Rainy Days In A Kitchen

If you’re given lemons, make lemonade; that’s what some clever person said.  I’ve got 60 lemons, and I’m excited to share how I turn them into lemonade, Limoncello, and more.  I believe it’s going to be another fabulous Friday in my kitchen, and I want to take you along for the journey.

My story today is twofold: one to produce products using lemons, and to photograph them, while sharing memories and treasures that warm my heart.  As a mother, stay-at-home mom, and cook, my kitchen is the heart of my home, where many cherished treasures remind me of special moments and friendships.

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A pot plant from a neighbour celebrating the birth of my first grandbaby; it should be blue, but this is the closest she could get.  Once it dies, I’ll plant the bulb in the garden, where the soil will deliver another flush of blooms when I least expect it, just like our 30-year friendship, once neighbours and now ‘hartsvriendinne’ – a friend of the heart. These memories remind me of the importance of lasting friendships and shared moments.

While my wrists twist and turn and my bracelets knock, swing and clang, I see my son’s carvings on the old yellowwood table; his name and his best friends are indelibly there.  The hardworking lemon squeezer will probably outlive us all.

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The little bowl is chipped and cracked, but it’s another gift from a friend. One she couldn’t sell in her shop, so she gifted me; it’s the perfect size to mix my herbs and salts for the preserved lemons I’m going to make.

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Kitty Cluse probably can’t remember selling me the hand-painted Turkish plate with lemons, my favourite colours blue and yellow.

The old black nursery scales have no monetary value anymore; my children are grown-up, and who would weigh a child in them now?  But to me, it’s perfect for displaying our fresh fruit and vegetables, adding a nostalgic charm to my kitchen.

My Grandmama’s recipe book, filled with yellowed magazine and newspaper cuttings, still has the best lemonade recipe. Today I’ll add Lolli’s Limoncello recipe; perhaps one day my children will find comfort in these shared traditions and recipes, feeling connected to our family's story.

My mother-in-law's yellow mother-of-pearl cups and my grandmother’s funny Bakelite yellow sugar basin. They have certainly stood the test of time and will guard the lemons as they are preserved for three months.

Memories are made of this.  Good ones are the only ones we remember.

“It’s always been my philosophy to try to make art out of the everyday and ordinary…it never occurred to me to leave home to make art.”– Sally Mann.

Here is a link to the recipes: http://maricha.co.za/blogs/post/lemons-lavender-and-limoncello 

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