Real Lemonade

We usually drink lemonade mixed from frozen concentrate.  I dilute it quite a bit, preparing a gallon from a 12 oz. can of concentrate.  It's fine, and quite popular compared to our usual beverage choices:  water, milk, and iced tea (if you're an adult or have drunk your milk quota for the day!).

Last week David improvised a few glasses of lemonade for himself and Rebecca, which she enjoyed immensely.  Then yesterday she persuaded me to make some when she and a friend came in hot and sweaty from outdoor play.  There was a warehouse-sized bag of lemons in the basement fridge, so it was easy to bring me on board.

This recipe comes from The Boxcar Children Cookbook, which makes it a sentimental favorite.  Long ago this book was one of our favorite sources as David and I prepared monthly meals together.  (Vegetarian/Redwall inspired recipes were another focus.)  Anyway, here's my slightly adapted version:

Maggie's Lemonade

adapted from The Boxcar Children Cookbook

1 cup sugar

2 quarts water, divided

1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

~1/4 cup red cherry juice, optional

Combine the sugar with 1 cup water.  Heat in the microwave 1 or 2 minutes, stirring to dissolve sugar.  Add remaining water, lemon juice, and optional cherry juice.  Chill and serve over ice.

If you're in a hurry to drink your lemonade, substitue ice cubes for part of the water.  Enjoy!

Bubbles!

Have you ever enjoyed bubble tea?  It's a fun treat.  There are recipes all over the internet, but it's not too hard to improvise, either.

Find large tapioca pearls at an Asian grocery store.  Cook according to package directions (usually some simmering and soaking).  This time I strained the pearls, dropped them into glasses, 

and poured on some strawberry lemonade.

The lemonade was improvised, too.  I mixed it from frozen concentrate (I use A LOT more water than the can suggests, making almost a gallon from 12 oz.), and pureed it with partly thawed frozen strawberries. 

Easy-peasy, and lots of fun! 

The bubbles are slightly gooey and slightly chewy.  They can be scooped up with a spoon, but it's especially fun to slurp them up with a fat straw.  Surprisingly, I haven't been able to find these straws at any of the Asian markets that sell the tapioca.  I finally found some at my local grocer, called "milkshake straws."  Who knew?

We've made several variations so far.  Lauren likes bubbles in hot, sweetened tea.  I've shaken them with jasmine tea, crushed ice, sugar, and cream.  We even imitated a Starbucks drink by mixing lemonade, iced tea, and passion fruit nectar (usually found in the Latino foods aisle).  The sky's the limit--have fun!