Our little household of two goes through lemonade like woah. Boy do we love that stuff, especially the “Simply Lemonade” – plain, berry, or even lime-aid. We even have cherry syrup on hand so BF can make his own “cherry lime-aid” like they have at Sonic… well not really like they have at Sonic, but ya know… Close enough 🙂
Don’t ask me why I spend money on jug after jug of this stuff at the store when we have a perfectly good lemon tree, full of ripe lemons, in our very own back yard. For no apparent reason, the other day at the store, I picked up my usual jug of Simply Lemonade and said to myself “WHAT are you doing?!”
I placed it back in the cooler, went home, and promptly picked a bunch of lemons. Nothing is easier than lemonade. Ok, that’s not true, plain water would be easier… but not by much.
I made a simple syrup for mine, for no other reason than I wanted to have some extra for cocktails. You could just stir the sugar in, but the simple syrup ensures that the sugar is completely dissolved.
I think next I’ll make berry syrup next, and then my own berry-lemonade. Take that, Simply Lemonade-I don’t need you anymore! (Until lemon season is over…)
Add a splash of X-Rated liquer for a pink lemonade cocktail – YUM
Lemonade
It’s basically equal parts lemon juice and sugar, then water until it’s diluted enough for your tastes.
- 1 C sugar + 1 C water (for simple syrup)
- 3/4 C lemon juice (just happens to be all the juice I got from my lemons)
- 3-4 C water (to taste)
1. In a small saucepan, mix water and sugar over medium heat. Once sugar is dissolved, remove from heat and let cool.
2. Juice lemons (took about 3 of our medium lemons) to get 1 cup of lemon juice. Mix with the simple syrup and water, stir and chill.
*I like mine a little less sweet, so didn’t use all the simple syrup. I also like mine more lemony, so I didn’t dilute as much. Start with 3 cups of water and go from there…
*Alternatively, you could just stir sugar (preferably ultra fine “baking” sugar) into the liquid until dissolved
*Let it chill at least 30 minutes, as it tastes much better once the flavors have mingled and it’s ice-cold