Nothing says “summer” like an ice cold pitcher of lemonade.  Whether it’s a Fourth of July party or just chilling on the back porch after mowing the lawn, lemonade just makes life better.

“Homemade lemonade” is one of those things that causes a lot of people give you a double-take.  Why would you go to the trouble of making lemonade from scratch when you can buy lemonade mix? Well, I don’t have a solid answer.

I do know, however, that a pitcher of homemade lemonade can be mixed for a relatively low price, but I recognize that a packet of drink mix is hard to beat if you’re on a tight budget.  So on this one, I’m going to come down on the side of taste and control, and say “Sure, you can mix up powder lemonade (and it’s not that bad), but making your own fresh squeezed lemonade from scratch lets you have greater control over the flavor–especially the sweetness-tartness ratio.”  So if you have the get-up-and-go, take a pitcher of homemade lemonade to your next summer party.  If you don’t have a clue how to make it, let me explain.

Basically, lemonade is a mixture of water, sugar, and lemon juice.  That’s it! The tricky part is getting the ratios right, but even that’s not too hard if you follow a basic rule: One Cup of Water : One Cup of Lemon Juice : One Cup of Sugar.

Ingredients:

• One Cup of water
• 4-7 lemons–enough to produce one Cup of juice
• 5 additional Cups of water for diluting our lemonade (more on this in a minute)

The Process:

1. The number one obstacle with fresh squeezed lemonade is properly dissolving the sugar into the water.  You don’t want grains of sugar clouding up your lemonade at the bottom of each glass.  To overcome this, bring one Cup of water to boil in a saucepan on the stove top.  When it’s boiling, dissolve one Cup of sugar into it, stirring for a few minutes.  This makes what some people call simple syrup.
2. Once the simple syrup is made, remove it from the heat and let it cool.
3. While the syrup cools, begin juicing your lemons.  It helps to have an electric juicer.  However, I’ve juiced many a lemon by hand, and can tell you it isn’t that demanding a task–although the electric juicer does make it easier.
4. Combine one Cup of lemon juice with your simple syrup in a large, glass pitcher.
5. At this point, we have a pretty strong lemonade concentrate.  Drinking this will probably make your mouth pucker and your eyes water. That’s why we’re going to water it down.  Add your remaining 5 Cups of water to the mixture, and let it chill in the refrigerator for about 30-45 minutes.

Serve this lemonade with ice and slices of lemon, if you like.

On a final note about taste, if this lemonade is too sweet, try reducing the amount of sugar you use to 3/4 Cups; if it tastes too weak, just use less water when you dilute it; and if it’s too tart, just add a little extra sugar.  That’s all the tweaking this recipe really requires. It’s simple!

Ice cold lemonade is always a party favorite at summer cookouts, and is a surefire way to impress your friends–especially after they taste a swig of it.  Sure it might cost more than the powdered mix–unless lemons are on sale–but you still have the experience (and the superior product) that can only come from making it yourself.

For more about homemade lemonade, check out the following:

• http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_lemonade/
• http://video.about.com/southernfood/Homemade-Lemonade.htm
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemonade

Filed under: Recipes

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