Lemons and Oranges and Grapefruit…Oh, My!

I love citrus. From the lowest—Mandarin oranges in a can—to the most high—the wedge of fresh lime in a perfectly balanced gin-and-tonic--citrus makes everything better. Peeled and eaten out of hand, oranges and grapefruits leave a lovely scent memory long after the juicy treat is gone. When someone on the bus breaks open a plastic clamshell or digs around in a rattly plastic bag, I just want to scream. But peel an orange? I go straight to my happy place. Zesting, squeezing, or dissecting supremes makes the preparation of a dish more fun. The tools are great; a Microplane zester is a thing of genius. The old-school reamer should be in any museum of design. And that crafty spoon with the serrated end for eating grapefruit? No home is complete without one. Marmalade classes up a humble piece of toast. Candied peel makes a childish cupcake grow up. Clementines arrive up here in the North in our winter, a blast of sunshine in an old-school wooden crate, to remind us warmth will return. Limes saved many a British sailor from scurvy. Citrus is God’s way of saying, “There, there…everything’s going to be all right.”