Today's the day that I got all the recipes moved over from my old site to my new site. So let's celebrate by adding a new recipe!
This summer I've been getting into homemade lemonade. It's really easy to make and is significantly healthier than anything you could buy. And you can make a million variations, so I've had fun experimenting.
8 lemons
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
2 liters unflavored seltzer
mint leaves
Take 2 of the lemons and using a vegetable peeler, peel off the zest in thick strips. Place it in a small saucepan with the sugar and water. Bring everything to a boil. Let it boil for about a minute, then turn off the heat and let the syrup marinate while you juice the lemons. The syrup will turn a little yellow and the zest will turn slightly translucent.
In a large pitcher, juice all the lemons including the two you zested.
Take the zest out of the syrup and pour it into the pitcher. Pour the two liters of seltzer water into the pitcher and give everything a quick stir.
When you serve, but a couple of sprigs of mint in the bottom of the glass and pour the lemonade over the top.
I've made a few variations: I used a grapefruit in place of two of the lemons. I've replaced two lemons with 4 limes. I've put a couple of star anise seeds in the syrup to marinate. They were all successes, but the simple lemonade is the best.
For a party, I put a splash of citron vodka in the bottom of the glass before pouring in the lemonade.
It's all good.