August is all about lemons!
It is home to not one, not two, but THREE lemon-centric holidays: National Lemonade Day, National Lemon Juice day, and National Lemon Meringue Pie Day. To help you celebrate these zesty holidays, Limoneira Spokesperson Megan Roosevelt has created delicious recipes that will be featured on the Limoneira YouTube channel and their other social media channels throughout August.
Don’t forget to subscribe – you will find plenty of videos there with more wonderful citrus recipes, tips and tricks not detailed in this release. To check out the how-to videos for these recipes, visit Limoneira’s YouTube Channel.
National Lemonade Day-August 20
The use of lemonade dates as far back as ancient Egypt. We’re all about this deliciously refreshing drink and plan to celebrate on National Lemonade Day, August 20th. Limoneira is a sponsor of Lemonade Day, a non-profit organization whose mission is to help prepare youth for life through fun, proactive and experiential programs infused with life skills, character education and entrepreneurship.
The foremost objective is to help today’s youth become the business leaders, social advocates, community volunteers and forward-thinking citizens of tomorrow. The great folks at Lemonade Day want to build self-esteem and new mindsets that can propel youth to success they likely would not have pursued otherwise.
Lemonade Day is a strategic lesson-based program that walks youth from a dream to a business plan while teaching them the same principles required to start any company. Inspiring kids to work hard and make a profit, they are also taught to spend some, save some and share some by giving back to their community. Since its launch in 2007 in Houston, Texas, Lemonade Day has grown from serving 2,700 kids in one city to 1 million children across North America. Lemonade Day sparks the spirit of entrepreneurship and empowers youth to set goals, work hard, and achieve their dreams. For more information please visit LemonadeDay.org.
National Lemon Meringue Pie Day is August 15 – To celebrate this sweet holiday, Megan has created a scrumptious Lemon Meringue Tart, that’s gluten-free. What’s the difference between a pie and a tart you ask? A tart never has a top crust, so it is perfect for lemon meringue.
Tart Crust Ingredients:
½ cup oat flour
½ cup tapioca flour
¼ cup soft coconut oil
2 tablespoons maple syrup
⅛ teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons ice-cold water
Meringue Ingredients:
3 egg whites (room temperature)
¼ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon lemon juice
Lemon Curd Filling Ingredients:
½ cup Limoneira classic lemon juice
1 whole egg
4 egg yolks
1 tablespoon vegan or traditional butter
½ cup sugar
Directions:
- Using a medium saucepan, bring water to a simmer. Add a glass bowl on top of saucepan and add your eggs, egg yolks, sugar and lemon juice.
- Whisk and cook over the simmering water. Make sure you are whisking constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat a spatula.
- Turn off the heat, add in butter and whisk until incorporated.
- Strain your mixture through a fine sieve and then cover and store in the fridge until you are ready to use!
Directions for the Tart:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Add the oat flour, tapioca flour, coconut oil and sea salt to a food processor and pulse until a crumbly mixture is formed. Then add the maple syrup and ice-cold water and pulse again until the dough starts to form.
- Press the dough into a ball and roll out between two non-stick surfaces, such as a silicone baking mat and some parchment paper.
- Add the dough to your tart pan and bake for 15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, add the egg whites to a mixing bowl and mix until they become frothy. Then add the lemon juice and keep whisking until soft peaks form. Finally, add the sugar slowly while whisking, and whisk until medium/soft peaks form.
- Once your tart has baked, add your lemon curd and then top with meringue. Bake at 425 degrees Fahrenheit for 10-15 minutes, until the top is lightly browned.
- Add some fresh lemon zest and enjoy!
National Lemonade Day is August 20 – What says summer more than lemonade and watermelon? A natural pairing, Limoneira has combined them to make Simply The Best Watermelon Lemonade!
Ingredients:
½ cup Limoneira lemon juice
½ cup sugar
4 cups chopped watermelon
3 cups hot water
Directions:
- Add the sugar, hot water and lemon juice to a large pitcher and stir to incorporate.
- Let the lemonade mixture chill.
- Add watermelon to a blender and blend until smooth.
- Strain blended watermelon through a fine sieve.
- Add the watermelon juice to the lemonade and stir to combine. Enjoy!
