Lars' trick of freezing them whole then defrosting in the micro is inspired and really works!

Can't think of any recipes for the minute. What about preserving them for tagines?

I freeze my lemons (don't have limes) and I also squeeze out the juice and freeze the juice in ice cube trays--then pop them out of the trays and into a ziploc baggie and back into the freezer for future use.

Another wonderful way to use lemons is to make limoncello ! Delicious and it makes great gifts too! Linda (doucanoe) posted a recipe as have other folks on our cooking website here (sorry, I can only recall Linda's posting her recipe! I don't mean to exclude others!) so a search will yield good results. Limoncello takes some time to work its way through to deliciousness--anywhere from 10 days to 4 months or so I think.

Margaritas. Hm... but that's sweet, I guess.

Asian lemon chicken. There's the batter fried Chinese restaurant kind, and the homey blast your ears with chilis Thai kind, and I'm sure many others.

Put a whole one inside a bird for roasting.

Grainlady's Sassy Water.

Pickled.

Marmalade.

Dried.

It's sweet, but lemon syrup is great to have around.

Vodka.

I'm envisioning a really wonderful lemon hazelnut soup, but I don't have time just now to make up a recipe.

Mexican lemon-chili shrimp

Cuban sour orange garlic chicken substituted with lemon.

Veal Piccata

Duck au citron

Short ribs marinated in lemon and pepper

Plus, half a small lemon is a great tool for cleaning a warm griddle...

Preserve them, but the problem with preserving, as well as freezing, is making sure you use them. Don't go to all the work if, in the end, you don't actually use them.

Preserving Lemons: http://honest-food.net/2010/02/04/preserving-lemons/

Moroccan Preserved Lemons: http://nourishedkitchen.com/morrocan-preserved-lemons/

Sassy Water (a recipe I got from Prevention Magazine to use a plethora of cucumbers and fresh mint from the garden): http://www.wikihow.com/Make-Sassy-Water

In addition to the things already mentioned, Lemon Linguine w/ Shrimp... found on this forum and was originally posted by Gina (?):

Lemon Linguine With Scampi (Gina)

Vegetable oil
1 Tbl kosher salt plus 1/2 teaspoons
3/4 Lb linguine
3 Tbl unsalted butter
2 1/2 Tbl good olive oil
1 1/2 Tbl minced garlic (4 cloves)
1 Lb large shrimp (about 16 shrimp)peeled and deveined
1/4 Tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/3 Cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 lemon zest grated
1/4 Cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2 lemons)
1/4 lemon thinly sliced in half-rounds
1/8 Tsp hot red pepper flakes

Drizzle some oil in a large pot of boiling salted water, add 1
tablespoon of salt and the linguine, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, or
according to the directions on the package.

Meanwhile, in another large (12-inch), heavy-bottomed pan, melt the
butter and olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic. Saute for 1
minute. Be careful, the garlic burns easily! Add the shrimp, 1 1/2
teaspoons of salt, and the pepper and saute until the shrimp have just
turned pink, about 5 minutes, stirring often. Remove from the heat, add
the parsley, lemon zest, lemon juice, lemon slices, and red pepper
flakes. Toss to combine.

When the pasta is done, drain the cooked linguine and then put it
back in the pot. Immediately add the shrimp and sauce, toss well, and
serve.

So expensive here so when cheaper in bulk i'll buy the bags. Like sooz i freeze. A few whole...limes, lemons and meyers. But the most useful for me is to zest, then juice, and into ice cube trays and keep in zip-locks. I must have grabbed a half dozen cubes over the past weekend for dressing, a celeriac slaw...a marinade. I did slow roast a tray of slices last batch, then freeze, as an experiment since i find the 'whole' frozen not as handy...worked. Nice flavor on top of steamed salmon.

I should probably get a tray that makes smaller cubes. The regular size is a bit much for a single beverage or in iced tea.

Sometimes I add small cooked shrimp to this lemony soup.

