The time for making holiday gifts is ticking away. I’ve been up to my ears in work these last few months, and beyond my year of preserving seasonal fruits and veggies, I haven’t made much of a plan for my holiday gifts this year. When a friend granted us a portion of her backyard tree’s Meyer lemon bounty, bath salts came to mind as a project I’d try out. Every time I work with Meyers, I revel in the fragrant peels and wish I could bathe in them. So here’s my shot at doing just that.

I started out with Kaela’s adaptation of Meyer lemon eating salt (she has a bunch of other great Meyer projects in that post, too!)

Meyer lemon bath salts

makes 1.5 cups

1. Preheat the oven to 225 degrees F. On a wide, rimmed baking tray, combine 1.5 cups mineral or Epsom salt with zest of 3 Meyer lemons. (I used this brand of salts, that I bought in bulk at my local grocery co-op.) Massage the zest into the salts as if kneading dough. It’s very therapeutic; massage as long as you’d like, or until the salts have absorbed the oil from the zest and are tinted slightly yellow.

2. Once infused with zest, spread the salts out evenly on the tray and bake for 5 minutes. Turn of heat and keep salts in the oven overnight or for 8-10 hours to completely dry out. You’ll know it’s dry enough when the zest shreds are dry enough that they crack when you bend it. 

3. I’d suggest using 1/4-cup of the infused salts in your bath. The zest strips will likely remain in your tub after soaking, but they’ll be good for cleaning out your pipes (citrus oil is a solvent that helps degunk).