Last week I received some shocking news that threw me for a looptie-loop. Unfortunately, it wasn’t “good” news, or at least it seemed that way. However, I agree with Shakespeare when he said “There is nothing either good or bad but thinking makes it so” (Hamlet). Who knows, maybe down the road this event will be the best thing that ever happened to me. Dark clouds can have silver linings, you know.
I bemoaned over this situation to my love, Jim, who then said “Ok, when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade, lemon meringue pie, lemon cheesecake, lemon bars, lemon sorbet, and lemon poppy seed muffins. What a good idea! I will drown my sorrows in the sourness of lemons. He made me laugh as he usually does. Then I went on to other things and completely forgot about all the treats I could make with lemons.
A few days later, I was at the Merc in Fossil and when I was almost out the door, I felt an inner jolt accompanied by the thought to get an apple box. I wandered into the back room and asked Coco if I could have an apple box. She said the boxes were all gone but there was one with lemons in it that were too soft to sell. They looked fine to me so I took the box and the lemons too.
When I got home it struck me. I have lemons!! Wow!! Now I can make all manner of lemon things. So I did! Ironically, those lemons were juiciest lemons I had ever seen. Those poor lemons were so misunderstood. But, they were such a lovely present for me.
I made lemon bars for the very first time. They were surprisingly simple to make, being a shortbread cookie topped with custard (yes, I asked the AI for a recipe). After that, I made a large bottle of peppermint and lemon elixir for a friend who did not feel well. For dinner one night, I made fettuccine with a lemon cream sauce and capers, shrimp, fresh parsley, and a few red pepper flakes. Being a Moroccan food fan, I made preserved lemons, a staple in Moroccan cooking. And lastly, I froze lemon juice in ice cube trays, and popped the cubes into a Ziploc bag.
After the lemons were gone, I felt truly blessed, as if something out there had a sense of humor and was lovingly watching over me. Whatever it was knew that lemons were just the ticket to lift my spirits. Sometimes I feel like a marble in a maze game, running into dead ends, falling into holes and climbing out. But a lemon a day did keep my sadness at bay!