If life gives you lemons, your only option isn't lemonade.

Byline: FOOD DUDE By Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

Isn't it funny how something you value becomes less precious when you have a whole lot of it? This is especially true when it comes to food, and we've got Costco to thank for making pork loin, Starbucks French Roast and fresh-squeezed orange juice all seem so ordinary.

When you get toward the bottom of that 2-pound bag of Kettle Chips, it's like, you're not even eating for the pleasure of munching on greasy snacks, you're just focused on getting those chips out of your life.

Costco isn't all bad, but if you shop there, you have to get better at storing stuff. Do you think the squirrel eats all of his nuts and seeds in one sitting? Of course not, those babies will last him all winter. But that's where any similarities between you and the squirrel end, because while he's dining on acorns, you've got a whole warehouse to choose from.

So be thankful for bulk foods and send your questions about food storage or any other subject to the Food Dude, a column for all types of food lovers.

Dear Food Dude: My husband just came home with a 5-pound bag of lemons. I like lemons, but I anticipate a lot of moldy fruit in my future. Can you recommend some recipes that call for lots of lemons?

- Bag o' Lemons

Dear Bag o' Lemons: Don't worry, I've got your back. And I'll even resist the temptation to say anything about what happens when life gives you lemons. The solution to your bulk foods dilemma comes courtesy of Mark Stern, head chef at Dish Comfort Food.

Stern recommends zesting all of those lemons (i.e., removing the colored stuff from the skin of the fruit). You can zest with a box grater or use a special tool like a zester or a rasp. Preserve the zest in olive oil or canola oil and use the mixture later for salad dressings, marinades or curries.

"It adds a nice zing in presentation to just about anything," Stern says.

After you're done zesting, squeeze all the lemons and freeze the juice. You can even freeze the juice in trays for single servings of lemon juice. For an added twist, ha-ha, save a bit of the zest from your first step and freeze it with the lemon juice in an ice tray. Then, you can use these zesty lemon cubes in cocktails or whatever else you happen to be drinking.

Dear Food Dude: I know fine food is supposed to be paired with fine wine, but I'd still rather have a brewski. Can you recommend some good food and beer combinations so I can talk the talk with my wine friends?

- Beer Guy

Dear Beer Guy: If you want to impress those highly refined friends of yours, take them to Higgins Restaurant in Portland, which claims to cater to both "cork dorks" and "beer geeks." Along with its expansive wine selection, the restaurant offers about 150 different beers from around the world, ranging in price from $2.50 to $40 a bottle. "Beer steward" Warren Steenson specializes in matching the restaurant's seasonal Northwestern fare with the appropriate brews.

"For the last 11 years or so, we've been trying to educate the public as far as pairing food with beer," Steenson says.

"Generally, you want to complement (the food) and not mask it."

Northwest beers, with their often aggressive flavor profiles and high hop character can be difficult to match with foods, Steenson says. Nevertheless, Higgins keeps an ample supply of regional brews in stock but roughly half of the bottled beers on the menu are Belgian. Steenson also serves German, Czech, English and Canadian labels.

Chip Hardy, owner of the Bier Stein bottle shop on East 11th Avenue in Eugene, is a fan of Higgins. He says there's no shame in enjoying a good brew with a $25 entree.

"There's actually many more flavors in beer than wine and there's many more styles (of beer) than wine," Hardy says.

The Bier Stein offers 775 beers and basic "pub grub" to go with it. Hardy says a crisp German-style pilsner can be paired with a grilled vegetable panini sandwich. Or you could marry a German Rauch Marzen and a salad with a smoked vegetable dressing. The Rauch Marzen, Hardy says, is a fairly malty beer with an amber color, a smoky flavor and a hop finish.

Other good beers to drink with salads include hefeweizens, pale ales, pilsners and pale bocks. Hardy recommends matching the beer with the dressing rather than the greens. With spicy food, he suggests a beer with a higher hop content and more bitterness, and recommends amber ales and pilsners with chicken and lighter meats.

"A French country ale is wonderful with a nice chicken dish," he says. "A porter could be served with beef. A porter is less (heavy) than a stout and you don't necessarily want to go with a huge bodied beer with red meat."

For dessert, Hardy suggests a classic pairing of stout and chocolate. Big hearty barley wines or old ales also complement sweet treats nicely, he says.

Send your questions about food via e-mail to [e-mail]. Or, send mail to Food Dude, The Register Guard, P.O. Box 10188, Eugene, OR 97440-2168.