Anyone know how to make real lemonade?
 

So as some of you know, Mrs Mephisto and I live in a house on the same rural block as her parents, while our own house is being built.

Apart from a few "Everyone loves Raymond" moments every now and again, no real problems. Indeed, it's quite handy living 'next door' to your in-laws when baby-sitting is required!

Anyway, it's a nice large 17 hectare block. The thing is, MMM (Mrs Mephisto's Mum) keeps giving us bags and bags of lemons. She has a few trees and the things have gone riot. Not only is the ground littered with the things, but now our house is practically falling down with them. Every time we stop by her house, MMM gives us another bag of the things. And there's only so much Gin & Tonic my wife can drink!

So, I thought rather than throw these damn yellow bastards out, I would make some home-made lemonade! Brilliant!!

One problem though is that I have no idea how to do this.

So, rather than take the boring google way out I thought I'd ask here.

Anyone know how to make good lemonade? :-)


Mr Mephisto

My favourite lemonade recipe is really rough and ready, and it tastes better to me than any other. I'll explain why at the end.

So grab three lemons (that's all you need) and halve or quarter them. Drop them in a large jug (that you will serve it out of, unless you want to sieve it after) and then grab a big wooden spoon. Drop a couple of tablespoons of sugar in there and start pounding the lemons. Mash them up well but don't turn them into a pulp. The idea is not only to get the juice out, but also the oils in the skin that give this lemonade a better flavour than any other. When you think they are sufficiently mashed, add water, and ice cubes, or add ice water. About 1 litre of water. Taste to see whether you need to add another lemon in there or more sugar. Serve! Yes I know it has all the seeds and bits of flesh but trust me it's great this way. Also, you can always sieve all the bits out and serve the liquid that's left.

Another little tip - the lemons you just used, once the jar is empty, you can usually squeeze another 1/2 a litre of lemonade out of it - I'm not kidding. Sometimes you may need to add another lemon, but you don't need a whole jug of just lemon juice to make lemonade - that's way too acid and tart.

The reason I like this lemonade is that it uses the lemon peel oils also, and so it's not so acid and undrinkable as I find a lot of homemade lemonades to be.

little tippler's sounds good the only suggestion I'd have is make a simple syrup rather than just adding the sugar - sugar doesn't always dissolve in cold water.

Simple syrup is simply adding equal parts water and sugar to a sauce pan and bring to a boil... the sugar will dissolve into a clear liquid... you can then refridgerate it and use it in iced tea or really anything....

you could even put in the zest of a lemon or two for a lemon flavored syrup- as LT said, the zest has a the oils in it and a ton of flavor..

or be a little different and add a vanilla pod for some vanilla syrup and that adds a nice touch to lemonade...

I also like strawberries mashed up in lemondade or raspberries for some color

You could try preserving them, north african style. Or you could make lemon marmalade! Thats easy and delicious. I have good, old fashioned recipes for both if you'd like.

The "good" lemonades in stores are generally 10% - 13% lemon juice. You can use that as a target in preparing the homemade stuff. (Snapple lemonade is <1% lemon juice; they rely on citric acid. :mad:)

Lemon marmalade!

Now there's a thought!


And thanks for the easy recipe little_tippler. I'll try that tonight!



Mr Mephisto

lemon delicious pudding:

http://www.abc.net.au/brisbane/stories/s1032278.htm

Personally, I think it is better served with ice cream.

also you can get a couple of ice cube trays, and freeze some lemon juice, for the down season (cuz G & T) are always delicious.

but I also cook with lemon
a steam my artichokes on slices of lemon
a lemon herb chicken is always nice
lemon and fish...

a lemon sorbet?

Don't forget lemon squares... one of my favorites.

Easy Lemon Ice Cream with Gingersnap Cookies. My wife made this one time, very good.