One of my favorite things to drink this summer has been lemonade. I have never been a big fan of the stuff, but after reading some other blog posts and recipes, I decided to give it another try.
I’m really glad I did! This lemonade is not only refreshing, but the mint adds a little something extra! I did go by a recipe the first time I made this lemonade, but have since adjusted to our liking. I’m posting the recipe that I now use.
You’ll need:
- 1 cup lemon juice (It took 6 lemons to get me there!)
- 3 lemon half hulls
- 1/2 cup mint, lightly packed
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 cup ice cubes (I like to use the mini cubes, but anything is fine!)
- Water
- Pitcher…At least 2 quart!
Start squeezing lemons, baby! Juice lemons until you get one cup of fresh, yummy juice.
I don’t bother removing the pulp at this step, because there’s mint added in later.
To the pitcher, add the 3 lemon half hulls, the mint, sugar, and ice cubes.
Using a wooden spoon, bruise the mint and lemon hulls and stir everything around.
Have your cup of lemon juice handy…
And pour it in!
Stir the concoction around until the sugar dissolves. The sugar does pretty well dissolve, if yours doesn’t, don’t worry, it will once the rest of the water is added.
Here I added about a quart and a half of water and stirred again. Then taste. If the lemonade is too strong, add some more water.
I ended up adding more water because it was a bit too strong for us. Besides, if it’s too strong, Elizabeth ends up scrunching her face up after every sip!
Travis would like this with even a little more sugar. Me? Not so much, so I compromised with the 3/4 cup. If you’re into a really sweet lemonade, by all means, add more sugar!
I neglected to take a picture of the lemonade in a pretty glass! One thing I do is pour the lemonade through a sieve to keep the pulp and mint out of the glass…it’s prettier that way! (And you don’t have to worry about choking on the mint leaves!)
Before I put my lemonade in the fridge for “good” for the day, I like to sieve all of the liquid into another pitcher and discard the solids. If you do leave the mint in for too long, the lemonade gets really, really minty. Too much mint is not necessarily a good thing!
If you’re looking for a good drink on a scorching hot day – and you know we have plenty of them left! – turn to this simple lemonade recipe! Simply delicious!
I made my own version of this tonight! I used 2 lemons, 3/4 lime (the boys were drinking some mexican beers and they needed the other 1/4), and 1 orange to make the juice. Before I juiced the orange and lemon, I cut a couple of pretty slices and set aside for garnish (if I had a whole lime I would've cut some slices too because that would be really pretty!). I used fresh mint, which I grew myself! It was sooo good! Nick and his friend loved it, too! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds really yummy, too! I'll have to try it your way.
ReplyDeleteLook at you with your green thumb...growing mint! I know I'm a garden geek, but I get such satisfaction out of using plants that I grew!