Old Fashioned Lemonade and Then With a Berry Twist
Alexis woke up several weeks ago with the romantic notion that lemonade will make all of her dreams come true. She very badly wants to set up a lemonade stand and work her way to all of her heart's desires one $.25 cup of refreshment at a time.
Shhhh...don't tell her it doesn't quite work that way.
For now, she is trying to finalize her plans for making her fortune. She has some competition in the neighborhood, and it has occurred to her that they have a better location. She's thinking signs are the key to drawing more attention and that time of day is going to be very important.
While she's busy figuring out her business plan, together we've been busy perfecting her lemonade recipe.
Which is definitely easy enough. There's not much to lemonade -- just water, lemon juice, and sugar. But, what would a business plan be if it didn't include a little diversification?
Um, yeah.
There are two versions of that Mint Berry Lemonade on the right, and one of them is not for the kids.
It's possible that I'm enjoying this attempt at the best lemonade stand ever. Just a little. Ahem.
Old Fashioned Lemonade
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup white sugar
1 cup lemon juice (approximately 6-8 lemons)
Ice
Water to taste
3-4 fresh mint leaves (optional)
1. Heat the water to boiling in a large saucepan. Turn off the heat and add the sugar. Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. Set aside and allow to cool.
2. Throw a whole bunch of ice in a pitcher. Pour the lemon juice over the ice.
3. Pour the sugar water in with the ice and lemon juice.
4. Add water to taste. I usually add about 2 cups of water.
5. Add the mint and shake it all up.
Mint Berry Lemonade
1 tablespoon fresh blueberries
1 fresh strawberry, sliced
3-4 fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup Old Fashioned Lemonade
1/2 cup soda water (club soda, 7 Up, etc. -- all clear bubbly liquids seem to work)
Ice
1 oz gin (optional)
1. Place the blueberries, strawberry, and mint in a glass. Mush them up with a large spoon by squishing them up against the sides of the glass. Technically this is called "muddling," but that's such a weird word.
2. Add the lemonade and soda water.
3. Throw some ice in there, as well as the gin, if you're over 21 years of age and so inclined.
4. Somebody needs to try this with watermelon instead of berries because I suspect it would be REALLY good, but I keep forgetting to try it. Report back if you do try it, please!
Recipe
Reader Comments (3)
OMG. I NEED TO MAKE THAT FOR ME THIS WEEK.
#allthegin
(Great pics.)
please tell alexis that i sold lemonaid for a quarter when i was her age. teach her about inflation. and have her up the price!
also...GIN MAKES ME HAPPY.