My parents brought a dozen meyer lemons from their tree in San Francisco. Used some in salad dressing, been putting them in water glasses. I’m not used to having lemons around.  Do you keep lemons always? For what? Can I freeze the zest of the last three? Can I just freeze lemon slices? I know their days are numbered.

And, also, we have five scotch bonnets and there is no way I can eat them on my own and N. is leaving me for almost a week. What to do? Make some kind of salsa? Pickle them? Dry them?

PS, from the eat your vegetables department, mystery greens (Mr. Prince, the gardener up the street, calls it spinach, but it isn’t. More kale-y) cooked up with mint, leftover brown rice, a dash of habanero powder that Paul gave us for some reason. (You know I’m the last one to say that a gift has to be new, but there must be a story behind half a jar of powdered spice with the label faded and wearing off.) It was most excellent. Mmm, and some Parmesan.  I am going to have to start working on my protein intake, I think. I tend to just assume that they’re right when they say most Americans eat too much protein and I shouldn’t fret.  And, um, ice cream with almonds is a good source of protein, right? That is my other new trick, salted almonds in my ice cream.  I finished Reading Lolita in Tehran which is the subject of one strangely obtuse and contentious wikipedia entry, and which features a narrator who regularly pours cold coffee over toasted walnuts and ice cream and which, somehow for me turned into salted almonds and ice cream. And looking more closely at what I can learn from fiction.