One of the best things about living in Texas is the wonderful produce. Fall is when local citrus is ready as well as nuts from pecan trees. There are many different kinds of citrus available from a variety of producers and sellers: lemons, Meyer lemons, satsumas, kumquats, many varieties of grapefruit and navel oranges.
In my backyard, I have a lemon bush which this year was extremely prolific – 170+ lemons. I love to make baked goods with them; muffins, lemon bars, biscotti, lemon cream, lemon curd. However, there are lots of savory options well well. Some of my favorites are ceviche, avogolemono, and dd. My mom really loves Greek stuffed cabbages which are served with a lemon sauce so every fall I ship her a box of lemons.
My in-laws have a red grapefruit tree which they’ve been sharing fruit from. The red grapefruit are super sweet. I love getting satsumas from our local farmers market or going to pick them from one of the local farms such as Froberg Farm or Fruit ‘n Such Orchard.
On top of the citrus, this fall I decided to get local pecans from Lincoln Family River Bend Pecans. This awesome family run operation has several different varieties of pecans including: Oconee, Chocktaw, Kiowa, Kanza, Pawnee. Making a trip to get pecans from them was one of my favorite adventures this fall. I was so grateful to the owners’ hospitality and willingness to answer my 9 million questions about pecans.
I decided to get several different varieties so that I could sample the different tastes. Oconee turned out to be my favorite because of its buttery flavor. I wish I’d gotten more of this variety because we toasted them in the oven and made short work eating them as snacks and mixed into yogurt. I also make some pecan crusted chicken breasts which were quite tasty.
If you live in Houston and haven’t taken advantage of all these tasty options at your fingertips, I’d encourage you to take the time to check some of them out. Our backyard has a lot to offer!