Hi, Y'all!
Time flies, I can tell you… The youngest addition to our Munich friends' family already turned 1 last Friday, and also at our end time doesn't stand still. And because of this, we tried to take things slowly at the past weekend. Friday was very busy due to my grocery shopping. Well, you might ask where the problem is? Well, I adapted our menu in a way, that I only have to do grocery shopping every three weeks, and you could imagine that the sheer amount of products calls for some elbow grease… I always wonder if the content of my shopping cart fits on the conveyor belt or not. (Bear in mind that in Germany we don't have bagging assistance like in the U.S.) And considering putting all the stuff on the belt, into the cart, then from the cart into the car and finally into my pantry, my smart watch adds up exercise minutes, I can tell you :-) Thus I just cuddled up on the couch with hubby and the dogs on Friday night, just to do some baking on Saturday. I made a lemon cake, a chocolate cake, a sponge and a double batch of burger buns for the upcoming weekends.
Sunday we wanted to BBQ originally, but the weather wasn't that supportive, and so I had to change plans. The sausages were already thawed and had to be used on short notice, and they should have been accompanied by some veggies and potatoes. So I just chopped everything up and heaped it on a pan, sprinkled it with thyme and rosemary from our garden, added some salt and pepper and drizzled some olive oil on top - but only a few drops, not Jamie Oliver-style :-) This is how it looked:
After 30 min. with 200 degrees Celsius everything was done and delicious. Quick to prepare, while in the oven you can relax and afterwards, you don't have a ton to clean - a win-win-win situation so to speak :-) That's how it looks when it's cooked:
I simply spiced up some plain yoghurt which was a perfect addition to the dish.
Apart from that, my weekend was dedicated to lemons a lot… Our syrup was coming to an end, and I bought another three nets of lemons to stack up. First I peeled the fruit (but only the outer, yellow layer):
I added one part vinegar essence and four parts water, put a lid on the bowl and let it sit for three to four weeks. The lemon peels should be totally covered with liquid to avoid any mold, but that has never happened to me.
After the lemons soaked in the vinegar, I angled for the peels and the result is an awesome all-purpose cleaner.
You could use it undiluted (like in that bottle here), but usually I fill it into a spray bottle, add a bit of water and a dash of dish washing liquid (about four parts cleaner to one part water). And don't be afraid - the vinegar odor evaporates immediately and leaves you with a very pleasant citrus fragrance. I sometimes even spray it onto our area rug to neutralize any bad scents.
The left over lemon peels I don't throw out right now, instead I use them as natural potpourri and air freshener (and believe me - with two dogs you have good use for something like this…).
Afterwards I run the lemons through the press and cook the juice into syrup. Some months ago I described that in detail. Here is yesterday's outcome:
During the cooking process the liquid develops some foam which you don't want in your syrup. Maybe you know that from making your own jam. But it's too good to throw it away, and I usually mix it into some plain yoghurt - soooo yummy!
And as I found some potting soil in our shed, I even planted some of the lemon seeds. Usually my thumb is more brown than green, but as our potato experiment is developing surprisingly well and Sarah sent me some promising pictures of her little lemon tree, I just gave it a try.
And with this last bit, I put each and every part of my lemons to good use, because even the squeezed remnants went on the compost pile :-)
Just do it - could be good!!!
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