Homemade Luscious Lemonade To Beat The Heat

Today is the first full day of summer. The heat descended on this town early this year and had us reaching for a thirst-quenching drink to share as we lounged on the the patio.

Over the past few months we have squeezed many lemons and tried a number of versions of easy-to-make lemonade.

We have settled on this very simple recipe that balances the zing of a freshly squeezed lemony taste with a hint of sweetness to eventually give ease to your pucker.



Simple Homemade Luscious Lemonade

Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water

1 2/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, with pulp
4 cups of ice water

Garnish (optional):
thin slices of lemon
raspberries

To make the simple syrup, combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium to medium-low heat. Do not stir. Let the mixture boil slowly for 5 minutes. Cool to room temperature.

To juice the lemons, make sure they are at room temperature. Before you squeeze them, wash them in a hot water bath. This helps to bring out the juice when squeezing. You will typically use 5 to 6 lemons. Preserve as much of the pulp as you can.

To make 'ice cold water', fill your 4-cup measuring cup with 2 to 3 cups of ice cubes. Then fill up the measure with cold water to the 4-cup line. That way your ice cubes won't water down the lemonade too much. You do want it to smack!

Combine the juice, ice cold water and simple syrup in a beautiful glass pitcher. Include thin slices of lemons when you serve. Let the ice melt out a bit before serving. A few raspberries can be a nice treasure to discover at the bottom of your glass!