June 06, 2013

Homemade Cloudy Lemonade


When life gives you lemons...make lemonade. Tell me how to get lemons from my life and I will gladly make lemonade. All day, every day. I hope the person who got lemons from their life got a substantial amount of lemons. You need A LOT of them to make a decent amount of lemonade...I'm talking 18 lemons here. So...I'm gonna say that the person who got lemons was a very lucky individual. They should be glad life is giving them lemons as they do not come cheap! 


When life gives you lemons...yada, yada, yada. I'm quite fond of this phrase......and I know that life does not actually give you lemons. I am aware that it is just a figure of speech to encourage you to always look on the brighter side of life. 

Easier said then done, dude.

People who have a 'can do' attitude are really admirable. We all know that one person who has their life in check. The more I grow up the more I realise that you will not be handed anything without a bit of work. It's a dog eat dog world out there. That's the tough, harsh reality of life. Don't expect anything from people. You gotta make it all on your own. 

More power to you anyway, the ball is in your court. You've just got to decide what to do with it.


Ok, let's take life by the lemons (!) I'm going to try and have a 'can do' attitude for the next week. 

...Whether I actually have a 'can do' week will be another thing! It's the good intention that really counts, right??

Enjoy, 

Holly, x


Gather all your lemons. There are four ingredients to this recipe: lemons, water, sugar or sweetener, sparkling water or still water to serve. 

The first step is to combine the water and sugar in a pot. Place on a medium heat, dissolve the sugar and then boil the mixture for 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool completely. This is your stock syrup!


Meanwhile, half 17 of your lemons. Then, juice them through a sieve set over a bowl to catch any pips and pulp. 

Once all the lemons are juiced, work the pulp with the back of a spatula to get that little extra juice. 


If you have a 2 litre pitcher, super. This recipe will fill it. If you don't. no biggie. Use what you have. Have a 1 litre pitcher? Make two batches. If you don't have a pitcher...make this in a bowl and use a ladle to fill glasses. 

Whatever way you make this...just make sure to divide the recipe to suit  your mixing vessel! You don't want to mess up the measurement, otherwise the lemonade will be too sweet, too sour or too watery! 


In the bottom of your pitcher, combine and stir the cold stock syrup and freshly squeezed lemons.


Add the cold still or sparkling water and stir again. Chill the lemonade until ready to serve or pour over ice and serve straight away. 


Slice the 1 remaining lemon and add a slice to each glass. Drop one or two berries into the base of the glass and...


...cover with cold, refreshing cloudy lemonade. 


Deck chair, magazine and shades essential!!

Recipe, Makes 1 x 2 Litre Pitcher

250ml Water
200g Caster Sugar OR 40g Sweetener, e.g. Splenda
17+1 Lemons
1.5-2 Litre Cold Still or Sparking Water
Raspberries/ Strawberries/ Blackberries/ Blueberries, optional
Ice
Vodka/Gin, optional

Combine the sugar and water in a pot.
Place on a medium heat and dissolve the sugar.
Once dissolved turn up the heat and boil the mixture for 3 minutes.
Remove from heat and allow to go cold. This is your stock syrup.
Set a sieve over a bowl and slice 17 of the lemons in half.
Using a fork or a wooden juicer, juice the lemons.
work the juice from any pulp lying in the sieve...17 lemons should yield 375-425ml of juice.
In a 2 litre pitcher -combine the lemon juice and cold stock syrup.
Top with the still or sparkling water and stir. 
Chill for 20 minutes or pour over ice in glasses.

To serve: slice the remaining lemon and place a slice in each glass along with a couple of berries. Pour over the chilled lemonade and slurp away!!

P.S. This is a sour lemonade, if you tend to like sweeter drinks, make an extra half amount of the stock syrup and add it to your drink! Or you can add extra sweetener or icing sugar, or, dilute it with extra still or sparkling water!

4 comments:

  1. Really nice recipe.Unfortunately the weather in Galway is still not right for lemonade, but when himself comes out again (next summer) I'll be sure to make some lemonade.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Evan. I know, we had a golden window of like a week to make this!bookmark it for next year!

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  2. Yum, i love this stuff, my favorite, been looking for an old fashioned recipe for ages....Thanks for sharing...

    Simon

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