So.
Juice half-a-dozen lemons. Take the rinds of two of them, chop ’em into strips, and throw the strips along with two cups of sugar into a cup of water and boil it for five minutes, making a syrup (or sirop, or sirup). Then put the juice in with the syrup, let the whole thing cool, strain it, and put the resulting lemonade concentrate into the fridge. When you want lemonade, put about half a glass of water over ice, pour a goodish amount of lemonade over that, then top up with water to your taste. My advice is to drink it through a straw, stirring every time you sip, otherwise you risk the first few sips being watery weak, and the last few puckeringly strong.
I know, I know, it’s not lemonade weather. But when your parents give you lemons (off the tree in the back yard), make lemonade. And if you’ve got a better recipe, I’d like to know about it.
No, really, I would like to know about it. Because although this made really good lemonade, it wasn’t, like, the World-Ending Lemonade of Fatal Happiness or anything. And I’m bound to get more lemons.
chazak, chazak, v’nitchazek,
-Vardibidian.
You’ve got me beat on complexity, but I’ve got you beat on simplicity. I just juice one lemon (or lime), pour the juice in a glass, add water about halfway, add sugar, and then continue adding water and sugar until the strength is where I want it at that instant.
Well, but your sugar doesn’t dissolve. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with suspended sugar, if you stir enough and drink fast enough, and don’t mind washing the sugar out of the bottom of the glass later, and making the sugar-water is more work.
If you drink lemonade or iced tea with any frequency, try making some plain sugar-water syrup (boil two cups sugar in one cup of water for five minutes) and storing it in the fridge. Then instead of adding sugar, add the sugar water. You might find it’s worth it. Or, you know, not. If you are enjoying your lemonade, then you’re making it right.
Thanks,
-V.
If life gives you lemons, make a blog entry!
My preference turns out to be for lemon-flavored ice water over lemonade, so my recipe would be to cut the lemon into wedges, put a few into a tall glass of ice water, and poke the wedges with a straw repeatedly while drinking. Satisfies thirst and the need to [fidget/play with your food].