lemon juice

If you plan on making lemonade or a batch of cocktails that require fresh citrus juice, be sure to use citrus that is at room temperature. According to Food & Wine Cocktails 09, refrigerated citrus will yield up to a third less liquid than fruit at room temperature. To bring cold citrus to room temperature quickly, soak the fruit in really hot water for five minutes before squeezing. Ironically enough, when a recipe calls for citrus zest it's best to use the fruit right out of the fridge.

Do you normally store your lemons, limes, and oranges on the counter or in the fridge?

• One farmer on why she grows rhubarb and what dessert she likes to make with it. — The Atlantic
• Classic pasta carbonara inspires this scrumptious potato salad recipe. — Chow
• What exactly is a hot brown? — Epicurious
• Use lemon juice to naturally brighten dishes. — The Kitchn
• Surprisingly these classic cocktail recipes from the 1940s seem totally modern. — Gourmet
• Despite the swine flu, consumers can still eat pork. — Serious Eats

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I was at my vacation house when an intense craving for homemade waffles hit. Since it was snowing heavily, we had to make waffles with the ingredients in the kitchen. The recipe called for buttermilk, and rather than find another recipe, I decided to make the simple substitution for buttermilk that is a combination of milk and lemon juice.

Here's the easy recipe:

1. Place a tablespoon of lemon juice in a liquid measuring cup.
2. Add enough milk to bring the liquid up to the one-cup line.
3. Let stand for five minutes. Then, use as much as your recipe calls for.

I needed two cups of buttermilk, so I started with two tablespoons of fresh lemon juice and then filled it up with milk. The waffles turned out perfectly and were insanely comforting.

Have you ever used this substitution for buttermilk?

At the Governors Ball, the majority of the stars will be sipping sparkling wine, so stock up on more affordable bottles of Cava or Prosecco. Place wine buckets around the room and fill with ice and bottles. Arrange champagne flutes or saucers nearby. Besides sparkling wine, three specialty cocktails will be poured at the Oscars afterparty. Select one to serve your friends. I like the Golden Rush, a concoction made with orange-flavored vodka, lemon juice, and sparkling wine.

Instead of mixing one libation at a time, prepare a large pitcher. For those who don't drink, serve a mocktail of cranberry juice mixed with lime soda. To check out the recipe for the Golden Rush, read more

A few weeks ago I attended the closing gala for San Francisco's Cocktail Week. The event was a casual happy hour spotted with lovely specialty drinks by the talented Absinthe Bar bartenders. The party served as closure to the week, as well as a release party for Art of the Bar, a cocktail book by the Absinthe bartenders. So naturally, they were showing off some of their specialty drinks.

I was lucky enough to experience several different selections, but the one I was gaga for was called French 75 - a champagne cocktail made with gin and citrus juice. If you've never had one, treat yourself tonight. It's simple, it's classy, it's tasty. Get the recipe, just read more

We've all done it, we've bought lettuce with the perfectly good intention of turning it into salad, only instead of making a salad, we throw it in to the back of the fridge and forget about it for a while. We come back a few days later and find that the leaves look a bit sad and wilted. Well, what do you do? Do you toss it out? Nope! You soak it! Place washed lettuce leaves in a bowl (preferably stainless steel) filled with cold water, lemon juice and ice cubes. Soak for an hour in the refrigerator, then drain, dry and enjoy! Oh and let's be realistic here folks, if your lettuce is starting to turn to soggy mush, no amount of lemon juice is going to save it.

Yesterday I went to this massive picnic on a cattle ranch down in Bakersfield. The weather was wonderful and the beer was flowing. The hosts provided the main course while guests (over 200 of them) were asked to bring appetizers, salads, and desserts - which were then laid out on massive correctly-labeled flatbeds. I was delighted by the assortment of food, but overwhelmed at wanting to try it all. When it was dessert time, and I was making my way around the flatbed only tasting different and interesting looking desserts, I was about to pass up a bundt style yellow cake, but at the last minute went in for a bite and thank god I did! It was the best dessert on the table, a moist lemony melts in your mouth cake that was absolutely divine. I called over my friend Jon, who was tasting some brownies a little further down the buffet, and we both agreed that it was delicious and cut ourselves large porky pig portions of the cake. Now I can't stop thinking about lemon cakes and want to give this one a try. Mother's Day is coming up and this will be a great recipe to bookmark so read more