Lemonade is for Lovers

After the gloom of winter, the first few days of spring feel pretty magical. The sun's rays are bright and warm. The air is charged with happy energy. It's time to close your eyes, take a deep breath, and let out a long, contented sigh. Summer is on its way.

Now, can I interest you in a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade? The lemons will be bracingly sour. The sugar will be pleasantly sweet. The ice cubes will chime in the glass. And the sun will shine down on the whole concoction in a most becoming way. I can give you a bendy straw, if you like. What do you say? How about some lemonade?

We have a little lemon tree in a clay pot on our patio, and our tree is suddenly heavy with lots of big, gorgeous lemons. Are they ripe? We weren't sure, but we figured even the sourest lemons would make decent lemonade. As it turns out, the lemons are ripe and the lemonade we made with them was fantastic.

It's common knowledge that lemonade is made of lemon juice and sugar and water. I don't have any special lemonade recipe to share. The main purpose of this post is just to write the word "lemonade" a bunch of times so that you'll be inspired to make some. Lemonade. Lemonade. Lemonade. Also, I'd like to suggest that you make your lemonade according to the common knowledge recipe (lemon juice, sugar, water), instead of resorting to a powder or a concentrate. It will take just a tiny bit of effort and taste much better than any other lemonade out there.

Start by squeezing the juice from four or five lemons. Pour the juice into a jar. Next, make some simple syrup. Mix one cup of water and one cup of sugar in a saucepan and heat the mixture until the sugar dissolves. Pour this syrup into a second jar. Now you're ready to mix up some lemonade. Fill a glass about 3/4 full of ice and water. Stir in tablespoonfuls of lemon juice and simple syrup until your lemonade tastes just right. After you've enjoyed that first glass of lemonade, stash your jars of lemon juice and simple syrup in the refrigerator so that you can mix up additional glasses of lemonade whenever the sun is shining and the mood strikes. Or, scale up and make a pitcher for a crowd. Yum.