Another Duh moment in the kitchen.

We LOVE fresh squeezed lemonade in our home. I have used the leftover rinds for scrubbing, freshening up my disposal and feeding my compost bin. But now I have another use, saving dried lemon zest for flavoring my cooking. 

I start with squeaky clean lemons. I use my smallest feature on my wonderful multi-faceted grater and grate to the pith.

I spread it out on a glass plate and pop it in the microwave for 30 seconds once or twice depending on how many lemons I have done. Then I let it sit on the plate for a few hours in my gas oven (not on) to be sure the moisture is gone. Simply pop it in a jar and you are done. I recommend opening the jar from time to time and sniffing. Heavenly! 

Here are some muffins we made with our zest and our homemade yogurt!

Here is a link to the recipe I used, Lemon poppyseed muffins.  I used my plain yogurt, so I added a teaspoon of lemon extract. I have cast iron muffin pans, and they give the muffins such a nice crisp bottom. I totally love that, and as you can see, so does Wolfie, my assistant in the kitchen!