It’s FINALLY getting warm so I decided to make something cool, refreshing and delicious: Strawberry Lemonade. I recently enjoyed this lemonade on a really hot day out in the Napa Valley at a terrific restaurant called Bistro Don Giovanni. It was the perfect blend of tart and sweet and the most beautiful bright magenta color…then I came across this recipe for Strawberry Lemonade and it’s exactly the same! The combination of fresh strawberries and fresh lemons creates the perfect warm weather drink.
Add a little vodka to the mix and you have a most perfect warm day cocktail too! Here is how you can make your own:
You can find the entire recipe here. Start by hulling and halving a pint of fresh strawberries. Set aside.
In a medium sauce pan bring the water and sugar to a boil, stirring occasionally until all the sugar has dissolved. The recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar but I like a more tart lemonade so I used 1/2 cup plus 1/4 cup sugar.
Add the lemon peel and lemon juice, stir and remove from heat. Let cool completely and strain into a clean pitcher.
In a blender, puree the pint of strawberries until smooth. Add to the pitcher with the lemon juice and stir well to combine.
Refrigerate and chill for around an hour. When ready to serve, add sparkling water (I used San Pellegrino Sparkling Mineral Water) to the pitcher and stir well.
Pour over ice to serve. Garnish with whole strawberries and a mint sprig.
You can also make this in advance if you have a bottle with a tight stopper to keep all the bubbles in the lemonade. Just mix everything together and use a funnel to fill the bottle. Keep well chilled until ready to serve.
This is equally fantastic served as a cocktail with some vanilla vodka added to the mixture.
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