Juice! Zest!

Happy-maker number two, a citrus juicer. I have one much like this one that we bought at an antique shop while on vacation. It's not often used, but it makes me happy just the same. I like the weight of it in my hand. When I bake anything requiring lemon, orange or lime juice or zest I pull it out and juice away. I've never used it to make a pitcher of fresh juice, that seems like an entirely overwhelming process. Actually, come to think of it, I have used it to make fresh lemonade. Which leads me to another simple happiness...

Do not underestimate the power of freshly zested or juiced citrus in your cooking and baking! It's requires no particular skill and perhaps just a few extra minutes and does truly improve the fresh crisp taste of citrus as opposed to purchased juice or zest.

A citrus juicer is one of those things that is usually only found in "established" homes. You know what I mean, no one particularly remembers where it came from but in some houses if you were to ask for it, someone could find your a citrus juicer and it would probably be a lovely heavy glass one with a little handle on one side and a spout on the other. The citrus juicer might not be used for a decade, but there it will be. The new home of a person furnished entirely with new purchases will not have a juicer. And it certainly needs one, in order to be counted as a real home. It's in the Bible.

In addition to the old fashioned juicer, I recommend a zester and a reamer. Both inexpensive and easily found at Target, K-Mart, etc. At right you see a reamer and a microplane which can be used to zest.

Carry on.