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Few drinks say Summertime like lemonade. For most of us, drinking it means mixing a chemical laden powder with some tap-water and calling it good. The next time your family is clamoring for this summery drink, try making it the old-fashioned way and see if it isn’t the best lemonade you’ve ever tasted.

Since the prep time and chilling time can exceed an hour, it might be best to make this in anticipation of the clamoring, instead of waiting until your family is standing before you parched and pleading.

Besides being a more natural choice for quenching the thirst of a hot summer day, this looks so pretty in a clear pitcher that you might find yourself wanting to serve it when company calls just to impress them.

Ingredients:

6 large lemons

1 1/2 cups sugar

4 cups water (brought to boiling)

2 quarts cold water

Directions:

First things first. Wash your lemons in warm soapy water to rid them of nasty pesticide residue.

Then, place the lemons in a heat-proof bowl and cover with boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Afterwards, remove the lemons (with tongs please, or a large slotted spoon) and place on a clean dishtowel until cool enough to handle.

Roll each lemon under your hand to free up juice and then slice into rounds as thin as possible on a plate, reserving all juice. Discard the ends.

Place the lemon slices (and all of the juice) in a bowl a little at a time. Adding sugar as you go, using all of it (think layers of lemon-sugar-lemon-sugar) and let stand for 30 minutes.

Use a potato masher to firmly press (not smash) lemon slices extracting juice, while preserving the pulp.

Once you have extracted as much juice as possible, move contents of bowl to a large pitcher and fill with 2 quarts of water.

Stir to mix well and refrigerate until very cold.

Adjusting to your own preferance:

too sweet – using a hand juicer squeeze the juice out of 1 more fruit at a time and mix it into your lemonade until you’re happy with the taste

too sour – add more sugar 1 tablespoon at a time until you’re satisfied

too strong – add more water, up to an additional quart, 1 cup at a time

Variations:

Replace some or all of the lemons with limes or oranges.

Replace some or all of the sugar with Splenda, or your favorite artifical sweetener.

Adapted from:

You might also like:

The Williamsburg Cookbook: Traditional and Contemporary Recipes

The Cook’s Country Cookbook: Regional and Heirloom Favorites Tested and Reimagined for Today’s Home Cooks

Image: Suat Eman / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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