Lemonade

There seem to be many different ways of making lemonade. A friend requested this recipe, but since it is so long ago that I made it for her, I can not exactly recall how I would have made it then. I can, however, tell you how I do it now, and I think it tastes just as great. With lemonade, the more lemons you use, the sweeter the drink has to be. You can get by with one lemon, 1/2 cup sugar to two quarts ice water, but I prefer mine stronger. I will give you a few different methods that I use for making lemonade:

4-5 lemons or limes
2 cups sugar
one gallon cold water
several drops essential oil of lemon (optional)
ice

Stir the sugar in room temperature water first, then add juice of lemons and add to cold water. Some recipes call for boiling the sugar with some water into a syrup and cooling it before using it; I honestly don't know if the difference in flavor is enough to detect, but if you feel like doing that, go ahead! (then let me know what you think) Lemonade is best served fresh.

Another method for getting great tasting lemonade is to take the lemons, put them in a blender with some water, and give a little whirl that chops up the lemons, but don't overdo it. This will release the wonderful flavor locked inside the peel. This lemonade will start getting bitter soon, so only make it this way if you plan to serve it instantly. It is, however, very refreshing! Definitely worth a try.With this method you don't need to add the essential oil.

Another way of getting the flavor out of the peel is to grate the lemon before juicing it, and bringing it to a boil with a small amount of water. This will even extract a little coloring, as will blending. Again, this can be overdone, so make sure you add a little to the drink and taste it, making sure you don't add enough to make it bitter.

Have fun experimenting! All this lemonade talk makes me thirsty for a cold glass full of it...