DEAR ABBY: My husband and I travel throughout the United States during the summer months. Because your readership reaches all across the country, I would like to make a simple request:
I love lemon in my iced tea; however, when ordering iced tea in a restaurant and requesting lemon, they invariably give me a slice of lemon instead of a wedge. Evidently the chef slices the lemons in the morning for decoration -- and everyone knows you don't get much juice from a slice. Have you ever tried to squeeze a slice of lemon? Yuk!
Don't you think it would be possible for restaurant chefs to cut a few lemons in wedges for those of us who enjoy the lemon juice in a glass of iced tea? I'm not a picky person, but I'd appreciate your help in educating a few restaurateurs.
Please don't sign my name, as my Mormon sisters would not understand why I am ordering iced tea. Sign me ... INCOGNITO
DEAR INCOGNITO: It would be a no-brainer for chefs to provide lemon wedges for iced-tea-loving patrons during the summer months, when iced tea consumption rises. And I'm sure that many of them will.
However, just in case you happen to visit a restaurant where the chef has overlooked it -- why not carry an emergency lemon with you? Or, if it's too bulky, consider taking along some small squares of cheesecloth so that you can wrap half a dozen lemon slices and squeeze them together. They would take up no more space than a handkerchief.