When Life Hands You Leftover Lemon Rinds….

You can still make lemonade – really.

But let’s back up for a second. As you may have noticed, I cook a lot with lemons – both lemon zest and lemon juice. I don’t like to throw out the lemon rinds before using them a second time. Here are some ideas:

1. Lemon-infused tea – boil the rinds in water until you have a rolling boil, add teabag of your choice. I especially like doing this when I make a lemon or orange tea, but also when I make green tea. The lemon in the water adds an extra dimension to the fragrance of the tea. Serve hot or chilled. Assume rind of one full lemon per two to three cups of water.

2. Super-fancy lemon mint tea – I do that if I make a recipe with mint and have leftover leaves – boil the lemon rinds, then pour the water over the mint leaves. Serve hot or chilled. If you make a large quantity, you can leave the mint leaves in the tea and store in the fridge for a couple of days. Any longer, though, I would recommend removing the leaves. Also assume rind of one full lemon per two to three cups of water.

3. Lemonade – while the two above recipes can be done with the rind of just one lemon, this requires at least 2 per 2 to 3 cups of water. Also, you will have to squeeze one lemon because you will need the juice. Boil the lemon rinds, add sweetener of your choice, let cool. Add lemon juice and, if desired, a touch of sparkling water for fizz.

4. Clean your stove – I am not kidding about this, though it’s not a recipe like the above – sprinkle salt or baking soda on the lemon pulp, and scrub. It really works, especially if your stove is still slightly warm – you will be amazed how fast the grease stains come off then.

Another use I am thinking of is adding lemon towards the end of making chicken broth. Have you tried it? Do you have any uses for leftover lemon rinds? It may seem like a silly little thing, but it’s an easy way to stretch the use of an item just a little further.