Peter, Paul and Mary
At first puckering taste the fruit of the poor lemon may seem to be impossible to eat just as the unplanned disappointments of life may seem to be impossible to swallow. Add a little sugar and the lemon becomes the spark to enliven not just the refreshing ade but many a dish from soups to main courses like lemon chicken to desserts (I'm thinking lemon bars.*) It's acidity is nutritional, as well as cleansing and flavor enhancing. In addition to its culinary benefits, the lemon is also a good antimicrobial agent. So how did such a useful fruit get such a bad rap and become associated with less than desirable outcomes and defective goods? Perhaps like many of life's experiences because it did not meet initial expectations, it was tossed off as not quite up to snuff. It takes a more in depth understanding of its virtues and a little tweaking to see its gifts.
We write the scripts of our lives continually, envisioning how events need to play out so that we can be happy, successful, healthy, accepted.... And when life hands us a lemon instead of our created script, we pucker up in distaste and reject out of hand the disappointment as a bad thing. So you didn't get that job promotion or raise like you were expecting, the doctor didn't have the news you wanted to hear, your significant other leaves, you lose your house? None of these are pleasant or desired chapters in our ongoing life scripts and certainly not something we would ever put in our life plans. BUT, they offer us something of far greater value than the perceived gap in our carefully planned script. They offer us the chance to grow up and get over ourselves. What a terrible burden to be enslaved by our carefully groomed self-importance day in and day out. It takes tremendous energy to keep it going. "Lemons" give us a chance to cleanse our palates from ourselves and see life from a different perspective than our pre-crafted one. We are very limited in our understanding and vision. "Lemons" bring us up short and make us take stock of where we are and where we think we want to go. They also give us a chance to see what kind of "cooks" we really are. How skilled are we in being able to make the lemon palatable? How creative and nimble are we to be able to detect the nuance of flavor opportunities amid the sharp jolt to our taste? To make something desirable out of adversity brings more satisfaction than breezing through with nary a scratch on our expectations. To know that we are equal to the task is to put a chink in fear's armor. We are worthy and capable of handling all that life can throw at us without having to flinch or sell ourselves short. We are greater than we know and we are more powerful than any script that we could ever write.
Humility grows out of such "lemon" encounters. I know a woman who is a long time breast cancer survivor who has seen many of her friends die from this disease through the years. She told me that her attitude was always one of "why not me?' instead of the usual wail of "why me?" It is a tiny shift, just the addition of one three letter word but that spins the whole meaning and attitude. Why not me to lose my job? Why not you to lose your house? Why not? Are we any more special than someone who has had this misfortune? To expect life to be fair according to our standards is a fool's game. To be really honest with you - I am glad that life has not been as fair with me as I would have demanded. When the self-imposed fog lifted around my carefully planned script and I started to get over myself, it became apparent to me that I had not been as innocent as I would have liked to believe. Thank goodness, life is more benevolent and did not mete out justice as I would have expected. The gift of "lemons" is that they shatter the smooth taste of our lives and give us the opportunity to see life in all its true glory. Personally, I can't think of a sweeter gift.
Recipe from Taste of Home: www.tasteof home.com/Recipes/Lemon-Bars
*Lemon Bars Recipe
This dessert is a delightful recipe from my mother's file. I've been serving it for many years. The bars have a wonderful tangy flavor, and they're always a hit. For variety of color and shape, they're a nice addition to a platter of cookies. —Etta Soucy, Mesa, Arizona
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Recipe from Taste of Home: www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Lemon-Bars
Prep: 10 min. Bake: 45 min. + cooling
Yield: 9 Servings
55 Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
- FILLING:
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
- Additional confectioners' sugar
Directions
- In a bowl, combine the flour, butter and confectioners' sugar. Pat into an ungreased 8-in. square baking pan. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes.
- For filling, in a small bowl, beat eggs. Add the sugar, flour, baking powder, lemon juice and peel; beat until frothy. Pour over the crust. Bake 25 minutes longer or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners' sugar. Cut into bars. Yield: 9 servings.
Nutritional Facts 1 serving (1 each) equals 263 calories, 11 g fat (7 g saturated fat), 74 mg cholesterol, 140 mg sodium, 38 g carbohydrate, trace fiber, 3 g protein.
Originally published as Lemon Bars in Reminisce May/June 1996, p49
