This week seems a kinder gentler summer than the first week of July which had us gulping prodigious amounts of water and sloshing as we scurried from one air-conditioned haven to another. As good and thirst-quenching as an icy Chico H2O is, after putting away gallons of the stuff, one begins to yearn for a different flavor, to change it up a bit. This is where lemonade enters in all its marvelous variations as an almost equally refreshing way to stay hydrated in the valley heat.
There are two schools of thought on classic lemonade: macerating and slightly crushing sliced lemons in sugar until they surrender their juices, or juicing halved lemons and mixing the strained juice with a simple syrup made of one part sugar to one part water.
I like the physical involvement and visual appearance of method one, but be warned: It is for immediate consumption as the white lemon pith will make it turn bitter if left in the refrigerator overnight. As a quick refresher, here are a couple of basic recipes, and one for a single glass of lemonade, if you need immediate gratification and don’t require a pitcherfull.
Cook’s Illustrated lemonade recipe
10 to 12 medium lemons, sliced very thinly
1 1?4 cups granulated sugar
5 cups cold water
Mash lemons and sugar in a large, deep bowl or saucepan with a potato masher or wooden spoon until lemon slices give up their juice, sugar is dissolved, and juice is thickened to syrup consistency, about 4 minutes.
Pour half the lemon slices and syrup through a large sieve over a bowl, press on solids with back of spoon to release as much liquid as possible. Discard solids; transfer liquid to serving pitcher. Repeat process with remaining lemon slices. Stir in water until blended. Chill well and stir to blend before serving over ice. Makes 1.5 quarts. I like to put the smooshed lemons from the second batch in the pitcher with the juice. It’s about transparency. You know for sure that this lemonade is made from fresh lemons.
Classic Lemonade with Simple Syrup
1 cup water, plus 3 to 5 more cups for diluting
1 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice
Make simple syrup by boiling sugar and 1 cup water until sugar is completely dissolved.
Pour syrup and lemon juice into a pitcher, along with 3 to 5 cups of water, depending on how much you want to dilute the sweetness of the lemonade. (I went with 5 cups, and the lemonade was plenty sweet.)
Refrigerate until you’re ready to serve, or load the pitcher up with ice cubes.
Stir and enjoy cold. Preferably in a lounge chair in a shady back yard on a nice warm day.
Barefoot Contessa Classic Pink Lemonade
1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
1?2 to 3?4 cup superfine sugar, to taste 1 cup crushed ice
4 cups water
2 teaspoons grenadine
6 maraschino cherries
Place the lemon juice, sugar, ice, water, and grenadine in a blender and process until completely smooth. Place a cherry in the bottom of 6 glasses and pour the lemon juice mixture in the glass. Serve.
Single Serving Lemonade Recipe
(10-ounce glass of lemonade)
1/4 cup hot water
2 tablespoons white sugar
Fresh-squeezed lemon juice from 1 lemon
3/4 cup cold water
Ice cubes
In a medium measuring cup, heat up a 1/4 cup of water in the microwave until it’s hot. Stir in the white sugar until it’s dissolved and set it aside.
Squeeze lemon juice from one lemon and run the juice through a strainer to remove the pulp and seeds.
Stir in the freshly squeezed lemon juice and the 3/4 cup of cold water into the hot sugar water.
Fill a glass with ice and pour in the lemonade. Serve immediately.
For the culinarily creative, there are lots of riffs on the classic lemonade theme: you can add gently bruised basil leaves to the pitcher, steep lavender or lemon verbena from the garden in the simple syrup to flavor the lemonade, add rosewater and a cut rose garnish to make it pretty.
If you plan ahead, you can freeze raspberries and blueberries in lemonade ice cubes to infuse the lemonade with a fruity flavor and give it some color.
Mint is a refreshing ingredient either as a garnish or gently muddled and steeped in the simple syrup. Limonana, a slushy-textured lemonade made from freshly squeezed lemon juice and mint leaves is a popular summer refresher in Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. A testament to the power of advertising, it was created in the early 1990s in Israel after an advertising agency promoted the then- fictitious product on public buses. The campaign generated consumer demand for a drink yet to be produced, which is now quite popular.
