Strawberry Lemonade!

Lately, this ideal weather has been calling for some vintage lemonade. I dug up (and pinned) the recipe I used the last time, which may be the last recipe for lemonade that I’ll ever need.

This recipe takes some time, but is well worth it. First, I measured out 1 ¼ cups white sugar. I then pared the rind off of 5 lemons, leaving the bitter white pith intact.

 

I mixed the rinds with the sugar and let it stand for 1 hour.

After the sugar had absorbed the oils from the rinds, I brought 1 ¼ quarts of water to a boil. I poured it over the lemon-sugar mixture and let it steep for half an hour. Meanwhile, I halved and juiced the peeled lemons. This gave me about ¾ cup of juice. Once the lemon syrup had cooled, I removed the rinds and stirred in the lemon juice and six cups of water.

 

Never one to leave well enough alone, I sliced about 7 ripe strawberries and sprinkled them with a few tablespoons of sugar. After they had macerated (about 30 minutes), I pureed the berries and juice, pressed them through a sieve, and added the liquid to my lemonade. Then I crossed my fingers and took a taste.

 

WOW.

I will definitely be making this again. With or without the strawberries, this was delicious. I would recommend adding more water, about a pint or so, because this was very strong. Next time I may try it with blueberries. Or perhaps adding some sparkling water. But yes, this will be a regular in my fridge this summer.

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