LEEK AND LEMON SOUP

2 pounds leeks, trimmed, white parts only, coarsely chopped

4 Tbs. butter

1 lemon

1 cup celery, coarsely chopped

1 cup spinach, coarsely choppe

4 cups chicken broth

1/4 cup minced parsley

2 Tbs. minced coriander leaves (cilantro)

In a deep pot, melt the butter and add the leeks and the strained juice of the lemon. Cover tightly and stew over medium-low heat for 10 minutes. Add the celery and cook, covered for another 10 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, covered, for 2 minutes, or until the spinach has softened. Add the chicken broth and he a and simmer for 10 minutes. Season to taste before serving. Makes 6 servings.

sleevendog-

Just put less in your regular ice cube trays.... You can easily place a teaspoon (or two) of juice into each opening and make cubes with a measured amount rather than filling them.

Although it's more than ten years old, I often refer to this thread of Favorite Lemon Recipes and have made many of them with great results. There are both sweet and savory lemon recipes.

Lemon Recipes

What wonderful suggestions have been shared. I froze my first batch extra Lisbons. Realizing I may have more than i can use in the future, Ive been thinking about donating to my local food pantry. Now, here's my Recipe contribution:

Juice a sweet cantaloupe and add a frozen cube of lemon per 3 c. of cantaloupe juice.

My Meyer lemon tree is only about 5 years old, but still produces plenty for us to use and share with neighbors.

I juice and freeze in ice cube trays. Each cube is 1.5 TB. I'll use them through the summer & fall in salad dressings, chicken piccata, curd, lemon ricotta pancakes, Avgolemono soup, etc. This year I'm freezing the zest. Not sure how that will work out. Will it only be useful in cooked dishes or will I be able to use it fresh?

Bossyvossy, donating is a wonderful idea! Our food bank gladly accepts homegrown citrus.

cindimac i recently met an 84 yo with a passion for citrus. He told me he rented a booth @ farmers market to get rid of his extras. Not a big moneymaker but also provides great social interaction so beneficial at that age. I made a note of that.....

So many great ideas have been shared, thank you all. I think I'll have to find some room in the freezer for sure or I'll be zesting and juicing this evening. I will also reference the other thread(s). With the rain, I'm racing to unload the tree -- I said no drinks but limoncello sounds great. As we were recently cleaning out my mom's house I saw all of her canning jars and paraphernalia --- I don't know if I'm up to canning.

Gooster, if you ARE up to canning, when I find limes cheaply I can Jessica's Lime Chipotle marinade. Elery loves lamb marinated in it, and Jessica told me when she gave me the recipe that her boys just dipped tortilla chips in it and ate it, she had to save some for marinade. I double/triple/quadruple the recipe if I'm canning it.

Lime Chipotle Marinade

1/2 cup honey
2 tablespoons minced canned chipotle chilies in adobo sauce
3 tablespoons brown mustard -- or dijon
1/2 cup lime juice
1 1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Season with salt and pepper

Blend in food processor. Serve sauce as a marinade grilled meats, poultry, and fish if your guests don't get to it first with tortilla chips. Makes 1 1/2 cups.

Source:
Jessica, who got it from Sunset Magazine
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

NOTES : This can be canned in a boiling waterbath for 15 min. at 0-1000 ft., 20 min. at 1001-6000 ft. and 25 min. above 6000 ft. (KatieC's instructions.)

I remember that Jessica made it while we were all at Canning Camp and it was so popular that Katie decided we needed to can it!

I have this recipe, but it only takes a single lemon. The grandkids love it, it's kind of a sweet/sour barbeque sauce flavor and it's easy for Makayla to throw it together in the crockpot.

Lemon Pork Chops

4 bone-in pork chops (7 ounces each) 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon pepper 1 medium onion, thinly sliced 1 medium lemon, thinly sliced 1/4 cup packed brown sugar 1/4 cup ketchup

• 1. Place the pork chops in a 3-qt. slow cooker. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Top with onion and lemon. Sprinkle with brown sugar; drizzle with ketchup.
• 2. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours or until meat is tender. Yield: 4 servings.

