Last Monday night, I dutifully put my jar of lemon preserves in the fridge door on the anniversary of its creation.
It has spent the last week chilling and enjoying its new home. The next few weeks of this journey may not be particularly thrilling, but I am excited to use the final product. And the journey is still interesting – I have noticed some changes in my preserves’ temperament already.
When the jar first went into the fridge, the rinds still looked like those of a regular lemon. They were bright yellow and (though I didn’t touch them to test this) seemed hard, still.
But now, they’re starting to soften up a bit, as Abby said would happen. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of last week, before going in the fridge, and the jar as it stands today:
As you can see, they’ve lost some of their bright color, and they look a bit squishier.
The other big difference I’ve noticed is the juice. It’s cloudier, and looks thicker, as if it’s been absorbing the life of the rinds. There’s also a lot of pulp sitting at the bottom of the jar, so I suppose the lemon is starting to fall apart.
I mentioned my skepticism last week, and I am still confused about how this is going to become a spreadable, cook-able condiment. I’m not quite sure how I feel about just eating pure lemon rind. But since the rinds have seemingly gotten softer in just a week, I assume by the end of the three-week fridge period, they’ll be more of a jelly – I mean, preserve! – consistency.
I’m curious how much change there really will be from week to week with the jar sitting in the fridge. But, we shall see!
This blog is part of a series documenting the progress of my lemon preserves, which I created at a Moishe House Northern Virginia event.
To read the introductory post, click here.
To read Week 1, click here.
To read Week 3, click here.
To read Taste Test, click here.
