Thursday, February 19, 2009

When life hands you sweet lemons... Make grapefruit juice???

Lindsay's been slightly limited in her culinary creations because lemons don't exist in the DR. That's right, you can comb the countryside, the city fruit markets, the supermarkets- no lemons.  
What's tricky is, if you ask a Dominican if there are lemons here, she'll say, "Claaaaro! Tenemos limones."  (Clearly...of course!  We have lemons.)  Of course what she means is that they have limes.  Yes, Dominicans call limes "lemons," which, when you've been hunting for lemons for eight months, only feels like lemon juice on a wound...
Today, Linds had a "hunch" that we were going to find lemons--real lemons--in the grocery store.  And guess what?  We did!  The label said "sweet lemons," but she was convinced that this was just another Dominican "citrus idiom," and that they would actually be juicy, perfectly tart lemons (like the ones she used to pick in her grandmother's back yard).  She was so certain of the reality of these lemons that she splurged on a bottle of tahini sauce to make fresh hummus with her fresh lemons.
She just finished squeezing a batch of fresh, grapefruit-tasting juice...  As far as I can tell from the pile of fruit peels, it was made with "sweet lemons" and some "Dominican" lemons... that is limes.  This is the kind of thing I have grown to love more and more about my wife each day. She's a genius in turning sweet lemons, limes, or whatever else life throws her way into a new, creative, tasty juice.  I can't wait to see what she finally uses to make that hummus!

2 comments:

Michelle Sterchi said...

Wish we could bring you a few lemons....such little things that we take for granted. Proud of you Linds for producing such delicious meals in your "Test Kitchen". Keep up the good work.

mark and elizabeth said...

how cute! I'm impressed Linds! You're always such a good cook!!! :)