We recently moved into our new home, and to my delight we have a LEMON TREE! (Hopefully the “Lemon Tree” song by Fool’s Garden won’t be stuck in your head now) Anyway, it turns out that the previous owner never bothered to pick the lemons, so the tree was literally overflowing with these sour little fruits! Well, I don’t particularly enjoy eating lemons ‘fresh from the tree’, so I had to come up with a few interesting ideas to reinvent lemons. Here is what I came up with:
Beauty Treatments:
Lemon Juice is the key to lightening age spots and freckles. Its powerful acid action really does the trick. To exfoliate dead skin and diminish the appearance of freckles and age spots, gently rub a cut lemon and 1/2 teaspoon sugar granules over the skin for a few minutes. Repeat at least once a week until the darkened areas fade. Or simply sit with a slice of lemon applied directly to the area for ten minutes. Repeat once a week until spots fade.
Get Rid of Blackheads If you rub lemon juice on the area with your blackheads, it should make them disappear. Do this every night and rinse with cool water in the morning until blackheads are gone.
Make a moisturizing mask for dry skin by mixing equal amounts of honey, lemon and olive oil. Apply the mixture to dry areas on the skin and allow it to dry thoroughly for about 10 minutes. Rinse with warm water.If your skin is sensitive to the citric acid in lemons, you can dilute the juice with some water. Using a cotton ball to apply is the best way. Try not to use lemon juice on your skin before any sun exposure since it will make your skin more sensitive to the sun.
Natural hair highlights – Make a solution of ½ cup of lemon juice added to 1 cup of water. Rinse your hair with this solution and wait in the sunshine until your hair dries. Lemon juice is a natural highlighter.
Recipes:
Make a lemon preserve – see recipe here
Grilled Shrimp and Lemon Kebabs – see recipe here
Prevent browning – Avocados will remain green if sprinkled with lemon juice. The juice protects the avocado from oxidation and browning.
Cleaning:
Cleaning marble – Marble is porous and can stain easily. To remove tough stains, take half a lemon and dip the exposed side into salt. Then, rub the lemon over the stain vigorously. You’ll be surprised how effective it is.
Auto-clean your microwave – If the inside of your microwave has tough-to-remove dirt, use this trick. Put 1 1/2 cups of water with 3 tablespoons of lemon juice into bowl and place it into the microwave. Heat it for 10 minutes, and the steam will make the dirt come off easily with a washcloth.
For the Home
Sweet smelling smoke – When you’re lighting the fireplace, throw some lemon rinds into the fire. It will create a pleasant aroma.
Get rid of ants – This is an easy way to get rid of ants inside your home without resorting to insecticides. Spray some lemon juice in the areas where you spot them. If you can find where the ants entering on the outside of your house, place some lemon rinds there. The ants will not come back.
So, if life hands you lemons…you can beautify yourself, clean your microwave or make shrimp kebabs…you don’t HAVE to make lemonade! ;)
Sources:
Taste.Explore.Live 
