When Life Gives You Lemons...

Make lemonade!

I will never forget the first time I saw lemon trees in Israel. I was 16, and I remember thinking how amazing it was that people who lived on the Kibbutz we were visiting could eat lemons and avocados straight from the tree, every day. I remember being introduced to carob during the same trip, and being amazed that something that tasted so much like chocolate existed...and grew on trees! I'll also never forget hiking in Cinque Terre, Italy, and being among lemon trees lining the Mediterranean.

When you're some place that beautiful, you can't help but feel completely and utterly beautiful yourself.

Unfortunately, I live pretty far from both Italy and Israel. This week it's FREEZING in Philadelphia, so I decided to go to my favorite local produce store on Sunday, before it got too cold, to buy as many fresh fruits and vegetables as I could carry. Citrus is in season right now, so I grabbed a bunch of lemons to help cheer up my apartment during this cold, dreary week.

Here are 18 things you can do with lemons:

1) Slice them and put them in your water for some added flavor, color and Vitamin C. They'll give your water some more taste and help you ward off a cold.

2) Put leftover lemon slices to good use by throwing them down your garbage disposal. It will make your whole kitchen smell fresh.

3) Display them in a big bowl in the middle of your table. They'll brighten up your whole room.

4) Meyer lemons are really hot right now for some reason. Read about them here on Serious Eats, or get some tips from this Los Angeles Times article, "100 Things to Do with a Meyer Lemon."

5) Squeeze some fresh lemon juice on fish with some salt and pepper.

6) Use lemon juice as a green, chemical-free way to clean your silver (I've never tried this but I've heard that it works).

7) Make this Lemon-Scented Quinoa Salad recipe from 101 Cookbooks (one of my favorite blogs).

8) Exfoliate your feet by mixing lemon pulp and brown sugar. Rub and rinse.

9) Scrub your wooden cutting boards with lemon juice and salt to keep them fresh.

10) Use the juice from a lemon as a salad dressing (or mix it with olive oil and a little bit of honey).

11) Keep bugs away by squirting some lemon juice around pet food to deter ants, cockroaches and fleas.

12) After your washing machine is full with water, add some lemon juice to whiten clothes. It will also make them smell nice and fresh.

13) If you need to freshen your breath and you don't have anything minty, rinse your mouth with lemon juice.

14) Prevent apples from turning brown by tossing them in some fresh lemon juice. I like to serve cheese with apples instead of crackers, and this makes it easy to keep them bright and crispy while I have company over.

15) Put lemon juice in an ice cube tray and freeze - then use the "lemon" cubes in drinks.

16) Make David Lieberman's White Sangria: Use 2 bottles of chilled white wine, 1 cup brandy, 2 sliced navel oranges, 1 sliced lemon, 1 sliced lime, 1 sliced pear, and 1/4 cup superfine sugar. Pour wine and brandy over fruit and sugar in a large serving bowl. Stir until the sugar is dissolved.

17) Put some sliced lemons in your green tea for a boost of anti-oxidants. I love Yogi Green Tea from Trader Joe's - and I don't even typically like green tea!

18) Try making this Lemon Risotto recipe from ItalianVegetarian.blogspot.com.

Treatment of the Day: When life hands you lemons (figuratively or literally), try your best to make lemonade.

Question of the Day: What do you do with lemons?