The Best Homemade Lemonade

Lemonade is such a simple thing. Lemons, water, sugar. That’s it. Yet, we complicate matters… packets, powder, stirring endlessly. This is all unnecessary. Come with me and let’s go back to a simpler time (and a simpler way). Let’s squeeze, juice and macerate. You won’t regret this.

My best friend gave me this book called Sweets by Patty Pinner. We both agree, it’s the best lemonade recipe we’ve ever found. Not too sweet and so refreshing!

My favorite tool for squeezing citrus is this citrus squeezer I received as a gift. It’s a work horse. But this juicer (pictured) is also so gorgeous and a joy to use. 

I am not going to lie to you, friends, I’ve been going through something. I figured, it made metaphorical sense to make some lemonade right now. That’s all I can share, except to also say that making lemonade really does help when you are having a hard time in life. Bright, acidic, and cheery. It’s a step towards healing for me and I’m gonna take it.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade the old fashioned way, won’t you? After tasting the end result, that old-fashioned saying starts to make a lot more sense. 

Resources:

Citrus juicer

A similar glass pitcher from CB2

Beautiful green juicer from Umami Mart

The Best Homemade Lemonade

2016-05-26 12:36:10

Serves 8

This recipe came to me by way of my friend Aslan. There are a lot of stories I could tell about me and Aslan, but this one is actually relevant, so I'll save the others for another time. One night I was at Aslan's with a large group of friends. We were all crowded in to Aslan's tiny old apartment in the Willamette Valley on a balmy summer evening. She had her cheery face on, hot and pink in the cheeks, the summer heat making us all a little sticky. She came out of the kitchen and handed me a glass she poured from a white pitcher. “How about some lemonade?” She said and handed me a glass. Then giving me her signature wink said, “You're gonna love this stuff, Dar!” I took one sip and said, “Whoa. You made this?” It was more refreshing and tart yet perfectly sweet then any of the lemonades I'd tasted, probably ever. To this day, when I get too hot and sticky from the summer heat, I turn to this drink for the ultimate summer thirst quencher and think of all the fun times Aslan and I have had together.

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Prep Time

1 hr

Prep Time

1 hr

Ingredients

1. 7 lemons, at room temperature, plus one for garnish
2. 3/4 cups granulated sugar, or more as desired
3. Ice cubes and water as needed

Instructions

1. Roll the 7 lemons on the counter a little to work them into releasing their juices.
2. Slice each lemon in half, then juice into a gallon container or large pitcher, adding each juiced rind into the pitcher as you juice them.
3. Pour the sugar over the rinds and stir. I found it best to stick a long wooden spoon straight down and then pull it up, sort of like a butter churning motion, in different areas of the pitcher.
4. Let stand 30 minutes. You'll see a sugary juice start to collect on the bottom of the pitcher.
5. Add ice cubes and fill up with water to the top of the pitcher. Add additional water or sugar (up to another 3/4 cups) if the mixture is too tart. If you want to make this ahead, store in the fridge up to a day. Or serve immediately and add ice cubes and garnish with a lemon slice when serving.

Notes

1. If you are making more then one day ahead, pour the mixture into another pitcher, or just fish out the lemon halves and discard. Leaving the lemon peels in the mixture for longer then a day could potentially cause the lemonade to get bitter.

Adapted from Sweets, Soul Food desserts and memories by Patty Pinner

Adapted from Sweets, Soul Food desserts and memories by Patty Pinner

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