I have a surplus of lemons. I have made lemon cordial, Moroccan preserved lemons, lemon marmalade and I have a year's supply frozen lemon juice or more. There are still 4 milk crates of them left. If refrigerated I might use half a crate over the next few months before they go rotten. There is no market for them and there are insufficient takers to give them all away. Any constructive suggestions?
David
Holiday lemonade stand for the kids.
Greg
I'd love to do something like that but my street has about 9 cars a day go down it and my 'kids' are adults who live far away.
D
No shelters, or community kitchens? You may have to go where the need is.
"When you give food to the poor, they call you a saint. When you ask why the poor have no food, they call you a communist."
-Archbishop Helder Camara
More than a hour drive :-(
D
craigslist free give away. might have someone willing to come get them if they know about them. put up a flyer at the grocers/library/any other public bulletin board.
fresh made lemonade. we can use a dozen lemons a day for that alone.
slice them and pack them in sugar.
candied lemon peels are great for cooking.
more lemon cordial (how did you make this? there must be hundreds of versions). consider doing variants for cooking sauces later (garlic, ginger, onion, spiced).
whisky sours.
not sure how to do it but lemon concentrate for making other lemon things. not frozen, but canned.
for later use in:
lemon custard, lemon cakes, lemon pies,
dang i'm hungry now...
songbird
Consider looking into preserved lemons.
So, box them up and ship them. Citrus ships fairly well, perhaps the "kids" would appreciate some?
I don't know what process Moroccan preserved lemons use (ah- salt-pickling...), but candied (lots-o-sugar and then dry) slices is one approach. Makes good winter-holiday gifts, might ship cheaper than whole lemons.
Doesn't fit into one of your weekly shopping rounds?
Have you tried
I made and froze lemon curd last year. That works if you have the freezer space since you can't water bath can it.
Since your street isn't busy is there a place you could take the fruit to share? Would the local hardware store let you put them out front with a free sign? Sometimes people at our church will bring bags of excess fruit from their trees and members of the congregation can take what they like. Even if you don't belong to a church, there might be one willing to share your fruit with their congregation members.
marcella
thanks I will try candied.
D
See cordial below
I had forgotten candying, I will try that for some.
Wash and dry lemons. Zest them - only the yellow part. Juice them, boil juice and zest 15 minutes then add as much white sugar as juice, dissolve and bottle. It will keep indefinitely. To use add one finger in a tall glass and fill with soda water, stir. Very yummy instant lemonade.
D
that way as you would never eat the product before the trees bear again. I already have enough for my own use and for presents for family and friends.
D
A bit far, I am in Australia.
Running short of freezer space. I just froze 17 litres of orange juice as well as the lemon juice. Today we do the tangellos.
Yes it looks like that will be the answer if nothing else turns up.
DA slightly unusual use for lemons but a goodun: Lemon dusters:
...
:)
if it is dry enough i'm not sure if they can be simply sliced and then dried, but i have used dried lemon peels for cooking too in the past.
sounds great. we'd love anything lemon here. Ma makes a lemon cake that others always request.
songbird
sell or give them away at a farmers market?
A lot of things can be done with lemons. Fill your ice trays with lemon juice and freeze them. You can use those cubes whenever you need it. It can also make a great ice cubes for your iced tea. Cut into 4 halves add salt and preserve them, when they become soft add some spieces and can have along with you meal. Insead of vinegar use lemon juice in your cooking. Make sweet out of lemons like lemon cake, refreshing drinks, lemon pie and much more. Use lemon juice along with water to remove stains from your clothes, facial treatments and many more.
Lemoncello, it's an Italian drink.
Use a very sharp paring knife to cut -just- the zest, no white, from 15 lemons. Place in non-reactive bowl. Pour over the peels one 750 ml bottle of 190 proof (95 percent pure) Everclear. Most large liquor stores in the US carry it, you just have to look. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 5 days. Strain out peels and bits that have fallen off. Boil 2 cups water and 2 cups sugar. Cool. Mix both and bottle. Place in refrigerator to chill well. Sip without ice. Makes 1 and 2/3 bottles 110 proof Lemoncello.
Shorti
Serve
Sounds wonderful. Except I have about 60kgs of lemons and I can't afford that much alki (either to buy or to drink).
David
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