Citrus × meyeri

I have always had a fascintation with citrus trees. I have early memories of visiting my grandparents for the Christmas holidays and heading downstairs to see the lemon, lime and orange trees basking in the afternoon sun.

I bought my first citrus tree last year from The Tasteful Garden-- the Meyer Lemon (citrus x meyeri). I was so excited about it, thinking about all of the recipes I could make with it's extra sweet, slightly tart flavors. When it began to bloom in January, I could hardly contain myself. I was a bit discouraged when I read that it could take up to a year for the fruit to ripen - thinking this must have been a misprint. Not really.

Ten months later, my tree is heavy with golden fruit. The first recipe on our list, lemon curd. The recipe comes from Nigella Lawson's How to Eat.

MEYER LEMON CURD

Juice and zest from 4 meyer lemons

4 egg yolks

4 eggs

300 grams of fine sugar

200 grams of unsalted butter

We use a double boiler set-up, so start heating your water over medium low heat. Combine eggs, yolks and sugar in a large glass bowl, and mix until sugar is dissolved. Add juice, zest and butter and heat over simmering water. Wisk until curd begins to thicken...this could take a while (20+ minutes). Since you don't want scrambled eggs, be careful with the heat. Your patience will definitely pay off.

Recipe makes approximately 4+ small mason jars of lemon curd. Using standard canning method, simmer canning lids and rings in hot water for 10 minutes, while heating clean mason jars in an oven of 275 degrees. Remove the hot jars and let them cool briefly (no reason to waste your hard work by scrambling the eggs now). Fill with lemony goodness, finish with lids and rings and let cool.

I know you think you might share with your friends, but I wouldn't count on it.

It's all gone Pear Shaped

I have a large, beautiful tree in the green space behind my apartment. I love this tree. As Spring approached I noticed that it was fruiting. To my chagrin, I could not figure out what these fruit were...crab apples, walnuts? Nothing quite fit, or tasted right (I have a habit of tasting green things). It has been baffling and, honestly, a bit frustrating.

Well, lately the squirrels and birds have been going absolutely crazy over this tree. I see them carrying fruit that is as big as they are to and from the tree. It is like Woodland Creature Land over there. So today I decided to go back and research some more. Wasn't I surprised when the the fruit looked a PEAR, albeit an underripe pear, but a pear nonetheless. So I bit into it...hmmm...tastes faintly of a pear. I went inside and cut it open. Seeds just like a pear, grainy texture like a pear, thick stem like a pear.

1/2 hour of research later I have concluded that they are in fact PEARS!!! I am still trying to figure out what sort of pear it is, but it is undoubtedly a pear tree. I believe it is a Bradford Pear Tree, or an Asian Pear. but I am not 100% sure. This is exciting news to say the least. I am not sure if the fruit is edible, but I intend to find out. The birds and squirrels certainly think so. Now if only they would leave my strawberries and lemons alone and gorge on Pears instead!