Recently, I went on a binge of epic proportions. Lest you think I need rehab, like Mr. In-the-News-Constantly-These-Days, my over the top indulgence stopped as soon as my body got its fill of Vitamin C. Or at least that’s what I’m blaming my behavior on, for now.
You see, I suddenly starting craving anything and everything bitter. Teeth-hurting, salivary-glands-burning, eating raw lemon peels (with the pith!) kind of bitterness. I began drinking pure unsweetened cranberry juice, but required something more.
So I made pucker worthy whole-lemon lemon bars, the ones you see in the photo above, from this David Lebovitz recipe. They were so bitter, my family left them for me to eat. I wish I had a picture of my son’s face when he tried one.
I canned extraordinarily bitter/sweet lime marmalade with ripe (therefore yellow) Persian limes from our tree, and another batch with limes from the farmers market, using Shuna Fish Lydon’s formula for lime marmalade (scroll down through the comments on her page to find the ratio for limes). I couldn’t stop eating it straight from the jar by the heaping spoonful, but I wasn’t quite ready to admit I needed help – not just yet.
I candied a Buddha’s Hand from our tree, and though it was delicious, I found it too sweet to satisfy my cravings. So I ordered Meyer Lemon marmalade from the queen of preserves, June Taylor. And I signed up for a marmalade making class with her, and almost burst into tears when I found I had to wait until April. This was when I first realized I might be out of control.
Fantasies of multi-colored citrus peels filled my daydreams. Pectin made from the membranes, oh my! Wait. Maybe that was reality. It’s so hard to tell when you’re overdosing.
Thankfully, none too soon, a day arrived when the lemon bars tasted bitter enough that I only wanted one. The lime marmalade began to seem like something needing homemade sourdough English muffins to go with it, which slowed its entry into my bloodstream. I stopped begging my blood oranges to ripen, and am now content to wait until they’re ready on their own to be made into marmalade.
I got over it. It’s passed. I’m thankful that my body got what needed and moved on. Because that was scary, man. I couldn’t even find a rehab facility devoted to those who crave bitterness.
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It’s been awhile since we last “spoke” on Twitter and I miss you! Caught up on your previous posts and I’m sorry to read about your “warranty” problems….I guess the cravings for bitterness is a consequence/related to that? Hope you’re feeling better now xo
How wonderful to hear from you, Danielle, and to see your new site – it looks amazing. But your work is always amazing, so that doesn’t surprise me.