The aromatic flavor of Meyer lemons has always been a favorite in our house. These trees are native to China and were brought to the United States by Frank N. Meyer about a century ago. Thought to be a cross between a lemon and a mandarin, this fruit doesn’t have the pucker power of a common lemon. Instead, its subtle sweetness softens the acid to impart a velvety mouth feel. Since Meyer lemons are tough to find in grocery stores, I surprised Marilyn a few years ago with a potted Meyer lemon tree for her birthday.
Recently, the nights have been extra cold, so we’ve brought the tiny tree indoors at night, returning it to the garden each morning to benefit from the sun. With only a few leaves left, this sturdy citrus produced two dozen lemons this year. One by one the yellow orbs have ripened and dropped and we’ve happily gathered them to use in drinks, cookies, and marinade.
I really enjoy this sketch! I struggle with how to do the background and you made this so lively and just made it so interesting. Is the yellow cad yellow or Winsor yellow? Are you going to have any more sketch crawls in Jan? thanks, love your blog!
Thanks for the comment Cathy! I actually didn’t know what I was going to do for the background on this one and I have these tiny LED lights on it and I guess they are what influenced how I painted it. I didn’t really draw the lights in but gave an impression of them through color. Yes, we’ll do s sketchcrawl probably right after the holidays. Watch my blog: http://www.rssketch.com for details and hope to see you there!
Richard, lovely sketch! Glad your little tree is hanging in there. We love Meyer lemons, and even when ‘Meyer’ is not specified, all of my lemon recipes are made with them.
Thanks Jean! I learned about Meyer lemons through my wife years ago. Before that I didn’t know there was a difference. Glad to know you use them in your recipes so when I make them, they’ll be just that much better!