If Life Gives You Japanese Lemons...

Okay, so it wasn't life, per se. It was our neighbor who gave us some Japanese lemons from the tree in her yard.

When our neighbor Nakagawa-san brought the two lemons to me, she said they were "Japanese lemons, not like Sunkist." I wasn't sure exactly what that meant, but I thanked her. The lemons were smaller than most Sunkist lemons, but appeared to have a thinner skin. There were stems with a leaf attached to each one as well (until Sydney got ahold of them). One thing is for sure, they were guaranteed to be fresher than any Sunkist I've ever had, since they didn't have far to go.

Well, leave it to Brian to ask me later what Japanese people do with them. It didn't occur to me to ask her. I know restaurants often serve lemon tea (black tea with lemon added). Americans like lemon tea, too, so I guess I assumed Japanese people use their lemons similarly. Therefore, when I was making dinner last night, in lieu of American lemon, I squeezed half of a Japanese lemon over our garlic shrimp (which was delicious, by the way.)

Then I decided to cut a slice and put it to my lips for a taste. It was definitely sweeter than an American lemon. A welcome difference, if you ask me. So, if life ever gives me lemons, I hope they will be the Japanese variety.

"See, looks like a lemon. Tastes like a lemon! Wonder what this green thing is."