Lemons from tree to jars

Even before I could reach my Meyer Lemon tree, I could hear the noisy buzzing of bees hard at work and  smell the absolutely divine fragrance of lemon blossoms. My Meyer Lemon tree in Temecula is small, about waist high in height and maybe 4 feet in diameter. Even so it was so heavy with an abundant crop of beautiful, delicious sunshine yellow lemons. I decided to harvest as many of the lemons as I could, to lessen the strain on the tree as the new crop of lemons were developing on the tree. From all appearances, even more fruits will form as the little tree was still pumping out fragrant  blossoms.

So many lemons! Feels like a commercial harvest.

Although I was the only one harvesting the lemons, I was still shocked when I saw the filled crate of lemons. I had to stop harvesting as there was no way I could use all the lemons in a short time. This is posting is about what I have made with them so far.... not very much.

I decided to make some Moroccan Preserve Lemons. I googled recipes for Moroccan Preserve Lemon. Seemed simple enough, cut lemons into quarters almost all the way through, 1 tablespoon of salt inside center of each lemon, stuffed into sterilized jars, press down slightly, repeat with more lemons, top with lemon juice. Confession - I used 1 teaspoon of salt per lemon.... I hope it is salty enough. I could not make myself use so much salt- kept thinking how it would raise my blood pressure! With so many lemon, with this reduced salt version fails, I can make another batch. Most recipes did not require a hot water bath but I went the extra step. I put the jars in the water bath to properly can them.

Moroccan Preserve Lemons - future culinary inspiration

10 minutes in the boiling water bath. Remove to counter to cool. It was rewarding to hear the pop as each jar properly seals. That is the sound of success!


I still had so many lemons left!! Project #2 - This time I decide to make Meyer Lemon Jelly. It is a 2 days process. Today, I slice 2 lb of lemons thinly and cook them in 3 quarts of water for 30 mins. I will need to let it mixture drip and strain through a cheesecloth bag overnight. Tomorrow I will cook the strained liquid with 2 cups of lemon juice and 6 cups of sugar.

Slices of lemon goodness

My favorite Yellow Le Creuset 

Day 2- I ended up with 7 cups of drained lemon liquid, taking care not to squeeze the cheesecloth bag, which the book said would make the jelly cloudy. I only needed 5 cups of liquid. I think I did not reduce the liquid enough. It should have been on a higher boil but I was afraid to break down the pectin. Again, no biggie! More lemons for experiment.

I combined 5 cups of lemon liquid with 2 cups of lemon juice and brought it to a boil. Added 6 cups of sugar and continue boiling. It should have taken 10 minutes or so to come to a sheeting action off the ladle. It did not! Again, it appeared it needed to be on a rolling boil, that would not be reduce by stirring. My mixture was not quite at the hard boil needed. Lesson learn. I placed 2 saucer in the freezer. Once a teaspoon of lemon jelly placed on cold saucer, wrinkled after 1 minute, jelly was ready. Ladled into 7 full jars and 1 half jar. Processed 7 jars for 10 minutes in hot water bath. 7 jars of jelly for the pantry and 1/2 jar to enjoy immediately. Yum!

Bringing mixture to a rolling boil

Meyer Lemon Jelly to enjoy on toast and scones. Yum!

Still so many lemons left! What to do?

I need recipes for Asian Lemon preserves. I love the sour, salty, and sweet taste of asian preserves. I am thinking of preserved dried lemons.