When Life Gives You Lemons…

You know the old saying, “When life gives you lemons, make lemonade”? Well, I much prefer this updated version, by Scott Wise – one of many “wise ideas” found on his site Always Remember…

Though, I’d never actually discard the lemons. I love lemons! In fact, I’d have to say that lemon zest in one of my favourite ingredients to cook with – banana bread, hummus, marinades… And while I’d always heard about it’s amazing cleaning abilities, I’d never actually put lemons “to the test” before. Until now.

Lately, I’ve been on somewhat of a radical spring cleaning binge. “Radical” and “binge” because some of the chores I’m tackling are things that have been ignored since before my first child was born. <ahem> Silly little, easily-ignored things – like cleaning the spice rack. Perched on the top of the stove, it’s gathered some serious grease and grime over the years, and it was high time for a good cleaning.

So. Out came the spices. Off came whatever labels were still naively clinging on. And into the hot-and-soapy water the glass went… which, surprisingly, resulted in an epic fail. It took forever to scrub the grime off of even one bottle – even with a scrubby-sponge! – and it was messy and hot and completely irritating. Luckily, I remembered that when I was doing my post about essential oils, I had read about the amazing grease-cutting ability of lemon oil. I figured what the heck, I’d give it a try.

It. Was. Amazing! See that bottom, right corner there? One simple swipe of a paper towel with a couple of drops of lemon oil on it and bam! The glass was clean! No scrubbing. No hassle. No mess. Wow…

Naturally (hahaha), I decided to clean the rest of the bottles this way – first, swiping the outside with lemon oil towel (which also cleaned off label residue like a dream), then, washing the outside and inside in soapy water (to clean off any spice or oil residue). Then, I printed out some fancy new labels, and voila!

Before vs. After. Talk about amazing make-overs!!!

I’m really happy with the way the spice rack turned out. Funny how a silly, little thing like the cleanliness of your spice holders can make cooking that much more enjoyable. Anyhow. Not a terribly “creative” project, I know, but maybe we can just consider it a “creative” use for lemon oil. 😉 I can’t wait to see what else I can clean with the lemon oil now… though, I was reluctant to use it on the rack itself, for fear that it might “eat” through the varnish or something. So, yeah. Use with caution… but, yay – go, nature! Happy spring cleaning, y’all!