I can't pretend I am about to offer the key to the universe, but let me anyway pass on a little tip from my kitchen. You may well be acquainted with my habit of keeping a large bowl of lemons on my table: they're as beautiful as flowers, cheaper and also much more conducive to cross-table chat; even small vases of flowers can get irritatingly in one's eye-line.
However, there is one drawback to this process, which is that the lemons dry out quickly, and after not much longer than a week, the skins are too dry to zest. So I have adopted a new practice: I regularly juice the past-their-best lemons, store the sharp liquid in ice-cube bags, and pop them into the freezer.
You can use this to prompt you into healthy habits, and simply drop a lemon-ice cube into a mug of just boiled water. While I actually — if counter-intuitively — rather love this drink, I would be failing in my duty if I didn't let you know that one lemon ice cube among a ciouple of regular ones in a gin and tonic is just heaven.
