It almost seems counterintuitive that such a lively crop as citrus would ripen in the cold, dreary winter months. Perhaps it's nature's way of preventing us from all going stir crazy as the blustery cold batters us into a wintry depression - give us just enough sunshine to keep us all happy.

Of those citrus currently available, grapefruit is by far my favorite; something about the play of sweet, sour, and bitter that tantalizes the taste buds.

I first had a grapefruit panna cotta at Passionfish and have since entertained recreating it at home. The flavor infuses perfectly into the rich cream and counters it sufficiently - a satisfying dessert that doesn't weigh too heavily on the stomach after a rich meal. That one was topped with a vanilla citrus sauce, citrus segments, and candied kumquat peels, while I decided to stick with only candied kumquat slices.

Kumquats are another intriguing citrus that defy the stereotype of the typical fruit. Whereas most citrus have sweet flesh and bitter peel and pith, kumquats have pucker-worthy flesh and sugary-sweet peels. Delightful to just pop in the mouth as a sweet-tart treat, they're equally fun to candy and use as a garnish on a variety of dishes.

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I think one of the most difficult aspects of moving about the country every couple of years is the quick disappearance of regional flavors. I grew up on the West Coast, mostly in the Seattle-Tacoma area of Washington State and then spent the last near-two years on the Central Coast of California. And, just as in other regions of our fair nation, we had our indigenous delicacies and delights that are near impossible to find anywhere else.

One of those particular favorites was the Meyer Lemon. Until I departed the Left Coast I had no idea that Meyer lemons were a largely regional fruit, grown mostly in California. Although, to be fair, there's no such thing as a true Meyer lemon anymore, considering that I was born well after the 1950s I'm not going to gripe too much.

Meyer lemons are milder and sweeter than your typical grocery store Eureka lemon and, sliced thin enough, even the peels are edible.

Here on the East Coast I discovered that Meyer lemons are nigh impossible to find unless one knows a grower personally.

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No 4th of July BBQ is complete without a tasty dessert, and the combination of lemon French yogurt cake, vanilla bean pastry cream, and fresh berries is hard to beat.

The handy thing about garnishing cute little individual tarts with fresh berries is that they are amazingly beautiful and look like you slaved in the kitchen for hours to complete - which is rarely ever the case. That being said, I'm ever the fan of delicious eats that look impressive and are in actuality so easy a trained chimp could make them.

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I'm so officially sold on this Kalamansi Tree I got last week at the farmer's market.

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