What can you do with green lemons.....

Bake, of course! Or cook, for that matter! I am pretty sure we've used lemons in everything we've made since the day that glorious lemon tree was discovered in our yard. Shrimp? Lemon juice! Pasta sauce? Lemon juice! Chickpea curry? Lemon juice!

I spy one yellow lemon.....but most of them stay green (even when they're ripe!)

I've been dying to bake a lemon cake for a few days now but just haven't had the time. Plus, oddly enough, there seemed to be a bit of a butter shortage in Lilongwe and what good would a cake be without butter? Well I think we all know the answer to that question.....

Alas, my impatience got the best of me and I decided to bake using what was left of my 'baking margarine' and about 4.5 of MY fresh grown lemons (yes, they are MY lemons even though I was clearly not the one who actually grew them. I did, however, pick them - isn't that enough?)....

It may look burnt (dang margarine!)....but it wasn't!

And so we dug right in. Literally. Like animals.

Long story short, that lemon tree is my new best friend.