Friday, July 13, 2007

Mmmmm....Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade!


Making fresh-squeezed lemonade on a hot summer day is one of those activities everyone should be required to do on their summer vacation. The recipe really doesn't matter so much as the experience of squeezing the juice and drinking the end-result under a shade tree in the backyard.

There are as many recipes for lemonade as there are people who like to drink it! But here is a very simple and quick way to stir up a pitcher full of old-fashioned flavor! Measurements are not exact because much depends on your own individual tastes.

You'll need 5 or 6 lemons, about 1 1/2 quarts of water and a cup or so of sugar. Squeeze the juice of all but one of the lemons using a reamer or glass juicer. Strain into your pitcher to remove the seeds and pulp. Add the water and sugar, to your taste, and stir. Slice the remaining lemon and place in the pitcher for added flavor and to make it pretty. Or, you can place a slice in each glass before serving. Voila! Easy!

An optional step that I use when I have time is to boil the lemon rinds in 1 1/2 cups of the water for 7 or 8 minutes to extract even more lemony flavor. Add that to the juice, sugar and remaining water and stir. Fill glasses with ice and pour in the delicious beverage!

Enjoy!

vintage image from http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/vintageresources.html

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A Quote From My Latest Recommended Read:

"When my generation of women walked away from the kitchen we were escorted down that path by a profiteering industry that knew a tired, vulnerable marketing target when they saw it. "Hey ladies," it said to us, "go ahead, get liberated.
We'll take care of dinner." They threw open the door and we walked into a nutritional crisis and genuinely toxic food supply......We came a long way, baby, into bad eating habits and collaterally impaired family dynamics. No matter what else we do or believe, food remains at the center of every culture. Ours now runs on empty calories."

- Barbara Kingsolver
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle