Parmesan-Panko Zucchini Fries

So! We had these with our burgers last night and my goodness they were tasty. My only problem was that I should have salted the zucchini before breading them. The recipe I had used did actually suggest salting both the flour and the egg. So that's what I am going to do next time.

Parmesan-Panko Zucchini Fries

3 zucchinis, trimmed
1/4 cup flour
salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs, beaten
Panko breadcrumbs
About 3/4 cup Parmesan
2 tbsp dill
olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 425 (my oven runs hot so I did 400) and position a rack to the center of the oven. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In a big bowl, add the flour, a generous amount of salt and a bit of pepper. In another bowl, put your beaten eggs and in another bowl, put the Parmesan, Panko and dill and mix thoroughly.

Cut the zucchinis crosswise in the middle and cut each half into eight wedge sticks. Add all the zucchini sticks to the big bowl with flour, and toss around to make sure each is coated. Shake off excess flour and dip your zucchini fries into the egg, then roll in the Panko-Parmesan mixture.

Line the fries up as shown in the photo, spray with the olive oil spray and bake for 15 minutes. To ensure even cooking, at the 15 minute mark turn your pan around and cook another 10 - 12 minutes (again, my oven runs hot so they were done at 10 minutes).

Enjoy!

Birthday Girl.

Yesterday was my darling girl's third birthday. Last weekend we had already thrown a huge party for her, so the festivities yesterday were far more low key, but fun nevertheless. Thank God we got her out of the house, though, because the terrible threes are officially here, and have been for some time. So, we had some lunch and then hit up the park.

She hopped on a swing and asked for "another big one, mama! Ready, set, GOOOOOO," she went down a few slides and then it was onto the duck pond. I sat her on my shoulders and we pointed out the turtles, floating on the surface for air, and watched some ducks dive down to eat algae on the pond floor.

We then ran up a hill, counted the waterfalls that cascade down and fall into the fountain pond at Reid Park, and I am SO happy I got a zoo membership because hey man, there's a zoo right by the park. I was like "Hey Alex, want to go see some tigers?" and she was all three-year-old-equivalent of "Hell yes I want to see some tigers," so we just popped into the zoo, watched the tigers for about five minutes and left. She wanted to ride the train so boy howdy, we rode that train.

She is all about pizza lately, so we got a couple of pies from Papa Murphy's and a chocolate cake from the grocery store and went home for her nap. She woke up at 5pm and basically was like "I'm so tired, I just need some cake" while languishing on the sofa watching Word World. Dramatics, thy name is Alexandra.

Pizza time, and cake time, perked her right up, though.

When I saw how her eyes lit up when we turned out the lights and brought in her cake, three sturdy little candles ablaze with the glory of youth, I shrieked "NOT YET I NEED TO GET MY PHONE NOT YET DON'T BLOW THEM OUT" while I scurried around the house looking for it. You know how dogs try to round a corner on a wood floor and it's like hurling a bowling ball at the pins? That was me, desperate to capture this moment.

Luckily for me, she waited as patiently as a freshly minted three year old could. I was hoping to catch her blow each individual candle out, but wasn't that skilled. I just kept pressing the capture button.

This is when shit started getting real. Her little puffs weren't strong enough from the previous distance, so she got down to business. And in three short pfffts, it was over, and my girl blew them out.

"This is the best, I got the actual moment that the very last candle flickered out. Get it gurl! Time to eat some chocolate cake. Nothing says intelligent parenting like chocolate right before tub time and light's out, right? Happy birthday to my dearest angel. You are the light of my life and the essence of love in my heart.

Now if you could just go to the bathroom on the toilet.

Fangirling: Mason Jars Edition.

For Easter I bought a bunch of mason jars to use as both wine glasses (smaller, not pictured) and these bad boys to use as water glasses. The effect was perfect and was exactly what I wanted. Mason jars are all the rage these days, from anything to glassware to vases to planters to makeup brush holders to condom containers and so on and so forth. But me, I'm loving them as glassware. The first time I had club soda with lime in one, with a jaunty little straw, I literally said to Todd "Would you look at how CUTE that is?!" and then the six foot seven kung fu instructor said "That IS cute!" and proceeded to use one for a bourbon and coke.

Alex enjoys using them, and now I'm going to get to the main reason, beyond cuteness and quaintness and all that rot: they're virtually indestructible. Alexandra was drinking water out of one while standing around in the living room and it slipped from her grasp, as Todd reported. It went CLANG-BANG-A-BANG-CLINK-DINK on the concrete floor, all the while Todd assuming the worst, watching with terror and curiosity. But, miraculously that damn thing did not break. It didn't even chip! So that's why these mason jars have ousted the majority of my old glassware set, which is now stored high up and out of sight.

Thanks Kerr! Your jars kick ass.

Run, Girl, Run.

For the past three weeks I've traded a 10 mile bike ride for a three mile run, just once a week, to see if I could handle the pain of my plantar fasciitis, thereby making a weekly run worthwhile. I decided I'd get extremely proactive with icing, stretching and using my PF boot.

The first week was okay but predictably the morning after I woke up and had some pretty significant pain upon standing. It's nothing like that one time last fall when I woke up the next morning and wondered if I'd have to literally crawl to the bathroom to get ready for work. Walking was that impossible.

The second week I really focused HARD on stretching while my body was still warm from the workout, and icing once I'd cooled off. That really helped, but I had run on a Tuesday. Wednesday is Chore Day and I was on my feet all day. It was a pain-filled day due to that, but Thursday I woke with zero pain, just a little stiffness.

That's why I decided to run yesterday. I work Tuesdays so I knew I could focus on stretching, but ultimately stay off my feet whilst I worked. By Wednesday I'd be fine. I'll be honest, I wasn't sure if I should have run on a day when so many runners suffered up in Boston. I know that's likely very silly but there you are. Anyways, I was motivated more by a day of relative rest afterwards, so onward and upward I suppose.

It was a sluggish run, though. I am still so tired from Alex's birthday party this past Saturday and that fatigue really manifested itself yesterday. Plus the wind! Jesus Christ, it was like running in a dream whenever I was running westward. You know that feeling, right? Where you are either fleeing something or chasing something and your desire is speed speed speed, but it's just impossible. That was me yesterday.

Patton was also slower than normal, hanging by my side like OH MY GOD A DOG IS SUPPOSED TO. He is a headstrong puppa and no amount of passive, laid back training helped so we threw a prong collar on that son of a bitch (not offensive, he is a dog) and compromised that way. Anyways, so we're just two slow ass movers yesterday, battling the wind and the sun.

Due to my fatigue I wasn't as aggressive with my post run stretches. I was hot and thirsty and wiped out so I went ahead and copied my trusty hound and took off my shoes and socks and laid on the cool concrete floor while Todd dropped some ice into my water bottle. It worked though! Dogs are smart. Not that he has many other options for places to cool off: the ground outside (too sunny), the dog bed (too warm) or occasionally the sofa (too high). But of those options clearly he made the right choice.

Anyways, long story short (too late*), after an icing and actual progress where wearing my boot while sleeping is concerned, I'm happy to report that I didn't have to limp, not even a little bit, when I woke up this morning. Sure there's soreness, but I could easily compare this to the pain I felt every single day for months after the triathlon, even when I'd completely removed running from my workout regimen.

I feel like the sun is starting to peek out after a long, long bout of darkness. That's what it feels like, being held back by a stupid injury that could have been so easily avoided by stretching. So I'm going to do a home workout tonight, and I'm going to ice, and stretch, and I think I'm going to do that every night this week. If I have to do it every night for the rest of my life, just so I have the freedom to choose whatever form of motion I want, I think I'll do it.

It feels trivial to talk about such a small thing with such big words, again, after such a tragedy happened yesterday, a tragedy that happened to runners. It IS a small thing, I acknowledge that, but it's also a small victory for me, and for that I'm so, so grateful.




*NAME THAT MOVIE IT'S ONLY MY FAVORITE

Her Blue Period.

Her favorite color is red. She actually requested a red cake for her birthday party, one with Cinderella and Aurora on it. After pricing out the cost of a red velvet cake, with edible paper screened with Aurora and Cinderella (nearly $100!!!), you can color me relieved to find $3 boxes of red velvet cake mix, and $5 rubber-skirted princess figurines to plunk into the $2 cream cheese frosting.

Anyways, her favorite color is red. She LOVES the color. I used to as well until I just threw my hands in the air in surrender and accepted the fact that my favorite color is now pink.

Why can't I stay on topic?

See, she's all, "Mom, what the hell are you talking about?"

Her artwork is usually huge masses of red that are eventually muddied when she finally explores other colors and piles them on on the other. But lately, my girl is into blues.

These were taken a couple of weeks ago but for Easter she received water colors as a gift, and Todd, who majored in art, dug up some super expensive water color paper he had back in his salad days, and let her use it. And guess what? The blue fascination has remained.

I suppose it's only natural. A friend of mine, Allison, told me she learned in one of her classes that young children, specifically toddlers, learn things through excessive repetition. I was like, "I have watched Sleeping Beauty about 54875689476 goddamn times. I am living this."

 Naturally she explored the hell out of red, so now, it makes sense that she moves on. And while I did used to adore red, big globs of red finger paint starts to look a little grisly after awhile so the calming, soothing coolness of blue is an attractive alternative.

Paint on, ma petite artiste.

Egyptian, if you must know.

So naturally...



Review: Shadow of Night.

Oh my God you guys, oh my God you guys, so remember? That book I reviewed? A Discovery of Witches?!?!!? And how I was all, oh it was OKAY I GUESS but then I was all OMG I AM OBSESSED AJKFAFEGDFJGHRJHGBFG?!?!

Well I finally finished the second book in the trilogy! SQUEEEEEEEEEE

Okay, now that I got that out of my system, I am here to tell you all about how much I fan girled over this book. I had finished ADoW ages, AGES ago (nearly two years ago actually) and when I got Shadow of Night in California last year, I was like, oh shit. I don't remember anything except they didn't bone which was SO DISAPPOINTING, and there was some manuscript and evil dudes and shit. So I put it on my shelf and life happened and I forgot about it until I finished reading all the books in the Gaslight Mysteries series.

So I went and bought ADoW, since I had borrowed it the first time, and devoured it, utterly, all over again. Damn it's a good book. I mean, yeah, the vampire romance shit where he won't have sex with her, ugh, TWILIGHT you ruin everything. But anyways, I devoured it, all so I could dive immediately into the next book which is just such a sumptuous, rich and heady experience. To remain in a fictional world you've grown to love and daydream over is such a treat. Harry Potter fans who started when the first book came out, you have my sympathy. I started when book four was out.

Anyways, Shadow of Night takes place immediately after A Discovery of Witches end, and let's just say they go back in time to Elizabethan England okay? And Christopher Marlowe, Henry Percy, Elizabeth herself, George Chapman and all these other fuckers I never learned about but who lived and were like famous and stuff. And since Deborah Harkness, the author, is herself an extensively learned historian, much like the main character, Diana Bishop, what you experience as you read is nothing short of legitimate glimpse into life back in the 1590s.

If you recall, A Discovery of Witches was all about how there are different creatures in our world: witches, vampires and daemons. Witches and vampries are similar to our own ideas of what they are, but daemons are wildly creative, artistic souls (which is why Marlowe and Chapman are daemons in Harkness's world). And in this world of creatures, there is trouble afoot: they seem to be dying out. That is what essentially brought Matthew Clairmont (Matthew Roydon in 1591, a member of the School of Night - wiki that shit) and Diana Bishop together in the first book. He desires Ashmole 782 because he believes it holds answers to the origins and maintenance of the creatures' individual species, and Diana accidentally unlocks the spell that binds the manuscript.

God I sound like such a fan girl. HAY GUISE LET ME JUST TELL YOU THE WHOLE DAMN STORY IN A BLOG HAHAHAH

Shadow of Night continues Diana and Matthew's journey into the past, her journey of how to understand and harness the magic that so recently was unbound, and to keep their relationship secret since, oh you know, the different species of creatures are forbidden to intermingle. Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!

If you can't tell, I just recently finished this book and am still all aflutter over it. And now I have to wait God knows how long until the third and final book comes out.

One thing I want to say is that it really is best that you read A Discovery of Witches first. Sometimes you can get away with jumping in the middle and visiting the beginning a little later on down the line, but Harkness doesn't do too well with jogging a reader's memory, which is why I had to go buy and reread the first book. But whatever! Who gives a shit! Go buy and read this book! Read them both! Thank me later!