Limonana, Frozen Mint Lemonade
From theshiska.com Servings: 4
1/2 cup sugar (or more to taste)
1 3/4 cups water (divided)
1 cup fresh lemon juice
3 1/2 cups ice
1 cup fresh mint leaves
6 mint sprigs for garnish (optional) Directions:
In a small saucepan, combine 1 cup of water and sugar. Heat over medium, whisking constantly, till the sugar dissolves. Let the water cool to room temperature.In a blender, combine the sugar water, fresh lemon juice, ice, fresh mint leaves and 3/4 cup of water. Pulse for a few seconds, then blend for 1 minute till the ice is thoroughly crushed and the drink takes on the texture of a thick slushy. Taste. This recipe produces a mildly sweet limonana. Add more sugar to taste, if desired, and blend again. Pour into cold glasses and serve. Garnish with sprigs of mint, if desired.
If you want to forego the sugar, try a pitcher of Lemon, Cucumber & Mint “Spa Water” that is purported to flush excess water and impurities out of your system as well as provide a tasty sip.
Lemon, Cucumber & Mint “Spa Water”
Thinly slice 2 large washed lemons and 1?2 unwaxed cucumber into a 1—gallon pitcher of water. Add 10 mint leaves and steep for at least 8 hours in the refrigerator.
You hardly ever see lemonade stands around Chico anymore, but they are a fun way for kids to learn about business, money, setting goals, marketing, and good old American entrepreneurship. Michael Holthouse, Houston-based entrepreneur and philanthropist used the lemonade stand as a model for his Lemonade Day, a May 1 celebration of entrepreneurship that began in 2007 in Houston with 2,600 lemonade stands across the city and grew to 120,000 kids participating in 31 cities by 2011.
According to Holthouse, “There are lots of summer jobs for kids, whether mowing lawns or walking dogs, but lemonade stands are just the quintessential first business. And, if you do it properly, you can cover every single aspect of starting, owning and operating any business.”
In preparation for Lemonade Day, Holthouse partners with a local church or youth group that gives out registration forms. Youth in the participating community find an adult to partner with them in the stand, and then the registered lemonade stand teams receive a backpack full of support and start-up materials. Lemonade Day, May 1st, is the publicized kickoff that solicits community support for the stands, but the businesses can continue through the summer.
At the end of Lemonade Day, kids are encouraged to think about their money in thirds: Spend some, save some and give some. During Houston’s Lemonade Day 2010, kids sold $4.1 million worth of lemonade in one day and gave over $1 million back to the community. “Some of these kids didn’t have two nickels to rub together when they started this process and here they are giving money to the fireman or their church,” said Holthouse.
This seems like an idea that would be fun to try in Chico if the right group stepped up to partner with the kids. Our community supports kids and entrepreneurship in many ways.
In other lemonade news, lemonade stands provide a catalyst for altruism and social reform. Three young entrepreneurs, Aidan and Sophia, both 8; and Zach, 6, decided to give all their lemonade stand profits away and handed a check for $36.50 to the Utah Food Bank along with a charming note;
“Dear Utah food Bank ? I wanted to contribute the money I made from my lemonade stand to help feed the hungry.” Salt Lake Tribune, 6/12/13.
Five-year-old Jayden Sink set up a lemonade stand for peace outside the Equality House across the street from the Westboro Baptist Church in Kansas. Equality House, owned by nonprofit Planting Peace, campaigns for human rights, gay rights and anti-bullying. Jayden’s banner. “Pink Lemonade for Peace: $1 Suggested Donation” raised $400 during the day as well as the ire of the church that attempted to close the stand and stop the stream of supporters. To date, she has raised more than $16,000 online in her campaign to spread peace and love by way of a little pink lemonade stand. Huffington Post, 6/18/2013.
Carl built Molly a lemonade stand when she was 7, and she and Hanna set up their little business every year during the Watermelon Sidewalk Sale. Much planning went into the colors for the banner, the price of the lemonade and what to wear as the stand stayed the same size and the girls grew. As lemonade progressed from concentrate to fresh-squeezed, the little stand was replaced by a table with a big umbrella for shade. The stand always did well, and the girls were always amazed by the support they got. It was awesome lemonade.
Nancy Lindahl features the vast culinary choices that abound in our farmers markets and backyard gardens. Sweet Basil and the Bee runs the second and fourth Wednesdays. Email to zookeeny@gmail.com.