Annie

@annie --- that sounds delicious. I've been loving chipotle in adobo lately, and have made veggie pressure cooker black bean chili, salsa and a marinated pork dish. I just need some fresh cilantro and maybe a nice pork loin. Sounds like it would freeze OK, too.

Lemon vinaigrette

Lemon poppy seed muffins

Squeeze lemon juice into plain seltzer

Squeeze lemon juice onto vegetables, esp broccoli

lemonade or iced tea

Apologies for the drinks. It didn't get set in my mind that you didn't want them.

Lemon also pairs well with ricotta, and together make wonderful fritters.

And don't forget it's as good in tuna salad as on any other kind of fish. :)

Gooster, I like it a lot, I love chipotle, but just a little. I'm such a wuss...

Lemon Ricotta pancakes are nice too.

Annie

Hi, Gooster, I guess I don't really think of limoncello as a "drink"-- to me, it's a gift on a number of different levels, in a number of different ways! I do hope you try it and come back and let us know your results!

Smiles,

Sooz

Thanks again for all the suggestions. It'll take a while to work through some of these suggestions --- been getting really busy and we've been not eating sweets. I think I'll make a drink exception for limoncello. I'm going to pick up some vodka to get started, and the pancakes are queued for the weekend.

FWIW, I was just at friend's house whose uncle made the limoncello. It was super delish and he said the secret was to use 100% grain alcohol instead of vodka as it does a better job of extracting the lemon flavor and doesn't add any additional flavor like vodka does.

Annie, one of my other limoncello recipes uses grain alcohol--now I know why!

Smiles,

Sooz

I was looking at a few cookbooks i have that were gifted...looked up lemons and one recipe used 2 cups....then noticed it was a beverage that used Vodka. Knew that was not your search. Alcohol hidden behind other things is not my game really...i do like wine and a classic martini...strong alcohol, like pot, scares me...kinda sneaky, lol. I'll take mine plain like a virgin mary. : )

My Cuisinart has juice knobs, three different ones for the size of the citrus. Has a side shoot that puts it in a bowl of your choice. I only use it once or twice a year as we do not have citrus trees. If i had them, free citrus, i would want a good citrus reamer. And why i zest, juice, and freeze when we get it reasonably cheap.

I could fill ice cube trays shallow but i would need ten of them, lol. I just have a couple. I just bang the bag with a rolling pin. I have a tray that makes frozen sticks so they fit in a bottle but it was a pita.

had to share this... stage one of the limoncello experiment.... debated with vodka or grain alcohol. Moonshine won! (neutral grain alcohol, 100 proof. Everclear seemed too strong).

the juice went into trays for freezing into tablespoon sized nuggets. Much more left on the tree, even after sharing with the neighbors.

LOL, Gooster, I made limoncello with Meyer lemons because we were having a forum get together and Sherry/Sheshebop loves limoncello. I got my recipe from Doucanoe/Linda. I think it was all consumed, there didn't appear to be any left around the house after all my forum friends departed, but I just used vodka. I'm betting yours will be even better!

Annie

William Sonoma has several good recipes using lemon. The Meyer Lemon French Toast recipe looks yummy and easy.

http://www.williams-sonoma.com/search/results.html?activeTab=recipes&words=top_rated_lemon

I found this recipe when I needed something for Brussels Sprouts and it was great. My bacon didn't really leave much for drippings in the pan, so I added a little olive oil. DH also squeezed a little more lemon juice into my measure and I added it all. When I made it again, I found both of those seemed to help the flavor and keep it from being a little dry. I also made it with cavatappi the second time becuase the orecchiette kept wanting to stack itself and stick together. I didn't' want to deal with that, but you do need a shaped pasta that can grab onto the rest of the ingredients a bit. Top with some shave parmesan if you like. Would go great with fish, shrimp or chicken Great recipe for spring.

