Lemon Barley

Lately, I've noticed friends ordering a glass of water with a splash of Lime cordial rather than the usual slice of lime.  I had to try this for myself and discovered that it is really quite good.  It reminded me of a drink concentrate that my friends in Tauranga gave me over Christmas.  This all got me to thinking.....and all that thinking......an abundance of lemons in my fruit bowl.......and a six hour lack of internet service this morning lead to this.........Lemon Barley Water.

Little did I know....Barley Water is the official drink of Wimbledon.  While it is usually fruit flavoured......lemon appears to be very common. Now, although I am really happy with the way this turned out....... I am very curious to revisit this experiment with limes.

Lemon Barley Cordial

4-5 lemons (enough to make 1 cup of juice)
1/2 cup pot or pearl barley
1 1/3 cup sugar

Soften lemons by microwaving each one for 15 seconds.  Take and set aside the zest of 2 lemons.  Juice all lemons and set aside the juice which should be about 1 cup of liquid.  You may save the zest of the remaining two lemons for another use....it freezes well.
Put barley in a small sauce pan and cover with cold water.  Bring to a boil and then strain and discard the water.  Return the barley to the pot and add 1 1/2 cups boiling water to the strained barley.  Add the zest of two lemons to the pot and bring to a boil.  Cover pot and reduce heat to simmer and simmer with the lemon zest for 40 minutes.  This time strain the barley and keep the strained water.  You can discard the barley at this point or set it aside for another use.  Return the liquid to the pot and add sugar.  Stir to dissolve and boil for just a few minutes.  Add the lemon juice and return to a boil.  Bottle........an empty wine bottle works well for me.  Dilute cordial with water or soda water to taste.  I use about 4 to 5 parts water to 1 part syrup.  Keeps refrigerated up to 2 weeks.

Baked Eggs in Tomato

After a lot of thought about this month's challenge.......I settled on this recipe for baked eggs in tomato shells.  It is easy, straight forward, a little bit fun and kid friendly too.
Renata of Testado, Provado & Aprovado! was our Daring Cooks’ April 2011 hostess. Renata challenged us to think “outside the plate” and create our own edible containers! Prizes are being awarded to the most creative edible container and filling, so vote on your favorite from April 17th to May 16th at http://thedaringkitchen.com!

Baked Eggs in Tomatoes
4 large eggs
4 medium tomatoes
1/4 cup grated cheese
2 Tbsp crumbled bacon
pinch of parsley
pinch of salt and pepper

Slice the tops off of the tomatoes and scoop out and discard the insides.  Divide the grated cheese and bacon between each tomato and sprinkle inside.  Crack an egg into each tomato and top with parsley and salt and pepper.  Set in a shallow pan and bake at 425F for 20-35 minutes depending on how set you want the yolk to be.

Pink Hearts Doily

I've never been very fearful of trying to knit beyond my abilities.  After all, for the most part...... it's just purl or plain.  I just plug along and follow the instructions one after another until I'm done.  Crochet is a slightly different story for me.  My grandmother spent certainly more time knitting with me.......I must have been around 13 years old by the time I asked her to show me how to crochet.  The first thing I made was a huge zigzag afghan.  I had made a mistake on the bottom corner and it took me a few more rows to realize my mistake.  But, by that point..... there was no stopping me.... I carried on and finished that afghan and it sat in my mom's house for many years with it's odd extra floppy bit hanging off the corner.  I did not crochet another thing until 3 years ago.  Like knitting, I figured with only one live stitch......I could probably figure it out.  While I am 'good' at neither knitting or crochet....I get by.  I find you tube videos most helpful when I get stuck, and try to understand what the pattern is trying to accomplish to help understand what it is trying to get across.  I had a heck of a time understanding what the last row of this latest project meant........but I think I figured it out by staring at the photo of the finished project......and now it's done.  I was over, catching up, with Lazy Kate when the gorgeous job she had done on her crocheted doily prompted me to try something simple...which started my search for an easy project like this one.  I have been working my way down in thread size......almost to the point of using those nasty steel crochet hooks.  Yes, I am feeling a bit intimidated.....but I'll get there sooner or later.   I do have an enormous stash of crochet thread collected from thrift shops over the last few years....and it seriously needs to be used up. Crochet thread really is expensive!  Hmmmm.....I'm starting to sound like my grandmother already:)

This pattern was found at Purple Kitty Yarns on the internet for free.  It looked to be pretty basic, and quick. With the heavy (it called for a 3.5mm hook) cotton thread I used, it finished up at 8 inches in diameter.   Next I will try it again (now that I think I know what I'm doing) with a slightly smaller thread size.  When I finished this doily last night..... the first thing that I thought of was 'Oh... I'd better starch this before I take a picture of it....or grama would be mortified'.  So I pinned it to my ironing board and sprayed it to dampen it and then gave it a little spray with the spray starch.  Not as starched as grama's, but it did neaten it up a bit........So grama wouldn't have to be so embarrassed for me.