The Tinker started it with the arrival of the free gift of a lemon tree last year with something or other he had ordered, and we all stared at it (including him) and said 'Yeah right,' when the leaflet promised a good crop.
So we have all watched this thing sitting on the table in his bay window and ...well I'll go to the foot of our stairs if it didn't start to grow things that looked like...limes.
And slowly (v-e-r-y slowly) the 'limes' have ripened into lemons.
This feels like no mean achievement in Devon, and we can only ascribe it to the fact that the Tinker's little apartment has a micro-climate akin to the lemon groves of California (or wherever lemons grow best) and this would have died within a week chez dovegrey.
What's the saying about when life gives you lemons make lemonade...
Well we didn't need any of that, but I nipped in to see the Tinker after Christmas and he produced two jars of homemade lemon curd from the fridge.
'I haven't tried it yet,' he said.
So we grabbed a spoon each and soon put that right, and so delicious was it I immediately plucked my three lemons and set off home to make my own. I have to say it comes to something when your soon-to-be 88 year old Dad beats you to the preserves...
'Do you want the recipe?' he asked...
I found one of my own in Mary Berry's Aga cookbook...
4ozs of butter, 8ozs of caster sugar combined in a bowl over a pan of simmering water. Add in 3 beaten eggs (the Tinker used egg whites only, Mary uses whole eggs...my loyalties were torn and in the end it was only the absence of an egg separator that decided it) and the juice and zest of the lemons...
...and stir intermittently for about 20-30 minutes until thickened.
And hey presto, potted sunshine in January...
Oh so simple and I can't think why I have never made lemon curd before. This jar didn't stay pristine for very long, the crumpets were out of the freezer and in the oven in a flash.
I can't think of anything better to make on a dull January afternoon...except marmalade that is...will you give me a shout when the Seville oranges appear.
Recent Comments