By Robyn Valli
There is the existence of a lemon tree in every home garden I have known. I have many childhood memories of the huge Eureka lemon tree that grew at the back door of one of our houses. It was the biggest tree in our yard and produced so many lemons, our family, friends, and neighbours never went without.
My grandmother was an excellent cook and used these enormous lemons in many dishes. I remember the taste of her wonderful lemon cheesecakes, made with the large fresh eggs from our ducks. The family Labrador would find the eggs scattered in hard-to-reach places throughout the property, she would gently cradle them in her mouth and present them to my mother, to be scooped up and given to Grandma for immediate use in one of her recipes. The lemons and eggs were often made into delicate pancakes, created in Gram’s incredibly old ‘heavy’ pan. Once cooked and tossed, the pancakes would be rolled, dusted with sugar, and given generous squeezes of lemon juice. Yum!
When purchasing our current home my husband and I were incredibly pleased to see another huge old Eureka lemon tree in the backyard. Now we too can continue to enjoy this marvellous fruit and share them with our family, friends, and neighbours.