Our Favorite Lemonade

Anne's Favorite Lemonade

There are some foods the herald Summer like no others: grilled hot dogs and burgers, homemade ice cream, pasta salad and onward, but I don't think anything speaks of Summer more than lemonade. Cool, refreshing, tangy and sweet, it reminds me of hot days on the boardwalk and cool shade in the backyard at the same time.

This lemonade is one I've written of before - I can't say enough about it. It's nothing fancy, but it sure is good. The basic recipe is pretty much half the sugar and lemon juice used in many recipes, but only because it's offset so much by the added fruit. If you use a regular lemonade recipe, please take note that it can be very strong tasting after standing for 24 hours.

While I most often make it using the recipe below, this weekend I added a sliced peach to the mix and, as usual, it was perfection. You can easily cut the recipe in half for 2 quarts of lemonade.

Anne's Favorite Lemonade
Makes 1 gallon
Printable Recipe

1 gallon lemonade (any brand OR see recipe below)
2 kiwi peeled and sliced
6 ripe strawberries hulled and cut in half
1 small lemon sliced
1 small lime sliced (Key limes are great for this)
3 or 4 fresh mint leaves
Other fruit peeled and sliced - optional, don't use more than one other fruit, though

Combine all and let stand refrigerated for 24 hours before serving. Serve in tall clear glasses with lots of ice and let the fruit fall in also. Very pretty and very refreshing!

Basic lemonade for this recipe:

*Note - this is a HALF STRENGTH recipe meant to be used with the recipe above. Don't use this as-is, it won't have enough flavor on its own.

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 cup lemon juice

Mix water and sugar and heat in a small saucepan until sugar is dissolved - this makes a simple syrup. Pour into a 1 gallon pitcher and add lemon juice, fruit and enough water to fill.