Some Vacation...

Since the chicklets were off all week on their winter break, I thought I would take the week off as well.

I had visions of a lovely drive through Canada to the Ikea store, crafting beautiful handmade things for my etsy shop, of gently washing all the glassware and china in my china cabinet, carefully brushing glossy white paint on the window trim in my living room, spring cleaning the cobwebs from my dusty bedroom...

...and i didn't even mention the bentwood chairs that need to be lovingly restored with black paint and new fabric...

But I have children. And they have bigger and better social lives than I. So I didn't really have one good day to get anything major done around here. I haven't even had time to blog! A whole week off and this is my first post!

Also, we have a flat roof on the garage and it needs replacing. But while we are at it, we thought it might be fun to look into raising the roof and add some storage to our house. There is a door from our bedroom out over the garage and I thought it would be an easy way to get to the new storage area. So, long story short, I have had builders here looking at the job to give us estimates this week.

One thing I did get done was to make preserved lemons.

I was looking at Katy's blog and found some interesting info about Meyer lemons. Katy referred me to another woman who does a lot of canning because I want to make lemon curd with the Meyer lemons I bought at the grocery store.

In the past I clipped a recipe out of the paper that called for a preserved lemon. Well, it takes 3 weeks to make one so needless to say, I haven't made that recipe. This lady, Marisa, who does all the canning, had a post on her blog on how to make preserved lemons. I was so excited! Apparently you can use them for all kinds of dishes and in salads. So, today, I started it.

First, wash your lemons. Then, cut the ends off the lemon and cut the lemon into quarters of sorts, but not all the way through...

...then you layer them in a jar with sea salt...

...put the lid on the jar and leave it on your counter for three days.

Give it a shake a couple of times a day. This will mix up the salt and increase the juices. Over the next three days, the jar should be filling with juice. If not, open it up now and then and squeeze the lemons a little with a wooden spoon or even your hand. On day four, the lemons should be covered with their own juice, if not, add some juice to the jar. Then, put it in the back of the refridgerator for three weeks or longer. By then, they will be ready to use. The lemons will keep for about 6 months. You can check out Marisa's post here.

I will post the recipe for the chicken dish that calls for the preserved lemon when I make it and other recipes I find or try.

Today I am thankful for my lovely daughter who turned 15 today. I will post pics of her birthday after the party on Saturday night.

Thanks for stopping in, I really appreciate it!!!!!