Lemonade Walks
Quarantine has brought a lot of uncertainty and fear about what the future might hold. Where will we stand once this is all over? Hopefully it's together with a big...
Quarantine has brought a lot of uncertainty and fear about what the future might hold. Where will we stand once this is all over? What will our community look like? Well, hopefully it's together with a big glass of lemonade.
Like a lot of people, I have been trying to take mid afternoon walks to break up my exhilarating schedule of waking up, eating, sleeping and then hitting repeat to do it all over again. While I was on one of my walks, I came across a wooden stool with a paper bag full of lemons sitting on top. The bag had been scribbled with the cliché yet very inspiring message on it- “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” Normally, I would have kept walking with a small thought of something along the lines of, “hmm that’s random but also kinda sweet.” Today was different. This simple yet thoughtful message made me truly appreciate how kind people can be. Someone went out of their way during this unprecedented time to bag up some lemons from their own tree just to put a smile on random strangers faces. Well, guess what, it worked! I grabbed a few lemons with a big smile and proceeded to skip my walk and go straight home to make lemonade with my family.
Something as small as this kind gesture brings hope and inspires others to do the same. This is the perfect example of how I know we will stay strong and connected as a community long after this pandemic is over.
Here is my favorite lemonade recipe, cheers!
INGREDIENTS
1 cup white, granulated sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
1 cup lemon juice
2 to 3 cups cold water (to dilute)
1 Make "simple syrup": Place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer. Stir so that the sugar dissolves completely and remove from heat.
2 Juice the lemons: While the water is heating for the simple syrup, juice your lemons. Depending on the size of the lemons, 4 to 6 of them should be enough for one cup of juice.
3 Combine lemon juice, simple syrup, water: Pour the juice and the simple syrup sugar water into a serving pitcher. Add 2 to 3 cups of cold water and taste. Add more water if you would like it to be more diluted (though note that when you add ice, it will melt and naturally dilute the lemonade).
If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
4 Chill:Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes.
Serve with ice, sliced lemons.