What to do with Lemon Juice

Once you have zested a bunch of lemons, they will not stay good for very long, so you will want to go ahead and use them, or at least juice them. Ditto citrus ‘interiors’ left over from rind projects–you need to go ahead and do something with that juice! There are, of course, many options, but here are a few…..

• When life gives you lemons, make Lemonade!
• Freeze for later use (see below)
• Have a cocktail party, featuring cocktails containing lemon juice.  Lemon drops are one of my favorites, but you can also do lemon margaritas, or whatever strikes your fancy.  @rit on Twitter recommends his favorite lemon cocktail… just mix fresh squeezed lemonade + Cruzan single barrel estate rum– It is the only lemon cocktail you ever need!
• Invisible ink for your kids
• Make a recipe requiring lemon juice (but not zest)…This one from Smitten Kitchen for Lemon-Mint Granita would do nicely, but of course you’d have to serve it in regular bowls, not the cute little lemon shells! (thx SisterDiane!)
• Of course, many recipes which call for both juice and zest can actually be prepared without the zest, so if only a little is called for, you can always just try leaving it out.  We’ll have lots of lemon recipes tomorrow, so stay tuned for that!

Storing Lemon Juice:

If you aren’t going to do anything with your lemon juice right now, you should store it for when you need it.  Lemon juice should keep several weeks in the fridge, so you can just bottle up some or all of your juice and use it over the next few weeks.

If you aren’t going to use it all, you’ll probably want to freeze some for future use.  I find the easiest way is to use the same method I use for chicken broth.  I freeze 1/4 cup portions in silicone baking cups (ice cube trays work for this as well).  Once frozen, remove from the cups and store the frozen chunks in a freezer bag.   Then it’s easy to pull out just the amount you need!

Tomorrow we continue Lemon Week with a bunch of Lemon Recipes… If you’ve got some you want included, be sure to let me know!

Lemon Week Posts