Freshly squeezed lemons, a little sweetener, a little zest, a few mint leaves and lots of ice and you’ve got the best lemonade.
Why Make Homemade Lemonade?
Lemons are often in abundance during the summer months so what better time to make your own fresh, healthy, cost affective lemonade!
The oil in the lemon zest alone makes for a richer lemon flavor for a fabulous lemonade.
What To Use Lemonade For?
Gosh, along with summertime sips this recipe makes for some of the best cocktails you will make during the hot months.
Making a simple syrup from the freshly squeezed lemons, zest and sweetener of your choice, is certainly a great place to start for cocktail and mocktail sips!
Lemonade For Health
Keeping a stash of homemade lemonade in your freezer for the winter months is just good sense for dealing with wintertime cold and flu season.
Drink is cold to sooth the inflammation of the throat or warm it and sip as a tea. Maybe if you sip on a little each day when cold and flu season cranks up, you won’t catch anything because you will have build up your immune system with the power packed vitamins in lemons!
Lemonade Popsicles
Let’s not forget the little ones during the summer months. Making a big batch of lemonade and turning some of it into popsicles with assure the little ones are both hydrated and assuring their body for the vitamin C this bright little citrus provides.
Lemonade And Mint
No sip is more refreshing than lemons and mint. Muddle a few mint leaves and allow them to steep in the lemon/sugar simple syrup, remove the leaves after 15 minutes and you have the bright and refreshing mint flavor without the leaves floating around your drink.
Lemonade Cocktail
Oh… Do I have a fabulous summertime cocktail for you, made with Homemade Lemonade! My niece is an event and wedding planner for her family’s catering company.
She created the most amazing refreshing cocktail for the, sometimes, hot headed brides. Now, she says during wedding season, this is her most popular cocktail! She named it The Lulu Lemon after herself, Lauren Upton!
Lemonade Desserts
Summertime desserts are often kept both light in texture as well as flavor. Mix a little homemade lemonade with confection sugar and you’ve got a wonderful drizzle for cupcakes, biscotti or cookies.
A ‘year-round’ favorite lemon dessert is my individual size Lemon Tarts! I actually crave these in February and March because they remind me of sunshine, in the dark of winter!
Add homemade lemonade to your dessert recipe, such as a citrus cheese cake or homemade ice cream and you will make lemonade a part of many summertime recipes. Don’t forget to add the zest because that is where a rich and flavorful oil is found in the lemon.
How To Make Homemade Lemonade
Simply place the ingredients into a sauce pan with just a little of the water. Bring to a boil. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Cool, strain and add remaining water. Chill for sipping or adding to other recipes. Or, freeze for future use.
Ingredients Needed
- Lemons
- Sugar
- Water
- Mint
Equipment Needed
- Saucepan
- Strainer
- Citrus press
- Closed container – to store
- Fridge – to chill
Healthy Homemade Lemonade Recipe
Course: DrinksDifficulty: Easy4
servingsFreshly squeezed lemons, a little sweetener, a little zest, a few mint leaves and lots of ice and you’ve got the best lemonade.
Ingredients
Lemons – 1/2 cup freshly squeezed (about 3 lemons)
Lemon zest – 1 tablespoon
Sugar – 1/3 cup, or other sweetener
Water – 2 cups
Mint leaves – 5 mint leaves, mashed (optional)
Directions
- Place the lemon juice, zest, mint leaves, sweetener and 1/2 cup of water in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower to a slow bubble and allow it to simmer 5 minutes.
- Cool. Add remaining water, strain and chill.
Notes
- For an added change in flavor, try adding fresh thyme or basil to this recipe instead of mint.
- If using honey as a sweetener, don’t add it until you have simmered the mixture and turned off the heat. Whisk the honey in while the mixture is hot but not boiling. This way, you retain all the necessary nutrients from the honey.
I believe the table... that place that draws people to gather, is the most powerful symbol of togetherness. All that happens before the table is set, the planning, the gathering, the preparing, are all an intricate part of the dance that create the mood of celebration to share with friends and loved ones.
