Strawberry Lemonade

Nothing is much better than real lemonade during the hot summer months.

I've always liked lemonade.

My first memory of lemonade is with my grandpa.

He liked the powdered mix, Country Time Lemonade.

I remember buying it with him and mixing it up and having a nice cold glass to drink.

That was all I used to drink, because I didn't know any different.

Then, I discovered making my own.

From scratch.

Some lemon juice.

Some simple syrup.

And just a bit of water to make it right.

My girl cherub has always been a lemon fan.

I think that's my fault.

When I was pregnant with her, I craved lemons.

The Mr. would buy a bag of lemons to keep in the refrigerator for me.

I'd cut them into wedges and sprinkle a little salt on them and indulge.

My entire pregnancy!

She can do the very same thing, even now.

Matter of fact, the Mr. has to tell her to stop eating lemons!

I'm to blame.

Put her love of lemons together with her love of cooking and she made this recipe this week.

Strawberry Lemonade

12 lemons, juiced (to equal 2 cups) and zest from the lemons
2 cups sugar
2 cups water
1-14 oz bag frozen strawberries, thawed
zest of 3 lemons, optional

Place the sugar and water in a sauce pan and heat until the sugar is completely dissolved.  You do not necessarily need to boil the mixture. Once the sugar is dissolved, remove from the heat and zest 3 lemons into the simple syrup. Cool.

Meantime, while the sugar is melting, juice the lemons, to yield 2 cups.  Remove the seeds; pulp is ok, if you like pulp.

Puree the thawed strawberries until smooth.

In a pitcher, pour the lemon juice, lemon zest simple syrup and the pureed strawberries.  Add 1-2 cups of water, or until the desired dilution/taste is reached.  (She added about 1 1/2 cups of water, as we prefer a stronger lemonade).

Stir before serving and serve over ice.

Refrigerate unused portion.