Old-Time Lemonade

Or Friday...so I meant to post this yesterday, but got my posts all mixed up. 

But, I still have it in time for you to make this weekend. 

I always have a pitcher of lemonade in the fridge. My daughter and I are lemonade drinkers...hard core lemonade drinkers. Typically tough I pick up the Crystal Light packets, or the Country Time, just for time's sake.

However, when we were at the grocery store I was picking over the produce section like a maniac and bought every kind of berry they had out. 

Then Sophia pointed to the lemons and told me to get some. So I did. I figured we would make "old-fashioned" lemonade.

So we got them home and then I had to find a recipe. I wanted one that would taste really good. Not sour, or bitter, but just the right amount of sweet without losing the lemon flavor.

I grabbed one of the old church cookbooks I was given for my wedding, and I found a lemonade recipe. It looked and sounded classy, so I thought I would give it a whirl.

Wow! It is really good! Between drinking it at dinner last night and then some more in the evening, there isn't much left in the pitcher!

Old-Time Lemonade

{printable recipe}

1 1/2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cups water

4-5 lemons

Lemon zest

Ice cubes

Water

Combine the sugar and water together in a saucepan.

Bring to a boil over medium-high heat.

Once boiling, let continue for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally with a wooden spoon. 

Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Zest one lemon; set aside.

Juice the lemons until you have 1 1/2 cups lemon juice.

Add the lemon zest and juice to the syrup. 

Stir well.

Let cool completely.

Pour the lemon syrup into a pictcher.

Add ice cubes (I used one tray of cubes). 

Fill the pitcher with water (about 7-8 cups of water)

Top with lemon slices and let cool in the fridge until ready to serve.

To add fruit, puree either fresh rasperries or strawberries, and mix in with the syrup before adding water.