What a wonderful box of California sunshine. There is nothing better than recently picked citrus, and how nice of Lars to send them to you.

I agree....that is truly a box of California sunshine!

Lars, you are so thoughtful and generous! Annie, that pie looks divine!

Linda

Yeah, what a nice gift! And that pie looks great.

Sally

What another thoughtful gift. Can't wait to see what comes westwards, grin!

Lars, for governor of California.

AB, you got a heck of a sunny haul. Enjoy!

Sol

Jessica, a quart of maple syrup had already gone to Lars, I was hoping to make it to his place before he left for Texas at Christmas but I don't know if I succeeded. People are catching on to the grade B thing too, because he got some ungraded syrup from a local sugarbush, but when I poured mine, it was clear it was grade A.

So he gets my local maple syrup and I get his local citrus. Yum, what a delicious friendship!

Annie

Annie, I think the chilies are "pequin", but I forgot to label them. I planted all my chilies last spring, and it took until January for them to produce very much. Right now I have a lot of ripe Anaheim chilies that are very mild, and I use them sort of like red bell pepper.

That lime pie is a family favorite - I see that you added food coloring to it! I usually do that also. I guess Elery will be using the lemongrass and Kaffir leaves, but you can make a nice tea from the lemongrass leaves. I haven't cooked with them yet, as I just got them last month. They grow fairly quickly, however. The lime leaves will keep in the freezer indefinitely. I didn't send many because they are intense, and are a somewhat acquired taste, I think.

Nice to hear that the package did not get frostbite! It seems like everyone has had a mild winter this year, especially in Texas, where it has been warmer than here.

I'm glad Ashley remembered the movie and is enjoying the lemons with you!

Lars

I think we did get the maple syrup before Christmas, and I remember posting a message about it, but I may not have been able to get a photo to go with it. Last week-end I made waffles for Saturday and Sunday, and the syrup was fantastic with them. The new batch of syrup seems thicker than before, and the flavor is heavenly!

Thanks again for sending us that - we love it!

Lars

I'm glad you like it, I've grown up with real maple syrup and cannot imagine having to use a substitute.

Actually, I've been holding on to a shrimp recipe that calls for lemongrass in the marinade, along with honey, sesame oil, ginger and soy, so I've got plans for some of it right away. I didn't think about tea, though, that sounds very nice. It's been mild here but is supposed to get down to 15F tonight, we'll have a bit of cold now i guess. Hot tea will be just the thing, so thanks again.

Pequin chilies? Those are very hot, I think?

Annie

That looks fantastic. My father in law always brings fruits and vegetables when he comes to visit- best gifts ever!

Annie, you are so lucky, nice goodies from Lars.

Oh Annie, you are a lucky duck. I've been jealous of a lot of gardenweb surcies, but never so much as this one!!

Very nice! My citrus trees are all babies so we haven't had much to show. Ate the handful of Satsumas, the potted Meyer lemons are sour - maybe not in a sunny enough spot. My neighbor told us to pick his oranges and lemons but they are not ready yet.

Delish! On Saturday I took a short demonstration cooking class about lemons! She made a delicious cucumber lemon salsa with a bit of chili diced in. No oil, just lemon, a hit of allspice, salt, sugar to taste and an English cuke.
The chef taught me how to supreme citrus to work around the membranes. I recreated it with some shrimp for Sunday's dinner. Definitely a keeper!

Ellen, I do that with grapefruit for a fruit salad, but I haven't done it with other citrus, except tangerines when I had a tangerine tree. Those were easy because they had a loose skin.

That lemon salsa sounds Middle Eastern - possibly Lebanese or Persian.

Annie, the Pequin chilies are fairly hot, but they are also small and do not have more total heat than two Serrano chilies. I would recommend wearing gloves when chopping them, however. They also do not have many seeds. If I grow them again, I will probably make a hot sauce with them, to make it easier to distribute the heat. The plant I have now did not make all that many chilies, but it has produced as many as I could use as they got ripe, however!

Lars

How nice of Lars! I also send some of my lemons to friends, as we have too much to use even though I freeze a lot of juice.

It's funny how we always think of citrus, and especially lemons, as summertime indulgences. They're winter fruits, the heaviest harvest is...right....now.

The oldest and biggest of our three Meyers:
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The second:
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The third - I had to prune off a third of the tree as it was leaning too far into the walkway, so I lost some of what would have been harvested:
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Every Meyer, properly fed and watered, will give from between 50-100 lbs. of fruit, especially if the weather cooperates.

One of the newer contributors to the Citrus forum is Johnmerr of Guatemala, who is attempting to develop a high quality production orchard of Meyers for export. You can see the first fruits of his efforts at the link below, if you're interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Johnmerr's Meyer Lemons for the Show

What a wonderful surprise!
Lars, you are certainly a generous soul!

That pie looks delicious, Annie.
I'm about to start licking the monitor.

I'm a little confused about the peppers, though.
Are they in that baggie?
Here in Texas, Chili Pequins grow wild,
The peppers themselves are small & roundish.
Usually not more than a half inch long.
Sometimes used while green,
But usually not picked until red.

Maybe there are different kinds of "Pequin" ?

Rusty

No, rusty, the lemongrass is in the pllastic bag. the two white envelopes you see contain the lime leaves and the chilies.

And yes, I certainly am lucky. I'm lucky to get delicious citrus, but I'm even luckier to have Lars as a friend.

Annie