Life, Lemons and Lemonade

Recently life gave me a bunch of lemons.

I was at my friend Ramji's farm outside of Auroville less than two weeks ago, and as we were touring the place, he asked me to help myself to the freshly fallen lemons from the trees. So with an (unused!) garbage bag in hand, I began collecting beautiful organic lemons. On the way Ramji even plucked me one of the best tasting papayas I've had in a very long while as well as a bunch of bananas.

I had a party planned for the day after I was returning back to Bangalore, where I was expecting approximately 35 guests. I had asked Rajesh, my man-Friday to buy some lemons/limes, which we would need for some of the items that were being served as well as the jugs full of cocktail that I would be making. Usually he buys fewer lemons than what I need and ends up having to run out for more. This time he did the opposite as a result of which I had a lemon filled kitchen and refrigerator. Although I had no idea what I would do with them, it still made me happy.

I love lemon tarts and lemon pies and lemon cup cakes. All I have to do is ask Rajesh to make them. How much easier does it get? Unfortunately I had promised myself that once the party was over, I was on a strict health regime. Regular work outs and no sweets. Too many holidays in the recent months had resulted in flabbier love handles and my pants being uncomfortably snug.

So yeah, desserts were out. It pains me even to write that as I salivate for excessive sugar filled treats, instead of settling for a bowl of organic granola that I picked up from the Auroville store. Somehow it just doesn't send the same signals to the part of the brain that is looking for a slice of decadent chocolate cake, maybe some pecan pie or the apple strudel cheesecake from Olive Beach that made my taste buds ecstatic. Dammit, I'd even settle for the chocolate eclair from Cafe Noir!

However, I digress here. Getting back to the lemons, I was still in a fix. Whoever said, 'If life gives you lemons, make lemonade' obviously wasn't thinking 'quantity'. I wasn't about to make myself a tub full of lemonade. After much deliberation, I decided that the only option was to pickle them. As much as I am into cooking, eating, feeding, I have never tried pickling. And never thought that I would. Even Jamie Oliver couldn't get me to watch his show about pickling for the winter months.

Strangely enough a couple of weeks ago, I had stumbled across a site that had an easy recipe for pickling lemons. Almost as if I had a premonition about the farm lemons. Once I got back home however, the site was not to be found. I even went through my web history but for the life of me, there was no such link. Had it been a dream? And if so, why in the world would I be dreaming about lemon pickle?

I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands and call my aunt who is famous for her pickles (among other treats). I asked her for the easiest lemon pickle recipe she had, bought myself a couple of jars and gave the instructions to Rajesh! This morning I woke up to find one of the jars filled with lemon wedges sitting in the balcony. It's a multi-part process and right now they're just soaking in the salt. I'll let you know how they turn out.

Moral of the story: When life gives you a lot of lemons, pickle 'em!