Saving lemons

Rev 22:1  And he shewed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. 

Rev 22:2  In the midst of the street of it, and on either side of the river, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner of fruits, and yielded her fruit every month: and the leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. 

The leaves on our lemon tree were weighed down with snow. The nights were below freezing so it seemed like a good idea to pick some lemons.

Lemons are rich in vitamin C. A lack of vitamin C can cause a disease called "scurvy," a disease characterized by spongy and bleeding gums, bleeding under the skin, and extreme weakness.

There are a lot of oils and flavor in the lemon peel. I like to use a peeler to remove the skin from a whole lemon without too much of the bitter white pulp. These peels can be candied and used in recipes that call for lemon zest or lemon oil. Place the peels in a pan, cover with water and boil for 5 minutes. remove the peels from the pan and set aside, dump the water and add a 1 to 1 mixture of water and sugar, 2 cups water and 2 cups of sugar, in that ratio. Bring the sugar water to a boil,  add the peels, boil until translucent. remove the peels from the pan and spread them on waxed paper and sprinkle with sugar. The dried peel may be frozen or kept in the refrigerator. The sugar water can be saved for a sweetener in tea or coffee, with a lemon flavor.

 I cut the lemon in four sections and squeeze them in a strainer into a bowl.

 The juice can be frozen in ice trays then repackaged in another plastic container to keep it from evaporating. One ice cube is about 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. Now I have the best parts of the lemons for lemonade, cookies, or other lemon recipes. This is a healthy fruit to have available.