It’s a rare day that I’ll turn down the opportunity to bring a fun new gadget into my kitchen and make a bit of a mess. When the Citrus Spritzer came through the office, I jumped at the chance to test it out “in the field.” The little wonder’s claim to fame was that you simply pop it into your citrus fruit of choice and it will generate a light mist of citrus juice, as easy as spritzing water. I had a large bowl of citrus fruit at home, just waiting to be spritzed. It was fate.
I started with a small lemon, which I rolled gently on the counter to get the juices flowing. “Better give this little gadget a fighting chance,” I thought, skeptical that it could work. But lo! A couple pumps and I was getting perfect little puffs of lemon mist falling over my soon-to-be-sauteing green beans.
Find out what else it works on
As I’ve gotten older, I’ve learned that unless you live on the same block or work in nearby offices, it becomes harder and harder to ensure that you’re seeing friends on a regular basis. Add babies to the mix (as many of my generation have been doing lately) and it becomes even more challenging.
To combat this, I help organize a monthly potluck for some of my favorite folks, to ensure that we see each other with some regularity. Each month, we gather around one of our dining tables with dishes in hand and spend a few hours eating, drinking and catching up.
Because I’ve known this collection of couples for nearly a decade, they’ve eaten all my standby recipes, sometimes many times over. I regularly feel like I have to step up my contributions to our community table to keep things from getting boring.
For this month’s gathering, I went in search of a recipe that would feature the oranges, lemons and grapefruit currently in season. What I found was Giada’s Citrus Crostada. It’s a shortbread tart crust, filled with slightly sweetened mascarpone and topped with a homemade citrus jam. It was a hit with my friends and is perfect for The Weekender.
Before you start cooking your jam, here are a few tips »
