When things get a bit stressful, there is nothing more re-assuring than making curd.  A lovely sweet tangy mixture that foams and thickens in a re-assuring way.   

My favorite lemon of all time is the mandarin lemon.  It has a uniquely lovely tangerine, lime, sweet lemon flavor.   The skin starts green and ripens to almost red.  At this time of year the fruits are a deep orange color.

I think curds are my favorite thing to make in the word.  Perhaps it is the predictable and relatively quick way the custard thickens so  to a silky smooth lovely gelatinous precipitate.  Or is it the colors, something lush about creamy yellows and oranges.   Later in the week, I think I'll make a silky pinky orange curd from passion fruit.

Everything is ripening up at once.  We are madly picking coffee in the day time and at night....experimenting with the many fruits that are also ripening.    Without any experience with these ingredients it is more challenging.  There is also virtually no culinary tradition here in Panama.   There are fabulous ingredients and more recently some great cooks, but not much history of cooking.  So it is a blank slate, to be invented, and that is a lot of fun.

Last night, tree tomato or tamarillo sorbet.     It is beautiful and delicious.   I added oranges, of course also some lemon juice.

Not so much to say really,  just love the way it looks.   This was a pot of 50% mandarin lemon and 50% mandarin orange juice with cane sugar.   

And I would have to ask:  Is there a more velvety smooth texture? A richer softer color? A more divine combination of sweetness and acidity.  This is a pairing made in heaven.