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Hey! Free Lemons!




What do I do with all those lemons?


We have a lemon tree. Right now, that tree has a lot of lemons which perpetuates the annual question, what do I do with them? 


In a month or so, I’ll see signs in front of people’s houses, Free Lemons. There is a little guilt associated with each lemon that falls to the earth unused. Particularly when they are $.50 a piece at the grocery store. Whenever I think of snowy climes, such as Utah and Colorado where three of my four children live—one of them called this morning to tell me they had 10 inches of fresh snow—I am more determined than ever to use my lemons. 


We have a lemon tree, a freeze drier, and YouTube videos. Its everything I need to freeze dry lemons—slice and store in a jar but I’m not sure how to use them. I decided to take it a step further, a mega powerful Blentec blender to turn the dried lemons into powder. 


The Freeze-dried lemon powder is wonderful in soups, salad dressings, cooked vegetables—I have added it to anything I wanted to taste lemony. I haven't tried lemonade, I don’t think the powder would sufficiently dissolve although I many try it. 



The idea worked.  Food tastes great once I learned how to gauge how much lemon powder to use—a quart jar is about eighteen lemons plus or minus one or two.  Find a friend who has a freeze-drier and swap—thirty hours in the machine for a bottle of lemon powder. 


I’ve already made three batches and I still have lemons. I store mine in the refrigerator, but properly sealed, it would probably do well on the shelf. I use the lemon powder so often, I like to keep it where it’s easy to get. 


I wish it were easier to share my lemons but drying them and turning them into a usable powder is smart food storage and useful. Give it a try. 




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