Word of the Day

Zeebi - A word used to show a feeling of joy.

I went to the citrus grove yesterday. I bought a box of lemons and a box of oranges. There were 72 lemons in that box of lemons. I know because I counted them. I know because I peeled them. I know because I juiced them. I used the peel of 72 lemons to make Limoncello. I should be more specific, I suppose. I used the zest of 72 lemons to make my Limoncello. You don't use the entire peel. The white pith of the peel would make the Limoncello bitter. Oh...and you have to add Vodka and Everclear...of course. Limoncello is an Italian liqueur and you just can't have liqueur without liquor. So, last night I started two double batches of Limoncello. I have to stir every week for 40 days....or maybe more. It all depends. The last batch I made took longer. Anyway, so I finished "peeling" my lemons and still had 72 nude lemons sitting in my sink. I suppose I could have tossed the lemons into the garbage and went to bed since it was getting a bit late but....my Grandmother and my Mom were standing at my shoulder with such disapproving looks on their faces. I dug out my juicer. I juiced 72 lemons with a resultant 16 cups of juice. I know because I had to measure out the juice into tupperware so I could freeze it. 12 - 1 cup containers and 2 - 2 cup containers. I have no idea what I'm going to do with all that lemon juice. Maybe I'll bring some to my Mom.

This morning as I sipped on the one and only cup of coffee that I allow myself each morning, I "peeled" 30 oranges and juiced them. My sister and I thought it would be interesting to make a Limoncello-style liqueur with oranges. I haven't counted all the oranges. I decided to stop at 30 oranges this morning because 1.) I've got a huge blister on the palm of my hand from all that peeling and 2.) when I juiced the oranges I ended up with four quarts of orange juice. HTP and I finished up 16 oz. of the pulpy juice this morning. At this point, I decided that maybe I should have strained out a bit more of the stuff. So, after breakfast I got out my sieve and strained out the pulp only to add back a bit because I do like orange juice with some pulp. However, HTP and #1 Son do now still have lots of orange juice. Sweet orange juice. Maybe I should add a bit of lemon juice to it.

Oh...and all my lemons and oranges were culls...seconds...if you want to call them that. The oranges didn't have a single seed and they were really huge. And these were the not so pretty, not so uniform, not so perfect oranges and lemons? Could have fooled me. Whatever. They don't taste any different and no-one is going to be looking at them now that I've peeled them and juiced them. Best of all? It didn't cost me all that much to buy them. They told me that there was 40 pounds of fruit per box. HTP quibbled a bit about the cost but when I told him that the grocery store charges $1 for four waxed Sunkist lemons...on sale...I figured that I got a deal when I paid $6.50 for 72 organic un-waxed lemons. Who needs all that wax in their Limoncello? I paid a bit more for the oranges but I really don't think that $8.50 for 40 pounds of oranges is all that unreasonable. And...I'll have used every edible portion of each of my lemons and oranges. Waste not, want not.

Murphyism of the Day

O'Brien's Principle (The $357.73 Theory)

Auditors always reject any expense account witha bottom line divisible by five or ten.

Noteworthy Quote of the Day

Eight more days and I can start telling the truth again. -- Sen. Chris Dodd (D, Conn.), discussing campaigning on the Don Imus show.