next time. If you have a favorite citrus fruit other than lemon, try substituting the lemon for whatever you prefer.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tin
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for muffin tin
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk, or plain low-fat yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated, plus juice, plus 2 tablespoons more lemon juice for the glaze
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 6-cup jumbo muffin tin. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour with the baking powder and salt. In a small bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon zest and juice of 1 lemon. Set aside.
2. With an electric mixer, cream butter and granulated sugar until light. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With mixer on low speed, add flour mixture in three batches, alternating with two additions of buttermilk mixture.
3. Divide evenly among muffin cups. Bake until a toothpick inserted in center of a cake comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool 10 minutes in tin, then cool completely on a rack.
4. Set rack over wax or parchment paper. In a small bowl, stir confectioners’ sugar with remaining lemon juice until smooth. Pour over cakes, spreading to edges with a small knife. Let set 30 minutes.