When I was very young the summers seemed to last forever. I remember long summer days and the smell of fresh hay being bailed back by the pasture and orchard where many apple trees once stood. One of my chores was to deliver a jug of fresh squeezed lemonade to my dad and grandpa who were working hard in the summer heat.
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I hardly ever wore a pair of shoes during those hot summer days; which seemed to amaze my grandpa. Every time I showed up at the side of the field with that jug of lemonade he would remove his straw hat, wipe the sweat from his brow and say ” Ouchy… doesn’t the hay stubble hurt your feet”? I would simply reply with a quick “nope” stretch out my arms, hand off the jug of sweet goodness and run as fast as I could through the field as if to show him just how durable I was…it did hurt a little bit. But just seeing the grin on their faces as they watched me run off reassured me that it was all worth it!
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Grandpa’s Favorite Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
By The Gourmet Farm Girl
By The Gourmet Farm Girl
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6-8 large fresh lemons
1 cup sugar (or 1/4 cup Truvia)
4 cups cold water
1 cup crushed ice
Lay out lemons on the kitchen counter till room temperature
Slice the lemons in half; squeeze the juice and pulp out with a juicer, enough to make one cup of juice. Reserve one half of a lemon to slice for garnish. Pour into a one gallon pitcher and stir in the sweetener. Add the cold water; ice and slices of lemon; stir and Enjoy on the porch or patio if you don’t have a hay field…
Alterations: add 1 cup of your choice to the pitcher.
White Grape Juice
Cherries
Strawberries
Blueberries
Pomegranate Juice
Strong Tea
The juice of several limes and slices
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| I still own the juicer my mother used to squeeze the lemons. |