kalamansi juice

freshly squeezed kalamansi juice from our backyard harvest

It was a sunny and warm January day today, a perfect time to water and check our backyard plants, a task I've been postponing due to the cold weather. Birds were happy and singing this morning, perhaps they thought spring is finally here, or just simply enjoying the nice weather : ) Just like them, I can hardly wait for springtime.

As an early warm weather treat, here's the last batch of this year's calamansi harvest. They have already turned yellow and matured before I had a chance to pick them all. Sometimes I pick only a few for my cooking needs. We have been enjoying these small citrus fruits from a couple of small trees we have almost all year round. Calamansi ( spelled kalamansi in Tagalog ) is a small, very tropical citrus fruit commonly available in Philippine markets. We use them for everything, for marinades, dips, flavoring and fresh juices ( even cleaning tarnished jewelry) in place of lemons and limes. This basketful of harvest inspired me to whip up some freshly squeezed calamansi juice. My husband hasn't been feeling well for days now suffering from a bad cold and this tart juice was just what he needed. I remember calamansi juice used to be my favorite drink to bring to school. They sell them cheap in the summer, they're also bigger and juicier during this time, although they start getting smaller and more expensive towards the end of the year. It was also in the summer when my mother would sometimes preserve them as a syrup, boiling a mixture of sugar and juice together. It was cooled and stored in a glass jar in the fridge. A simple addition of cold water and ice to a few tablespoons of the syrup was enough to make a very refreshing summertime drink.