What invokes the thought of relaxed summer days, bright green grass and tanktops better than a glass of lemonade? Well, yes, perhaps relaxed summer days, bright green grass and tanktops do, but what about when those are in short supply? Summer is very nearly over and if, like me, you live near Seattle, you may be feeling a little cheated as September draws close and you realize you are quite possibly less tan than you were in March. Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration, however, we did see a little less of our friend the sun in these parts than we all had hoped. Nevertheless! What better time could there possibly be to excersize your homemaking skills to brighten up some otherwise dreary days? So when Seattle hands you weighty, dull gray clouds and all too moist mornings, what do you do? You make lemonade! And I'm not talking the canned, thaw and mix kind. I'm talking good ol' fashioned, hand squeezed, amazingly fresh lemonade! And here's how you do it:
What you need:
a large pot
a pitcher
8 cups water
1/4-1/2 cup sugar
1 cup of fresh squeezed lemon juice
Put your water and sugar in the large pot and boil it for about 2 minutes- the sugar will be nice and dissolved. Transfer this to the pitcher and let cool in the refrigerator. Before this point, I let it get nice and cool while sitting on the stove, as I'm very clumsy and this prevents me from splashing hot water on myself as I attempt to get it from the pot to the pitcher- a caustion my husband appreciates. Next, let it get really cold in the fridge for about an hour or so, then just pour in your lemon juice and viola!
The first time I made this, my husband and I were shocked at how good it tasted. You'll feel like you just travelled back in time and paid a nickel to adorable children at a road-side lemonade stand, it's THAT good. No comparison to storebought lemonade in my book. The added bonus is you can completely control the sweetness to your own tastes.
So even when the sun only deigns to come around at about five o' clock in the evening, I can still pretend with a nice cold glass of lemonade. And, I'll tell you what- its surprising how accomplished making something so simple from scratch can make you feel. Then again, maybe that's just me...
Let the wife make the husband glad to come home, and let him make her sorry to see him leave. ...Martin Luther
2 comments:
After posting this, I, naturally, wanted some lemonade- and so, thus follows an ironic word of caution. After boiling the water, let it cool COMPLETELY on the stove top before pouring the water into the pitcher. Don't get impatient here, or you will end up cracking the glass of your pitcher and flooding your kitchen floor with hot water. And not just hot water, but hot sticky sugar water.I know what you're thinking, and yes, this did just happen to me. Thankfully, the water was not scalding hot- in fact it seemed cool enough that it shouldn't have demolished my glass pitcher, however, this just goes to show that you should let it get cool, not just warm before attempting that step. There's nothing quite like experience as a learning tool. :)
I'm so glad you weren't hurt! No crying over spilled lemonade, right? Thanks for posting, friend. You made me thirsty!
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