When I was growing up, my grandparents always had a garden. One of my favorite things from the garden was and continues to be, lemon cucumbers. When we moved to this house when I was in middle-school, my mom started growing a garden, too. She always grew lemon cucumbers as well.
Both my grandparents and mom may have grown other types of cucumbers. If they did, I don’t remember them. I do remember how much I enjoyed picking the egg-shaped, creamy yellow cucumbers straight from the garden.
My grandma always made a very simple salad with those cucumbers. A little bit of sugar, cider vinegar and salt and pepper. That’s it. Add a few thinly sliced red onions and pop it in the frig for an hour or two. It’s best cold and when the onions have broken down a little from the vinegar and are soft and easy to bite through.
We seem to have a bumper crop of these beautiful veggies this summer. I enjoy searching through the plant’s scratchy leaves each day looking for a cuke that’s just big enough to harvest. If you wait even a day or two too long or if we’ve had a spell of really hot weather, the creamy yellow color becomes muddled and dark and they become a bit bitter to eat.