A Holiday Part 2 – When Life Gives You Lemons

Meet my fellow traveller. Brazilian? Kerry? Lemon?

The famous suitcase that starts up interesting conversations with strangers . The two of us had a wonderful time on the Mediterranean cruise. We visited several ports. Cannes, France. La Spezia, Civitivecchia and Amalfi, Italy. Santorini and Athens, Greece and Kusadasi in Turkey. All beautiful. But what blew my socks off however was the Amalfi Coast. We anchored just off Salerno, where a tender boat brought us to shore. I cannot put in words how beautiful it is. One of several towns built into the side of a mountain facing the sea. The weather was absolutely perfect at 25 C with blue sky. The town was very busy but did not feel crowded. Narrow streets took us into the heart of this gem where our first stop was, of course, GELATO. I must admit that this is a true addiction of mine. I’d swap any meal of the day for 3 meals of Italian ice cream. Especially when in Italy. While still indulging, we entered a shop fully stocked with……Limoncello liqueur and many other lemon products. My fellow travellers had introduced me to this beverage after our dinners on board. I hardly ever consume alcohol of any sort but this beverage hit a tastebud that said: “I like”.

How creative of the natives. The beautiful lemon fruit is very much at home all along the southern parts of Italy and here, too, lemon trees grow abundantly just everywhere. We lunched under lemon trees…

lemon-tree

… and the market stalls were bursting with high piles of lemons of sizes I had never imagined a lemon could grow into. Amazing. I must admit that it is one of my favourit fruits. Not a day begins without first having had cooled boiled water with half an organic lemon squeezed into it. I actually put the squeezed fruit into it too, Why? And why organic?

Let me give you just a snippet of some of its benefits:

  • A very alkalizing fruit-our bodies are often too acidic and this can result in many discomforts and illnesses. A ph-balancer
  • Rich in Vitamin C – you knew this already
  • Aids break down of fat. A great little helper to our livers. We may also shed some few pounds. Consistency is the key! And stepping away from the table. 🙂
  • It’s a digestive tonic, helping our enzymes break down foods
  • Toxins goodbye
  • A good little immune booster due to its antibacterial and antiviral properties
  • Makes your skin glow, just like a bright yellow lemon.

Why do I choose organic only?

Lemons have to be yellow, right? Not always. When nights are warmer during grow season, the lemon is ripe but remains green for a while. In order to please our conditioned consumer eye, lemons are being gassed to turn yellow. Yikes. As they are also quite popular with some bugs and flies, pesticides will be used in conventional farming and to make them last longer, well they get a shiny coat of wax.

The peel is full of great health benefits and I use it daily. Wouldn’t like all the added stuff to get into me though.

There is so much more healthy info to find out about my friend the lemon. But this is not the place. If you’d like to find out more, please drop me a line or ask our friend “Google”.

But we won’t stop here with the worship of this beautiful sunshine coloured fruit. Have you ever tasted Lemon Curd? Used preserved lemons when pan-frying fish? And the essential oil of lemon is a must have at home. Let me give you a couple of tips. For Free!!

My dear and very talented friend Johan VanderMerwe shared this recipe with me:

lemonpreserved

LEMON CURD

I liked this Lemon Curd recipe in particular cause it suggests using honey instead of sugar.

  • Prep Time: 5 min
  • Cook Time: 10 min
  • Ready in: 15 min
  • Makes 1 cup

Ingredients

  • 3 large organic eggs
  • ¼ cup (80 grams) organic or local honey
  • zest of 2 lemons (about 1 tablespoon)
  • ¼ cup (56 grams) raw coconut oil or organic unsalted butter (raw will give it a hint of coconut, use refined if you prefer)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

  1. Blend eggs, honey and lemon zest in a saucepan or pot. Use plastic or wooden spoon to mix. (acidity in lemon would react on metal).
  2. Heat on low heat. When all is well-combined, add the coconut oil or butter and continue stirring.
  3. Once melted, stir in the lemon juice.
  4. Cook the lemon curd over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens – about 5-10minutes. When the curd coats the back of a spoon and a clear path is left when you run your finger through it (not while boiling hot), it should be ready. Don’t exceed 77 °C.. Eggs curdle around 85 °C.
  5. Strain mixture into a glass jar. Let it cool completely. Close lid and turn upside down.
  6. Keep in the fridge and consume within 10 days. That should not be a problem.

It’s really nice on ice cream or mixed into some natural yoghurt.

ESSENTIAL OIL OF LEMON

One of my favourite essential oils is that of lemon. It is pressed from the fruit peel and again, I only use organic.

Lemon symbolises freshness, clarity, cleanliness, intuition and improved communication. A great scent used in a diffuser at work or in the kitchen. Lemon offers a happy scent and lifts mood. It has great disinfectant properties. Therefore it’s a fabulous oil to use during flu season as room scent. It combines really well with other essential oils too.

Diffuser blend suggestion:

Clear your head

3 drops Juniper Berry essential oil

4 drops Lemon essential oil

2 drops Pine Needle essential oil

To make a cleansing room spray:

50ml Tea Tree Water

8 drops lemon essential oil

5 drops Lime essential oil

5 drops Grapefruit essential oil

8 drops Bergamot essential oil

15 drops Lavender Fine or Extra essential oil

3 drops Lemongrass essential oil

Now take a deep breath! Beautiful.

A rejuvenating bath recipe for when you feel exhausted and a little run down

1 cup of full fat cream (liquid, not whipped)

4 drops Angelica essential oil

2 drops ginger essential oil

3 drops lemon essential oil.

Mix into the cup of cream and let the mixture disperse into your bath while holding it under the running tap. You could also use donkey milk, if you prefer bathing likestunning Cleopatra.

cleopatra

Most other European countries also use someculinary essential oils in the kitchen. In Ireland this is not advised. I personally do, with caution and knowledge of course. If you’d like to find out more about “Aromakitchen”, again Google is your friend.

I would love to hear from you all with suggestions or questions regarding aromatherapy. It’s such a wonderful topic.

And that’s it from me today. I’d be delighted to hear, what your favourite use of lemon is. Please share with me and I will share with all.

So when life gives you lemons, you have many choices what to do with them. In Italy they make Limoncello!

And guess what. I was not surprised to find it in our local off-licence, O’Driscoll’s, Cahersiveen. They have the most extensive variety of alcoholic beverages from all around the globe.

This blog was inspired by my visit to the beautiful Amalfi coast and BY NATURE of course.

amalfi