P.S. They finally have sex

Workout Wednesday!

This is what I've been up to lately. It's a slight variation on an old Todd workout I've posted before, but I've found that the two additions (planks and burpees) have really upped the level of soreness the day after I do this routine. Plus it's over in like 20 minutes and who doesn't love doing this workout at 6pm, showering and plunking down on the sofa to watch Wheel of Fortune?

15 push-ups. I have a hard time doing all 15 in standard push up form (I blame my super long body and in no way think it's because I'm a total sissy), but knee push ups are too easy, so I like to do push ups off the stability ball, where I roll onto the ball, on my stomach, and rest with my pelvis on the ball. I go slow and low with my push ups and doing this ensures soreness the next day.
15 crunches on a stability ball, like so: crunch up part way, pause, then crunch up a bit further, hold, then go down. The higher your butt is, the harder they will be. And you don't need to crunch up a whole lot because then you're going to rely partly on momentum and not just your abs.
1 minute plank. An old Pilates instructor noted in class that planks actually seem easier if you've just worked out your abs. Last night I realized this is still true; I did a plank in this order, and then during my second round I did the plank between the pushups and the crunches and was like, ugh, death.
15 tricep chair dips. Todd does his with his feet on one chair and then dips down off another but I always feel like I'm going to fall off and/or break something like a chair or my spine. My energy and focus are screwed up at that point so I sit on a chair, put my feet on the floor far away from the chair, take my ass off the chair and dip down.
15 fold out crunches. Lie on your back, hands behind your head, shoulders off the ground, knees up, shins parallel to the floor. Slowly lower your shoulders and head while simultaneously stretching out your legs straight as possible, all while keeping your low back pressed to the floor. If your lower back rises, extend your legs a bit higher, at an angle, but do straighten them.
15 squats with medicine ball. Squat down while holding a medicine ball. Pause, bounce the ball hard as you can against the floor, then rise up, lifting the ball directly over your head until your arms are straight. To make it harder, when you rise up, do so on your tippy-toes.
10 burpees. Squat down, put your palms on the floor and in an explosive movement, jump your feet back so you're in push-up position. Bring your feet back to the squat position, stand and jump. I'm happy to say that after a few weeks of doing this routine I can do all ten burpees without pausing after jumping up, and can now jump up and land back in a squat to start my next burpee.

Repeat sequence two more times.

Variation to crunches. The second round I do this to my crunches: crunch up, twist upper body left, then right, then crunch down. Make sure you're twisting your body using muscle strength and not momentum.

The third and final round I do this: crunch up high, pause, then lower halfway down, pause, and then go all the way down.

And Speaking of Patton...

He's all, what? This is how I roll, bro. Shut up, drink your wine and finish watching Doc Martin.

For what it's worth, I did this to him, not Alex.

Really, guys? Really?

Bingley was outside for most of the day while Patton hung inside. This is the reunion and it lasted for over 15 minutes.

GET A ROOM.

Easter deliciousness.

So I don't have a ton of photos but this past Easter, I must say that I pretty much outdid myself. It took literally weeks of me writing to do lists and schedules in order to execute the day perfectly, and a handful of edits to the menu, the schedule, the time of day, the decor, the placement of my dinner table, and so on and so forth.

I also have to thank Pinterest for not only being a place that provided menu and decoration ideas for me, but also a place to organize them. If I was scouring the internet for easy but interesting side dishes and found one, I pinned it. If I found a delightful drink (um, lavender lemonade anyone?) then I pinned it, to keep it safe and sound in the otherwise wild, woolly and dark wilderness that is the internet. I didn't have to print out recipes only to lose them the day before the event. It all worked out.

I wanted to share the aspects of my little party that were most interesting in case it could help to inspire anyone else wanting to do something special one sunny afternoon. God, I sound like a snob. Move over Gwyneth Paltrow! AJCTA is the new Goop!

But seriously folks, the recipes I am sharing were all easy peasy (except for squeezing 19 large lemons) and since some could be made/assembled the day before, there was only about 30 minutes of OH FUCK GET THE CARROTS IN THE PAN DAMMIT STIR THE POTATOES DAD GET IN HERE AND CARVE MY FUCKING HAM JESUS TAKE THE WHEEL. For an affair that started at 3pm and lasted past 11pm, only 30 minutes of clusterfuck in my miniscule kitchen is pretty good.  Now if only I had filled those three water pitchers before dinner was ready for the table!

