Fresh-squeezed lemonade

When I posted my Lemon Raspberry Muffins recipe recently, I promised you I’d share the recipe for the Raspberry Lemonade I made to go with them…well, here it is!

It’s very, very lemony! And the frozen raspberries that are mixed in with it give this lemonade a rosy pink color. A perfect beverage to make in the spring and summer…or how about Easter weekend?

I used a new favorite pitcher of mine to serve the lemonade in–and one thing I love about this pitcher is that it has a chalkboard decal, so you can write the name of the beverage you’re serving right on the pitcher! As I mentioned in my muffin post, this pitcher is part of the Daily Grace Collection by (in)courage (sold at DaySpring.com) and each piece has some inspiring words about gratefulness and God’s grace in the design–so nice to look at when you’re enjoying a meal or snack at your table!

Like I said, this lemonade is very lemony, so if you’d like it a little less lemony you can just use 3 cups of lemon juice–or add more water (and maybe a little more sugar) to the mixture. You can easily adjust the amounts to suit your taste. Hope you get a chance to try it out!

VERY LEMONY RASPBERRY LEMONADE by NancyCreative, adapted from FoodNetwork.com and Ree Drummond

Makes about 13 to 14 cups

4 cups fresh squeezed lemon juice (it takes about 7 to 8 lemons to yield 1 cup of lemon juice, so you will need 28 to 32 lemons! Or you could use 2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice and 2 cups bottled lemon juice)

2 1/2 cups sugar

7 to 8 cups water, divided

1 (12-ounce) bag frozen raspberries

3 lemons, sliced into thin slices

ice cubes for pitcher and glasses

Squeeze the lemons and pour the juice into a pitcher. Mix together the sugar with 2 cups of water and stir to dissolve to make a syrup. add the syrup to the lemon juice and top it up with 5 to 6 cups of water. If this is too lemony and sweet for you, add another cup or two of water–you may also need to add a little extra sugar to taste. Then add the frozen raspberries. Mix the lemonade together and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least a half hour. Just before serving, add about 1 lemon’s worth of slices to the pitcher and stir (use the rest of the lemon slices in the glasses). Fill glasses or mason jars with ice cubes and a lemon slice; pour in the lemonade and serve.

You can halve this recipe, too, if you want to make a smaller amount. I also have a recipe for Fresh-Squeezed Lemonade, if you want to try that out. Do you have a favorite lemonade recipe?

Linked to Inspire Me Monday.

Lemonade always sounds good on a hot day, and I think the fresh-squeezed kind is always the best! I don’t know why I don’t make this more often, because it tastes so good! And it’s not that much work to use fresh-squeezed lemon juice. This is a variation of a recipe from Domino Sugar. Sadly, there’s only about a month left of summer! I’m not sure where the time has gone, but we might as well enjoy what’s left of the season with some lemonade! Or try some Iced Tea Lemonade…see instructions at the end of the recipe below.

Before you make your lemonade, check out these helpful tips:

1. To extract the most juice from lemons, soften them by rolling and pressing them on your counter top before juicing them.

2. To keep your lemonade from becoming too diluted from ice cubes, make your ice cubes out of lemonade–you can make some lemonade ahead of time for that purpose and keep them in the freezer so they’re ready when you need them!

FRESH-SQUEEZED LEMONADE by NancyC, adapted from Domino Sugar

Makes 2 to 4 servings

2 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup freshly-squeezed lemon juice (about 3 medium-to-large lemons)

2/3 to 3/4 cup sugar, depending on how sweet you like your lemonade

Fresh mint for garnish (optional)

Lemon slices for garnish (optional)

Combine water and lemon juice in a pitcher, then add sugar. Mix well, stirring until sugar dissolves. Pour into ice-filled glasses, and garnish with mint leaves and lemon slices if desired. You can double the recipe and use a larger pitcher if you need more servings.

ICED TEA LEMONADE: I like to mix iced tea and lemonade together–it’s a nice variation if you like a lemony flavor in your tea. To make it, all you need to do is combine equal amounts of your favorite iced tea with this lemonade recipe. Add additional sugar if desired, to taste.