Pasta with Bacon, Shredded Brussels Sprouts, and Lemon Zest

Dicing bacon before tossing it into a pan allows for quicker cooking and even browning. Remove crisped bits with a slotted spoon to keep all of the tasty drippings in the pan.

Yield: Serves 4 (serving size: 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

8 ounces uncooked orecchiette pasta

3 thick­cut bacon slices, diced

1 pound Brussels sprouts, trimmed and thinly shredded

3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

1 tablespoon grated lemon rind

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper (or more - to taste)

Preparation

1. Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. 2. While pasta cooks, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium­high heat 4 minutes or until bacon is crisp, stirring occasionally. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon; set aside. Add Brussels sprouts and garlic to drippings in pan; sauté 4 minutes or until slightly softened. Stir in bacon, lemon rind, juice, butter, salt, and peppers. Add pasta to skillet; toss to combine. Serve immediately.

Here's another one that is a bit unusual -- very simple, great flavor and will use juice of one lemon

Spaghetti with Avocado Sauce

12 ounces
spaghetti

2
avocados--halved, pitted and peeled

1 garlic
clove, smashed

1 bunch
scallions, roughly chopped

Juice of
1 lemon

¼ cup
extra-virgin olive oil

Salt and
freshly ground black pepper

½ cup
chopped parsley, for garnish

1. Bring
a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al
dente, 6 to 8 minutes.

2. While
the pasta cooks, make the sauce: In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the
avocados, garlic, scallions, lemon juice and olive oil until smooth.

3. When
the pasta is tender, reserve ½ cup of the cooking water, then drain the pasta.
Add the reserved water to the avocado mixture and process until smooth.

4. Add
the sauce to the pasta and toss to coat. Season with salt and pepper. To serve,
portion the pasta onto plates and garnish with parsley.

No drinks? I drink a quart of lemonade every day. It's my "go to" drink since I gave up soda.

I buy lemon juice because lemons are so expensive. I add ice, no-calorie sweetener and water to fill up a giant mason jar mug I got at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I stir with a glass straw from hummingbird straws. It's such a treat! So easy to make on demand.

I got a handheld lemon squeezer from Bed Bath and Beyond for the times I treat myself to lemons. You are so lucky to have a lot of lemons!

@annie --- we will see. I hope I didn't get any pith -- I was trying to be careful.

@caminnc -- those are a great selection of sweets -- I've had pretty good success with recipes from there.

@lascatx -- those look like great recipes. Avocado and pasta? I'm in, although it sounds a bit like guacamole on pasta. And you had me at bacon.

@jane -- there are so many lemons the tree was sagging, especially with the rain. I have to harvest more now that the sun is out and it's warming up again.

Linda, do you mean you're using the lemon juice, or do you use the lemon flesh somehow? If the latter, will you please enlighten?

Lemon juice....and a little grated rind....

My DH doesn't care for chicken breast or mint. But he loves this recipe, and it's been a winner on everyone who's tried it. I prefer it with the Romesco sauce, btw.

Chicken Skewers with Garlic, Lemon
& Mint

Adapted from Roving Feast columnist Marlena Spieler.

Makes two 15-inch metal
skewers, enough to serve 3-4 people.

INGREDIENTS

1.5 lbs
chicken breast, skinless and boneless, completely trimmed

5 garlic
cloves, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup
fresh mint leaves, stems removed and chopped

1/2 cup
lemon juice (use 3 small or 2 large lemons), seeds removed

1
tablespoons olive oil

2 tsp
McCormick's lemon pepper or other brand

Optional: only if using the
cooked marinade for a sauce:

1/4 cup dry white wine or
dry sherry

1/4 cup chicken broth

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Cut the chicken into 2” chunks.
2. Combine the chicken, garlic, mint, lemon juice, olive

oil, and lemon pepper in a plastic container.
Cover tightly. Refrigerate overnight, or up to 24 hours.

