Lemons: All You Need to Know

Lemon Butters are popular flavor additions to many foods. Top off a baked potato, a fillet of fish or mix in a pasta with one of a variety of lemon butters. Lemon added to butter creates a delicious combination and add a few more ingredients and you have endless flavorful varieties. They are easy to make, most taking only a few minutes and can be stored in the refrigerator for days or frozen for future use.  The following are a few recipes to get you started.

Basic Lemon Butter

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup butter, softened
• 1 Tsp grated lemon peel
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Cream butter in mixing bowl until light and fluffy.  Add lemon ingredients mix and whip until well blended.  Store in covered bowl in refrigerator.

Lemon Herb Butter

Ingredients:

Thoroughly blend all ingredients together.  Roll mixture into a log and wrap in plastic wrap, and store in refrigerator.   Serve on steamed green vegetables, corn or fish.  Store in refrigerator up to 4 days or freeze.

Lemon Wine Butter

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp minced shallots
• 1/2 Cup Red Wine
• 1/2 Tsp finely grated Lemon zest
• 1  Tbsp finely minced fresh parsley
• Pinch of tarragon and fresh black pepper
• 1/2 Cup unsalted butter, softened

Place shallots and red wine in small sauce pan and heat at medium until mixture is reduced to half.  Remove from heat and add remaining ingredients.  Let cool and add butter.  Pack into small bowl or crock and refrigerate. Great with broiled steaks, chops or roast beef.  Use within 1 week or freeze.

Sweet and Tart Lemon Butter

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup white sugar
•  1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
•  2 teaspoons butter

Directions:

Combine sugar, cornstarch and lemon zest in small saucepan over medium heat.  Add water and lemon juice, stirring constantly.  Bring mixture to a boil and boil for two minutes.  Remove from heat and add butter.  Serve warm over muffins or breakfast breads.

Lemon Butter Made with Eggs

Ingredients:

• 4 Eggs
• 3/4 Cup Sugar
• 1/2 Cup fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp finely grated lemon zest
• 1/2 Cup chopped Butter

Directions:

Place eggs and sugar in heat proof bowl.  Place bowl over pan of simmering water and whisk constantly until sugar dissolves.   Add the rest of the ingredients and whisk for 20 minutes until butter is melted and mixture is smooth and thick and can be “cut” with a spoon. (Do not let mixture boil or it will curdle).  Pour into sterilized jars and seal.

Healthy lifestyles include making healthy food choices on a consistent basis. One easy, fun, and delicious way to insure you are getting enough of your daily vitamins and minerals is through juicing. Juicing allows you to drink your vitamins through out the day from your morning breakfast until your bedtime snack. There are endless choices when you juice as most fruits and vegetable can be juiced and combined with others for all kinds of flavors. When choosing a juicer it is important to find the right one for you. Juicers can be simple glass that are operated by hand to high end choices that blends or purees the foods of choice.

The simplest and least expensive juicer is a simple shallow bowl with a dome knob in the center. These are usually made from glass or plastic. These basic juicers have been around for centuries and virtually are the same as they were hundreds of years ago with the only difference being the material that they are made of. A basic juice is so simple to use. One just cuts the orange, lemon, or lime in half width wise, and place the fruit cut side down on the knob and twist and turn back and forth. The twisting breaks the membrane of the fruit and releases the juice. They are small, convenient and easy to clean but they are less efficient and yield the least amount of juice.

The next generation of juicer is similar to the basic model above but has an electric motor and a large bowl that will hold more juice. If you are looking to juice quantity these work better as your hands and wrist will not tire as the juicer is doing the work for you. The motor turns and twists the knob and you just need to press down on the fruit to hold it in place. These types of juicers are still inexpensive but again the yield is less than higher model.

Juicers that separate the fruit from the membrane and sends the juice down one shoot and the waste down the other is the next option. When choosing this option look for juicers with shoots large enough to whole fruits down the shoots. Having to cut up pieces of fruits or vegetables in order to process the fruit is an unneeded and a waste of time. Another feature to look for is detachable parts that are dishwasher safe and easy to clean. Just pop them in the dishwasher and let the machine do the work without having to clean all the nooks in the machine. Finally look for juicers that are made with quality material such as metal filters, and locking devices that stand up to continuous use without breaking down or stalling. The downside to these types of juicers is that you are losing valuable fibers and nutrients as they are separated and disposed of from the juice.

Finally there is a type of juicer that purees the entire fruit or vegetable. Just place the fruit or veggie in the mixer and let the machine do the work. In seconds the juicer purees the fruit leaving all the fiber, juice and even seeds in a smooth mixture. These are the most nutritious oriented juicers but generally also are the most expensive. Many times you will want to add some filtered water to the puree to thin it a bit. The puree has the most intense flavor and all the pieces of the peel fruit are edible.

Whatever juicer you decide to purchase it will be a great addition to your kitchen and your health. Get out, get a juicer, and get juicing and enjoy a healthier life!

Lemons contain natural ingredients that soothe and revitalize the body.  They are loaded with Vitamin C which helps ward off colds and other diseases.  Lemons have long been used to aid digestion and cleanse the body of impurities. Drinking lemon water first thing in the morning helps your system get moving and energized.  Lemons also contain some Vitamin  A, niacin, and thiamin, potassium and citric acid.  All of these are necessary to maintain a strong, healthy, vibrant body.    If you are feeling tired, have a cold and out of sorts the following will help comfort you and restore your energy.

Hot Herb and Lemon Broth

• 2 fresh Jalapeno peppers
• 2 stalks fresh lemongrass, top and bottoms trimmed off, with remaining stalks sliced into two inch pieces
• One -1 in piece unpeeled fresh ginger, sliced
• 2 cloves unpeeled garlic
• Two  14 ounce can reduced sodium chicken broth (be sure to used reduced sodium)
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
• several lemon slices
• small bunch of fresh cilantro

Trim the jalapeno peppers and cut in half lengthwise.  Using a large the flat side of a large knife smash the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and peppers. Place smashed mixture in a large kettle, add chicken broth and cinnamon. Bring mixture to boil and boil for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and simmer for 10 additional minutes.  Remove from heat and strain mixture, discarding the solids.  Return liquid to kettle and simmer.  Add lemon juice.   Pour into mugs or bowls and garnish with cilantro and fresh lemon slices. Yield: 4 servings

Next time you need some soothing syrup for a nagging cough try this recipe made from all natural ingredients:

Lemon Cough Syrup

Combine 1 cup honey,  3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice and 1/4 cup hot water in a jar. Let cool and store in the refrigerator.  Use 1 or 2 tablespoons as needed.

Looking for a fun and delicious way to treat a sore throat?  Try this:

 Lemon Sore Throat Tonic

Roll a lemon on table or in your hand to get the juices flowing, cut a hole in one and and insert a peppermint stick “straw”.  Pure cane sugar peppermint sticks are the best choice as they are softer.  Suck the peppermint stick and as the lemon juice is sucked up through the tiny pores in the stick it melts the candy.  This makes the holes larger and you are able to get more delicious juice.   Replace the straw often.