Working Girl Cooks!

Whew! It’s been quite a whirlwind week! Eddie and I have been quite the little socialites. We have been going out non-stop since last Thursday and I haven’t had a second to work on my blog or even do any cooking! Last Thursday we went out with our friends Veronica and Bryan to Trivia Night at Rogue Ale House in North Beach. Friday we went over to Miranda’s for drinks, Saturday we had friends over for dinner and game night, Sunday we went Wine Tasting in Napa with Miranda and Devin, Monday was our first year anniversary so we had dinner at Ame, Tuesday we went to Zarzuela, a Spanish tapas restaurant with Veronica and Bryan, and tonight we are going over to Tam and Cam’s (yes they have rhyming names) to hang out and watch Lost. Not that I’m complaining or anything.  I love hanging out with my friends. I’m just saying I have an excuse for it being kind of quiet around here. You know…because I must have an excuse….because….because…..I don’t know I just do okay!

Oooh! And if that isn’t enough of an excuse I got a new job as well! It’s supposed to be a part-time job helping this start-up software company in the Real Estate vertical hire four new people but right now it’s more than a full time job. There is just so much to get done. So that has been keeping me busy busy busy. Not that I’m complaining or anything…..I mean…I have a job….which is nothing to complain about in this economy!

Well, in the midst of all my busyness I did find some time to pick up some very ripe Meyer lemons at the farmers market. I used one lemon in this delicious dish I will tell you about later and the other three I decided to preserve. There is a ton of info and recipes for preserving lemons and after browsing through it all for about three days I decided to go with the easiest version.

To preserve the lemons you first make sure they are scrubbed clean. Then cut them into quarters, but not all the way through. You want to keep the lemon intact at the end. Stuff the lemon with kosher salt and stuff them in a jar. Make sure you squish them down there so that all the yummy juices begin to flow. I added some salt in the jar between squishing lemons for good measure as well. Once you are done with your lemon squishing you should have squished lemons covered in lemon juice. If there isn’t enough juice to cover the lemons, add a bit extra from extra lemons (they don’t have to be meyer lemons). Close the jar and let it sit for a few days at room temperature. Then transfer to the fridge and let it sit for a few weeks. The lemons are ready to use when the peel is really soft and tender.

I’ll let you know how mine turn out in a few weeks! In the meantime, check out these websites on preserving meyer lemons.

http://www.elise.com/recipes/archives/001815how_to_make_preserved_lemons.php

http://countingsheep.typepad.com/amuse_bouche/2008/02/preserved-meyer.html

http://www.davidlebovitz.com/archives/2006/12/moroccan_preser_1.html

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Preserved-Meyer-Lemons-102747