It is around this time of year as a kid that my sister and I used to set up our lemonade stand. We lived not far from the train station and had prime real estate on the block selling our icy cold $.25 beverage to weary, thirsty commuters returning from a long, hard day of work in Manhattan. Perhaps being a little nostalgic and also wanting reprieve from the beastly heat, I whipped up some fresh squeezed lemonade.
This is a great drink since it serves double duty if you want to make lemonade popsicles.
Ingredients:
6 lemons (or enough to make about 1 ½ cup of lemon juice
1 3/4 cup white sugar
10 cups of water
1 lime
Roll lemons against countertop to get them “loosened” up. Juice them until you have about a cup and a half of liquid. Strain juice to remove seeds.
Combine sugar and 1 cup water in saucepan. Add some lemon rind pieces from the pile of cut lemons that were just juiced. Stir. Make sure sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat, discard rinds and allow to sit at room temperature. Chill.
Combine water and chilled lemon/sugar mixture. Add sliced lime wedges to garnish. You may need to dilute the lemonade to taste.
Variation: Omit the lime and add a splash of grape juice instead.
Spike it with some vodka.
Make popsicles. Pour lemonade into popsicle makers, put in freezer until solid.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Fresh Squeezed Lemonade
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
I Saw Cinnamon
I wish I could say that I invented this, but I didn't. I stole the idea from a Mexican restaurant in Park Slope whose name unfortunately escapes me. But anyway, there I sampled these incredible drinks made with cinnamon-infused tequila. I asked the bartender what the name of the tequila was and he told me to go home and stick a bunch of cinnamon sticks in a bottle of tequila and call it whatever I wanted. Captain came up with this version.
Cinnamon Margaritas
3 parts cinnamon tequila
1 part Cointrau
Fresh lime juice
Blood orange juice or a tropical juice mix (You can use regular orange juice, but the ones mixed with mango are better -- and so are those Ceres mixes.)
Fill a highball glass or whiskey tumbler to the top with ice.
3/4 cinnamon tequila
1/4 Cointrau
Dash of fresh lime juice
Strain contents into shaker and give it a good shaky shaky. Pour back into glass with ice to about 1/4 below the rim of the glass. Float juice to the top of the glass.
Cinnamon-infused tequila
1 bottle of white tequila. Do not spend too much money on this.
4-5 cinnamon sticks.
Drop cinnamon sticks into tequila. Close. Shaky shaky. Put in closet for a 5 days to a week. Remove cinnamon sticks —good luck with that— and enjoy!
Monday, June 11, 2007
Summertime Basic
Nothing says summer or quenches one's thirst like a tall, refreshing, cold glass of ice tea or lemonade (except maybe a frothy, cold beer or a frozen margarita). But not considering alcoholic beverages, it is usually either ice tea or lemonade that evoke hot, lazy summer days and satisfy a parched palate.
Although I didn't have lemons on hand, I did have the basic ingredients in my pantry to make a pitcher of tea. My version of tea has an asian twist. Instead of good ole' Lipton tea, I used loose leaf jasmine which has a wonderful fragrance and sweet taste. Any tea can be substituted though.
Ingredients:
1. loose leaf jasmine tea
2. honey
3. 1 lemon, sliced and wedged
4. mint sprigs
Heat 2 quarts of water in a 2.5 quart pot until the water comes to a rolling boil. Place 6 tablespoons of loose tea into a bowl. Pour water over tea. Let steep for several minutes. Steeping time will vary depending on how strong you like your tea. Strain tea from bowl into a heat resistant pitcher. Add in honey to taste. Slice lemon and place in tea. Let stand for an hour at room temperature. Remove lemon. Refrigerate until cold. Serve over ice with wedge of lemon and mint garnish.
Variation:
Try substituting black tea instead of jasmine and a slice of ginger instead of mint. Let the ginger steep a bit with the tea. I haven't tried this cold, but sometimes add ginger when drinking hot tea. 
Yipeeee, National Tea Month!!