I like lemons.  I don’t understand why they got that bad rap.  What about, when life gives you rotten eggs?  Now, I can’t think of a single good thing about rotten eggs.  Rats eat those things, for goodness sake, I saw it in Charlotte’s Web.

Lemons, on the other hand, make the judges on Chopped salivate.  “Oh, this dish lacks acidity, if only you had put a little lemon in it.”  And making lemonade?  Well, I realize that is the grand solution to “life giving you lemons”, but seriously, if lemons were lousy would kids everywhere nag their mothers for some fresh-squeezed or even Country Time lemonade?

Once I made a dish that called for lemon zest.  I told the people dining at my table, my then-husband and my seven-year-old son, that the recipe instructed me to add a flourish of lemon zest as the last ingredient, but I had not had any lemons.  They looked at me fish-eyed as though to say, “Why are you telling us this?” and wolfed the whole thing down, seconds and all, practically licking their plates.  I felt pretty smug until my kid said, “Gosh, Mom, this would have been just perfect if you’d added a little lemon zest right at the end.”

They cracked up.  Clearly a conspiracy!  But they were so right!

I suppose lemons being sour gave rise to this status as undesirable.  We make lemonade by starting with simple syrup, which contains a boatload of sugar.  But the brightness of lemons cannot be overlooked.  They adorn any bowl in which they might be nestled, and who doesn’t like a lemon freshener on one’s tired skin?

I say, forget lemonade, the sugar will rot your teeth.  If life gives you lemons, be thankful.  The prize for winning Chopped is $10,000.00, and nobody wins without adding lemon.

I added this just for you, Aneal.