Thursday, July 29, 2010

Lemonade Weather on the way?

The soup weather came back around here, foggy and cold and high 60's.  But today it's in the 70's and heating up just a bit.  I missed our usual farmers' market expeditions this week because Ryan's car's in the shop so he's been using mine and there's only one market I can walk to, on Tuesdays.  This past Tuesday I was too exhausted from chaperoning Lauren's field trip, and then navigating the Santa Monica Big Blue Bus to take her to music class and home.  I feel so sorry for people who relay on the bus regularly!  Buses are so unreliable, late, and they will not stop if they're already full, it would make life really difficult if I were trying to get to work via one!
     But anyway, once I've got my own wheels back, we'll resume our weekly strawberry purchase.  There are so many local strawberry farms that sell at our local farmers' markets, I generally pay only $5 for a half flat of organic berries.  I have forgotten the name of the certain kind I prefer, but one taste of it at the market and I know.  They taste like peach candies, bursting with sweetness and they  must be eaten that day or frozen.  We have handfuls of them on the walk home and then I cut the tops off the rest and freeze them. All week we thaw out bowls full and enjoy.

Here's something else we make with the strawberries, and Meyer lemons from my parents' tree:

Strawberry Lemonade (based on "Never Bitter-Lemonade" from Allrecipes.com):

Ingredients

  • 12 cups water
  • 2 cups white sugar (use a bit less if the strawberries are very ripe)
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup fresh lemon juice
  • frozen strawberries to taste

Directions

  1. In a pot combine water, sugar and salt. Bring to a boil and continue to boil for 2 minutes. Chill the sugar water for at least 60 minutes in the refrigerator.
  2. In a pitcher mix cooled sugar water and lemon juice together. 
  3. Fill blender 1/3 full of lemonade and add frozen strawberries to taste.  I do at least 1 pint.
  4. Return strawberry mixture to pitcher and blend with the rest of the lemonade.  Or mix it directly in each glass if you want to save some plain lemonade aside for the non-berry fans!

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