Lemon Yellow

At the moment, the only sign of colour in the garden, other than green and brown, is yellow....
A welcome harbinger of Spring!

The forsythia, which was the only flowering shrub in the garden, when we bought our home, is still going strong....

It is waning, but still leaves a pretty yellow carpet on the stone drive....

This time of year, I like to make lemon curd.....there is something clean and refreshing and uplifting about baking and eating something light, like lemon meringue pies or tarts....somewhat like Spring itself...

This recipe is my sister Micki's....she makes jars of this velvety, immensely smooth mixture...it is a tasty spread for toast or muffins, as well as a delicious filler.  I like to swirl it through fresh whipped cream, and serve it with blackberries on lemon sponge cake.....

The curd of course requires, the best lemons and its tartness will vary according to the lemons used and the sweetness of the juice....Meyer's lemons are perfect, if you can get them.....

I squeeze the lemons by hand with a reamer, because that is what I have at hand....
It is a good upper arm workout!

Roughly 20 ounces of juice will yield about six, eight ounce jars of lemon curd....

This vintage, green, depression glass measuring cup has been in my kitchen at the ready for many years...

The curd makes a great hostess gift.....

A little seal and ribbon add a thoughtful and personal touch to the jars....

It is amazing how quickly six jars will vanish from my kitchen!

The lower terrace, just yesterday..... some self seeded lamium, and shoots of hosta amidst the box, and off in the distance, the yellow forsythia, trumpeting the arrival of Spring!

Lemon Curd

3 eggs beaten
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 TB grated lemon rind
1/4 cup butter

In a small, heavy sauce pan, combine eggs, sugar, lemon juice, butter and rind.
Cook at just below a boil, stirring constantly until thick and bubbly and thick enough to coat a spoon about
fifteen minutes. Mixture will thicken when cool. Let cool and store in covered jars in the refrigerator.
This recipe makes about one and a half cups.

If you are going to make this, just adjust the recipe for more yield, as I always do!

Enjoy!!

N.xo