1. Remove from refrig 1/2 hr before serving. Drain the

chicken, reserving marinade.

1. Place oven rack in highest position and preheat

broiler on high for at least 10 minutes. Line a large flat cookie sheet, big
enough to hold both skewers, with foil. Spray with cooking spray.

1. Thread the chicken cubes onto two 15\-inch skewers. Place

on cookie sheet, spray again with cooking spray.

1. Broil chicken skewers for 7 min. on one side and 3-4

minutes the second side. (Note: if baking at 500° instead of broiling; add
another 5 min to cooking time!) Let rest on a platter 2-3 minutes.

1. Add the chicken broth and sherry to reserved marinade.

Bring to a boil over high heat for 3-4 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch, or
just cook over medium heat until reduced to 3/4 cup. Taste for seasoning, then cover or low heat
to keep it warm.

Garnish chicken with
additional chopped mint, if you wish. Serve the sauce on the side. A Romesco or
Thai/Indonesian spicy peanut sauce is also good with this.

Thanks, Linda. I've never made chicken salad for more than forty. Good luck and easy going to you.

The pasta does wind up being a little like guacamole on pasta, but it works. You could add some tomatoes or crushed red chili pepper flakes if you want to take it further in that diection. And then you said bacon --- which you could add to the pasta and avocado too. I'm getting hungry.

We joined a CSA and got a weekly box for just DH and I. We did the smaller share that was suposed to be sized right for 2 people, but it has been a challenge to try to use everything. Our sons were home part of their spring break and I thought we would use more, but we went out to eat a couple of times and are behind. (Just remembered the other reason why -- we tried a weekly special box from another farm that included a small roast that is in the freezer, new potatoes, green beans, cabbage, onions, strawberries and beets.) I still have most of a week's share and get another this afternoon -- we will be making that Brussels sprouts recipe again -- maybe tonight. I might even add some other veggies to it -- we have snap peas and snow peas, broccoli and spinach that could be added. And some shredded carrot, but those aren't hard to use up.

DH made some limoncello when our lemons came in last fall. He loved it.

The chicken skewers sound good. Bet we could eat them with broccoli or more Brussels sports. LOL

Well due to work and travel, I'm making slow progress. Pasta is up this week, here's a shot of lemon-asparagus risotto, Hazan's Chicken with Lemon, and the stock that was used to make the risotto. We picked several dozen more today and froze them, after last week's batch that was juiced into tablespoon sized cubes. The limoncello is still seeping in the basement. There's still more on the tree and there's new buds!

That chicken looks perfect! I'm waiting here for my asparagus too, but it'll be a couple of months, probably.

Too many lemons just doesn't seem to be a hardship, LOL, I love lemon. The trouble is that I love lemon in dessert, which is definitely not healthy. I'd have to make a LOT of Colleen's lemon curd, then eat it, then make some more to hide the fact that I ate the first batch!

Annie

Following up once again... with my adventures in lemon....

Made @lascatx's pasta with brussel sprouts, bacon, and lemon --- had to use penne as I was out of orecchiette and didn't have time to make some (thought I had some). Quick, easy and delicious.

Broke the sugar open for Easter and baked some lemon meringue cupcakes (meringue was in too long by a few seconds) --- but used linda's lemon curd to fill a hollow cut out in each bit of cake. Had a ton of curd left over and made some mini tarts. Saving some more to use as filling with the vintage tomoeyaki/iwaganayaki pan I got recently. Also made coconut cupcakes and chocolate cupcakes with two different icings.

The soup, pancakes and other things are still left to try.... plenty of lemons, still... did make a lemon-orzo soup.

Lemon meringue? Yum, my favorite pie is lemon meringue. Now I need to pick up ricotta for those pancakes....

I made meringues with lemon curd for Easter dessert too, or rather, the Monkey Princess did. They were delicious but got soggy after being filled for a couple of hours....

Annie