Just FYI, preserved lemons are usually made from Meyers. A friend of ours has a Ponderosa tree, though, and I've noticed those lemons are milder than the Eureka/Lisbon grocery-store variety. Also, it's usually spelled Avgolemono for the name of the Greek lemon/chicken soup, not Ovgolemono. We have friends who are allergic to rice, so we use orzo pasta instead, which works just as well. Here's one recipe for Chicken with lemon and fennel. One Ponderosa would probably equal three Meyers! Chicken Braised with Meyer Lemon & Fennel A lidded cazuela, cocote or other terra-cotta casserole is ideal for this dish, but any casserole with a lid or Dutch oven will do. The flavors blend together during the slow cooking, as the fennel and chicken absorb the flavor of the lemon. From cookbook author Georgeanne Brennan. 1 large or 2 medium fennel bulbs 3 Meyer lemons 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt or kosher salt 6 chicken thighs, with or without skin 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper 1 teaspoon dried oregano 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup green olives (optional) 1/2 cup dry white wine 1/2 cup water 2 tablespoons grated Meyer lemon zest Trim the stalks from the fennel, reserving the lacy greens (chop them for last-minute garnish). Slice the fennel bulb lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Slice these lengthwise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Set aside. Cut the lemons in half, then cut each half into 3 pieces. Discard the seeds. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of lemon cubes. Put the lemons in a bowl and sprinkle them with the salt. Add the chicken, pepper, oregano and garlic and turn to coat. Set aside for about 30 minutes. Heat half of the olive oil in a casserole or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the chicken, and lightly brown, turning several times. This should take about 10 minutes. Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the remaining olive oil and the fennel to the casserole. Cook, stirring, until the fennel is nearly translucent, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the lemons and optional olives, turning them a few times, then add the wine and water. Scrape up any bits clinging to the pan, then return the chicken to the pan. Cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until the chicken is tender and the fennel can be cut with a spoon, about 45 minutes. While the chicken is cooking, mince enough of the fennel fronds to make 2 tablespoons. Combine this with the lemon zest and set aside. To serve, transfer the contents of the casserole to a serving bowl or platter and sprinkle with the fennel fronds and lemon zest. Serves 4 Per serving: 265 calories, 23 g protein, 19 g carbohydrate, 12 g fat (2 g saturated), 86 mg cholesterol, 730 mg sodium, 8 g fiber. ++++++++++ There's also this one, from a long-ago GW member. It's very good. This is exactly how he published it: Sol's Lemon Garlic Chicken 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice 2 tablespoons olive oil ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil and/or oregano S & P to taste 1 3½ pound fryer chicken, cut up 25 garlic cloves ¾ cup chicken broth In a small bowl, stir to combine, the lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, ¼ cup of the herbs, and salt and pepper (you can marinate the chicken for 15 minutes ONLY; otherwise the lemon juice will “cook” the chicken). Preheat oven to 425ºF. Arrange the chicken pieces in a roasting pan, and pour the lemon-herb mixture over. Arrange the garlic cloves all around the chicken, stirring them to coat with the mixture. Roast for about 45 minutes, or until the chicken pieces are golden brown. Remove the chicken from the pan. Add the broth to the pan and place on top of the stove over medium-high heat. Stir to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, while smooshing the roasted garlic to thicken the sauce slightly. I like to transfer the chicken to a platter, pour the sauce over the chicken and then, garnish with the remaining 2 tablespoons herbs and lemon wedges. +++++++++++ Note this Ina Garten recipe requires extra-large eggs: Lemon Cakes Copyright 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved Show: Barefoot Contessa 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter at room temperature 2 1/2 cups granulated sugar, divided 4 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 1/3 cup grated lemon zest lightly packed (6 to 8 large lemons - Use only fresh lemon juice and zest) 3 cups all-purpose flour 1/2 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice 3/4 cup buttermilk, at room temperature 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour 2 (8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch) loaf pans. Cream the butter and 2 cups granulated sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, the key to great cakes is beating the butter and sugar until the mixture's until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on medium speed add the eggs, (break the eggs into a dish before adding to the batter to avoid a bad egg or shells in the batter) 1 at a time, and the lemon zest. Sift together the flour, to make sure there are no lumps, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Separately, combine 1/4 cup lemon juice, the buttermilk, and vanilla. Add the flour and buttermilk mixtures alternately, beginning and ending with the flour. Divide evenly between the pans, smooth the tops, and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cook 1/2 cup granulated sugar with 1/2 cup lemon juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat until the sugar dissolves. When the cakes are done, cool for 10 minutes, invert them onto a rack set over a tray and spoon the lemon syrup over the cakes. Allow the cakes to cool completely. Note: These cakes were glazed with a lemon glaze but the contributor thought the cakes were sweet enough without adding a confectioner’s sugar/lemon juice glaze.

Were talking pure juice, and probably pasturized to boot. As mentioned, if its smelly or brown, toss. Lemons for me have still been usable if unopened and the skins are withered a bit and bloched with brown. A shelf life for most things is always going to be exagerated to some degree. Perishables like tomatoes, bananas, and pickling cukes are more prone to quick spoilage like most other fresh produce. Once in a while I will still buy off the 'not as good as fresh' shelf, as sometimes you get a good deal. Last week, I bought some avacados, Hass type. Some were hard and difficult to peel deseed. The same batch I bought had two that were brown inside and were way too overripe to enjoy. Now, if the lemons are rotten and are growing mold in the fridge, YES, I would toss them.

It looks like I picked up Ken's "cranky rants" banner, LOL. I worked in a cannery when I was in college. When you're sourcing fruit, determining standards in the field, grading, testing in the lab, it's easy to arrive at consistency. Lemons by the boxcar tend to average out and I certainly can see that for commercial applications a ton of lemons is consistently more acidic than an equivalent amount of bottled. But the home canner uses only one or two or three lemons, which individually may be lower in acidity. Who can know? There is just no way to account for all the things which may happen with a canning formula in the home kitchen. You make applesauce and use windfalls, which are less acid than apples picked from the tree, not even imagining it's an issue. Inexperienced canners, especially, are prone to doing the unimaginable. I can say as a teacher, I can't count the ways the human mind can re-configure the most basic of instructions. I told a friend how to can tomatoes, believing I'd covered every possible way for it to go wrong, only to discover he'd decided water up to the level of the fruit in the jar was sufficient for a boiling water bath. Fortunately, my husband happened to go down the street to visit, spotted the error and insisted he re-process the batch. Sorry if I came across as hostile. Canning fatigue. Like farmers, glad to see the end of harvest. Carol

I have a yard-sale juicer, similar to first link... works fine when making large batch of real lemon-ade for a trip to the beach. A little OT, but still on lemons. SIL used to do Pampered Chef demos. When she stopped doing that had TONS of freebies... gave me an apple peeler/slicer/corer. Was getting ready to juice a LOT of lemons for lemon-ade and thought... wish I had a need for lemon zest right NOW!?! I pulled out apple gizmo, swung the slicer/corer part out of the way and ended up with a HUGE pile of zest ribbons. I let it air dry for a few days until crispy, then ground in food processor till a powder. Made "lemon-pepper" that was NOT mostly salt like stuff you buy in the spice section of supermarket.