Preserved Lemons

I am most grateful for all the lovely suggestions from several lovely Blippers of things to do with our embarrassment of lemons! Limoncello might be next since my 'Italian' niece makes it herself and it is really much nicer than the kind you buy readymade in bottles. It never fails to remind me of stopping at the Autogrille, the Howard Johnson's of the Autostrada, on the way to Milan and seeing all the truck drivers throwing back limoncello shots at the bar!
Italian traffic is so insane, that the thought of burly truck drivers drunk on limoncello seems almost charming....

I love lemon curd and have made it quite successfully back in the mists of time, but it takes a bit of work and I'd like to find a way to preserve it. I had a student in Berkeley who made all kinds of preserves and marmalades and jams and once made a delicious batch of lemon curd, but the part she gave me got eaten long before there was any worry about preservation. Her name was June Taylor (NOT the dancer she always said) and I see her products in markets from time to time, so I don't suppose she is selling products out of her Oakland kitchen anymore....

I'm not much of a fan of marmalade although I liked the big copper and brass marmalade pots I saw in Scotland almost enough to acquire one and try my hand at making some....These are Meyer lemons, sweeter than regular lemons and would probably make a very nice marmalade. Too bad I never bought one of those lovely copper cauldrons.

Brass and copper reminds me of one more use for lemons. When I was in India I bought a little brass and copper pot with Indian figures incised in it. The fellow I bought it from, who had a little shop filled from floor to ceiling with brass and copper vessels, said he kept them all polished with a combination of salt and lemon. He described the process which I have used with great success on many occasions....

I think in honor of 'lemon week'  I shall forego my glass of wine and have a nice gin and tonic...a 'cheeky' one as Winchwench suggests. It is warm enough to sit outside, at least until the mosquitoes drive us in, and it sounds just the thing...I have a bottle of Bombay Sapphire. I don't know what Queen Victoria is doing on the label (and her traditional dour expression doesn't indicate that she thinks much of the contents) but I do find the label alone worthy of investing in a nice blue bottle.

I wonder if you can make limoncello with it?