We had eleven of our close friends and family over and thanks to the Honey Baked Ham I got, I could focus my attention more on the sides, the drinks, the conversation.

Here are the flowers I arranged the morning of.

Originally these two little guys were going to go in birdcages like my centerpiece below, but by this time I was really getting into it and they no longer fit inside with the cage closed, so I said screw it and kept them out. I'm glad I did too, because they framed my punch bowl perfectly.





I'm secretly insanely proud of myself for pulling this off. Not because it's OMG 100% perfect but because it is exactly what I had in mind in my head.

Ah, here is my table. I was so, so happy with how it turned out, from using thrift store knives to hide the fact that I lost two of my own sometime in the past five years, to using mason jars for wine and water glasses to avoid a boatload of hand washing later on. People were to select a crane they liked and then sit wherever it was, but that was essentially abandoned when I shooed my father in law out of Todd's chair and basically everyone just said screw it and sat where they wanted. But I got my wish, and Todd and I sat on the ends and I felt like a medieval lady cheersing my husband and yes, I did indeed shout "Huzzah!" when we all sat down.

That was my seat and that was my crane and I have no idea where she is anymore. Oh, well. I have 2275849767 sheets of origami paper left over. I will make more.

One course that deserves a photo is the one of Caesar salad served in parmesan cups. The parmesan cups took me three hours to perfect. I had to cancel my plans to attend a Saturday Easter party to work on my menu and my God I'm so glad I did. I would have been up til midnight doing these.

One reason I'm so delighted with them, aside from how kick ass cool they are, is that I took the recipe and after two failed batches, I figured out the problem, corrected it, and vastly improved the end result because of it. More on that when I get to the recipes.

Here is my darling girl plucking an Easter egg from the calm hand of Buddha in our yard. She loved putting rocks in his hands every day. My little Buddhist, offering the world to Buddha.

Buddha Buddha Buddha.

So! Here is what the darling internet offered me by way of drinks and side dishes.

Lavender Lemonade

4 cups water
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup honey
6 tbsp dried lavender (I found mine at Cost Plus)
4 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (I used 19 large)
8 cups water
3 slices lemon

Over medium heat, combine 4 cups water and the sugar, boiling until sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat, stir in honey and lavendar and cover to steep, about 15 minutes. Strain the lavender.

In a large punch bowl, combine lemon juice, lavender mixture and the 8 cups water. If you'd like, per the recipe I used, you can add a single drop of blue food dye and a single drop of red food dye to make it come out a violet color, but honestly the natural color of the punch was a gorgeous lemony, dusky pink hue and I didn't have the heart to ruin it with dye.

Now, using either a muffin tin or, as in my case, 3 plastic Solo cups, make three extra large ice cubes. I filled my cups about a third or so of the way up, then I placed a lemon slice on top of the water and froze them overnight. The effect is charming and the function is necessary. God, there I go sounding like a snob again.



Herbed Shrimp Dip

Oh, thank you Martha Stewart. This stuff was.... Well, it was AMAZING. I think someone may have licked the bowl clean, it was so good.

1lb small peeled and deveined frozen shrimp
1 cup low fat sour cream
1 cup light mayo
4 scallions, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup FINELY chopped parsley - and I mean fine
2 tsp lemon zest plus 4 tsp fresh lemon juice
Salt and pepper
Crostini slices

Using a steamer basket, steam shrimp until opaque and firm, tossing once or twice to ensure even cooking. Immediately transfer to a collander and run under cold water. If you live in the desert like I do and cold tap water is a laughable fantasy, then put some ice cubes in there and continue to run under the "cold" tap. Pat the shrimp dry and finely chop. This takes some time.

In a large bowl combine the rest of the ingredients (save for the crostini) and refrigerate dip until chilled or up to two days (I chilled mine overnight). Serve garnished withs callions if you want, and alongside some freshly baked crostini. Holy crap, was that stuff good.

