If Life Gives You Lemons...

Last night I had my cooking class at Thanksgiving Point which was all about using fresh lemons when you cook.

I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go because Devin had to go for the week on a business trip, but thanks to my good friend Lindsay, I was able too. She came over and watched my fun little kids for almost 4 hours. She said they were good, although Chloe did cry her little heart out until she fell asleep. You should read her blogspot post about watching my kids, here. It's hilarious!

Normally the class is only 2 hours long, but this lady seriously had so much food, it was like we had a regular sized dinner. It was super delicious though. We got a lot of recipes and tips. Because there are so many recipes, I don't want to spoil you all, so I'm only going to give you one recipe for a drink, main dish, side dish, desert and breakfast. My favorites out of all the ones we sampled while there.

Grab your pencil and paper, and write these down.

Lemon Tips:
5 Lemons = about 1 cup lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest = 1 lemon
Microwave lemon for 15-30 seconds and roll between your palms or countertop to get more juice from the lemon.

Keep in mind, these all call for fresh squeezed lemon juice.


Vanilla Lemonade
4 cups water, divided
2 cups sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3 cups fresh lemon juice

In a medium saucepan, combine 2 cups water, sugar and vanilla. Bring to boil over med-hi heat, boil for 2 minutes. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in lemon juice and remaining 2 cups water, and refrigerate. Serve chilled over ice. Garnish with cherries, fresh mint or lemon slices if desired. (super tarty but delicious!)


Phyllo Wrapped Salmon with Lemon Scallion Sauce (my FAVORITE!)
2 Tbsp melted butter
4 sheets of phyllo dough (or fillo, found in the freezer area by pie crusts)
2 (5 oz) Salmon fillets
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tsp chopped fresh dill, or 1 stp dried dill
2-3 Tbsp lemon juice
1/2 cup whipping cream2 green onions

Preheat oven to 425. Lightly butter 1 sheet of phyllo dough. Lay another sheet on top of the first and butter again. Cut the sheet in half and stack on top forming 4 sheets. Now do it again for the 2nd salmon fillet.
Lay the Salmon on the sheets, sprinkle with salt, pepper and Dill. Fold in sides and roll it over enclosing the salmon. Place on baking stone (so it will be a little crisp), lightly brush the top with butter. Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Meanwhile, bring lemon juice to boil in a small saucepan over hi heat. Boil until almost evaporated. Reduce to medium and stir in cream. Simmer until the cream thickens somewhat. Stir in green onions and season with salt and pepper and additional dill if desired. Serve on pool of sauce with rice. YUM!


Lemon Poppy seed Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup oil
1 Tbsp poppy seed

Combine sugar, lemon juice, mustard and salt in blender. Slowly pour in oil to create an emulsion. Blend in poppy seeds for a few seconds. Serve over green salad. (Seriously, a party in your mouth good!!)


Mini Glazed Lemon Cakes - Microwave recipe
For Cake:
2 Tbsp butter, softened, divided
2 Tbsp sugar
2 small lemons
1 pkg yellow cake mix
1 egg
1 (8 oz) sour cream
1 tsp lemon zest (don't get the white of the lemon, or it will be bitter, only yellow skin)

For Glaze and Garnish
2 Tbsp lemon juice
2 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar

For cakes brush 6 custard cups evenly with the 1 Tbsp butter, sprinkle evenly with sugar. Thinly slice one of the lemons, remove seeds and place one slice into bottom of each cup, set aside. Zest remaining lemon. Place remaining 1 Tbsp butter in a small bowl and melt in microwave 15-30 seconds. Add lemon zest, cake mix, egg and sour cream; whisk 1 minute or until smooth. Scoop batter into prepared cups. Microwave cakes on high for 4-5 minutes or until done. Remove from microwave and cool for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, for glaze, juice remaining lemon. Melt butter. Stir in lemon juice and sugar and microwave on high 30-60 seconds or until boiling.
To serve, gently tap sides of bowls to release cakes; invert cakes. Transfer cakes to serving plates and drizzle glaze over the cakes. Garnish with lemon knots by using 2 strips of zest and tie them together in a knot.


Low Fat Raspberry Lemon Muffins
1/2 cup plain or lemon flavored yogurt
3 Tbsp oil
1 Tbsp lemon juice
2 eggs whites
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1 1/2 cups flour
3/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 cup froze raspberries - roll in about 1 Tbsp flour so they won't sink to the bottom of the batter.
2 Tbsp white sugar or un-processed raw sugar (better tasting with raw)

Preheat oven to 400. Grease or line with paper liners 12 cup muffin tin. In a large bowl, mix together yogurt, oil, lemon juice, egg whites, and lemon extract. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just blended. Will be thick batter. Gently fold in frozen berries. Spoon batter evenly into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle with the raw sugar for garnish. Bake 15-17 minutes or until through. Cool muffins and serve.

Well, I hope you like the recipes because it took me forever to type up. lol. Let me know when you make them and if you liked them.