I Love Lemon

It was cold today, colder than it's been in some time. I spent most of today driving around town dropping in on some old and new advertisers just to say hello. Did I mention it was cold? The only thing that kept me going was the thought of a lovely cup of lemon tea when I got home. Not just any lemon tea, oh no, not for me, I Love Lemon by Bigellow is what was going to be my just reward. I have tried many teas in my life and many of them are still in my kitchen cupboard. But the one tea that I most look forward to, especially on a cold winter day is I Love Lemon. The only problem was I was out; out of doors on a cold sun-less day and out of the one tea that could make it all better for body and soul.
You would think that picking up a new box of tea would be an easy task, so did I, at the beginning. After leaving the second store empty handed I was starting to have my doubts. Determined to stay positive, I stopped at store number three, and headed over to the designated tea/coffee section. If the shelves did not hold every imaginable flavour of tea, besides lemon that is, I would have been hard pressed to think of one. Everything from Green tea with ginger to Mellon Mango and Chai were present and accounted for. But where was the lemon? At this point in the day, I would have been happy to find any brand of lemon tea just to keep my taste buds from salivating and my toes from freezing. We are talking simple lemon tea here! Back in the day when there was only coffee or tea, Orange Pekoe and Lemon were the only choices one had in tea if one did not count Camomile, and Camomile never counted according to me.
But, there I was, cold, tired, cranky and in dire need of the only thing that would now do. I drove home, tore apart the tea cupboard, yes I have an entire half cupboard dedicated to tea, and just as I feared, came out empty handed. It would have been easy enough to brew a plain cup of tea and put a slice of lemon in it but you see, I Love Lemon is an herbal tea and the English or Irish Breakfast or the always tasty Earl Grey would not make a good substitute. Never one to give up easily, I remembered once drinking a delicious cup of hot water steeped with lemon peel. It was apparently a common southern Italian drink and lucky for me, easy enough to make. I peeled half a lemon, placed the zest in a mug, poured boiling water over the lot and immediately felt my self start to relax.
There is nothing like a hot drink on a cold winter day especially if the drink is a steaming cup of tea. If that tea is I Love Lemon, all is right with the world. The lemon and hot water substitute is a darn good stand-in, but just in case you need a more potent facsimile here's a recipe for home made Limoncello, with just enough time to make it in time for Christmas!