Parmesan Caesar Cups

Listen up, honey. I was going to link you to the recipe I used but as I said before, it took me three hours of labor to figure out that that chick's ideas were bogus. So here is what you do.

Preheat your oven to 300 and to help pass the time, and if it's past 5pm, get a cocktail. Get a block of parmesan and finely grate it. Grate a huge pile of it. What? Like you won't use the leftovers, if there are any?

Now, get out a cookie sheet and a muffin tin. Place parchment paper on your cookie sheet and make large, thin circles with your cheese, about 5" in diameter. I only did two at a time. Bake about 3-4 minutes, checking frequently, until cheese is bubbly and melty but not browned at all. Remove immediately.

Flip your muffin pan over. Eureka! It took me two hours' worth of shoddy attempts putting the Parmesan rounds IN the muffin pan, before realizing I needed to flip that shit over. Aren't I smart? A college degree ain't much, folks.

Now, gently, gently, use a spatula to remove a cheese round and drape carefully over a muffin cup, lightly (I SAID LIGHTLY) pressing it around it. Do this with the second round and now you will see why I did just two at a time: you don't want these bad boys touching each other IN THE SLIGHTEST because they will melt and harden together and then you will risk breaking them once they're out of the oven.

Put the muffin tin in the oven and bake about 5 minutes. Even if they aren't a golden color, don't let that deceive you. They will most certainly harden once they're on your countertop.

Now, remove the cups from the pan and place gently (I SAID GENTLY), overturned onto a papertowl.

Repeat all that six times.

You can do this the night before and honestly, why wouldn't you? This shit is time consuming. You can do it  a few days in advance too, and refrigerate them, but honestly that just ups the chances of bumping them and breaking them. I put mine on top of my fridge and prayed to Jesus.

When you're ready to serve these, finely chop washed romaine leaves and toss with Caesar dressing. Add cracked black pepper and carefully (I SAID CAREFULLY) spoon into the cups.

Look, I know this seems time consuming, but just remember! I saved you two hours of frustration while Everybody Loves Raymond plays in the background the entire time! Frustration on TV, frustration in your kitchen, all gone. Plus, the effect is mind blowing and it really ups the specialness of your dinner.


Now, these next two recipes I found on Delish.com. I just want to give credit where it's due.

Honey Glazed Carrots
serves 12 - 13

3lbs baby carrots
1 cup water
1/4 cup honey (at least - at the end of the OH GOD WHY half hour I wasn't satisfied with the coating's texture and I added an additional squeeze or two more)
2 tbsp butter
salt to taste
3 tbsp lemon juice
freshly ground pepper to taste
6 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

Combine carrots, water, honey, butter and salt in a large skillet. Bring to simmer over medium high heat. Cook until tender, about 5-7 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring often, until the liquid is a syrupy glaze, about 5 minutes.* Stir in lemon juice and pepper, sprinkle with parlsey and serve.

*At this point, and solely due to time constraints, I added a slurry of about a tbsp cornstarch and about as much water.


Roasted Baby Potatoes and Green Beans
serves 12 -- 13

4.5lb baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut in half, lengthwise. Yes, lengthwise. Nearly all potatoes have a longer, thinner side.
2lb green beans, trimmed
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
3 tbsp olive oil
6 tbsp white wine vinegar
3 tbsp Dijon mustard
6 tbsp blue cheese crumbles
6 tbsp finely chopped scallions or, in my case, dried chives


Position rack in lower third of oven, if it's not already there due to your giant ass ham that you just reheated. Preheat to 450.

Toss potatoes and green beans in a large bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper.  Since I essentially had to more than triple this recipe (and should have quadrupled it to be frank, not a lick of this stuff was left over), I first tossed the potatoes and then the green beans.

Spread evenly on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast, stirring once or twice until the potatoes are tender and the green beans are tender and browned in spots, about 30 minutes.

Whisk the remaining 3 tbsp oil, vinegar and mustard in a large bowl. Stir in cheese and scallions or chives.

Remove and plate the veggies, and then pour the dressing on top, tossing gently to coat. SO GOOD.


I hope one, or all, of these recipes can be of use to any of you. Trust me when I say they are all 100% delicious and, save for perhaps the Parmesan cups, extremely easy and laid back. Ok, squeezing 19 lemons was intense too, but DELICIOUS.