My Mother's Lemonade

Cheap Eat Challenge: Watch as our family of 6 tries to eat on $6/day.

(Yes, this is a terrible picture, which is what happens when one changes one's mind about a post late at night and goes into the dimly lit kitchen to try to get a picture. I'll try to get an outdoor one tomorrow since that's where this lemonade deserves to be photographed.)

I was planning to post on chicken pot pie today. I even had most of the post written. But I am sitting here feeling so so hot in our so so hot house that I can't. I just can't. I don't even want to think about chicken pot pie. Which leaves me with... Well, I wish it left me with some ice cream. Or a mango lassi. Or maybe some yogurt popsicles (I promise to buy some yogurt and make lassi and popsicles because I love them so much and they are refreshing and so beautifully healthy.) Or how about a few frozen grapes.

And then I remembered what Kip and I drank after coming in from the yard/garden. What we often whip up when coming in from the yard/garden. Lemonade. The lemonade that I remember as a treat from my childhood. The lemonade that was not the usual Kool-Aid or even Country Time. The lemonade that I considered authentic and real. As indeed it is because it is made from lemon juice, which contains the juice of actual lemons. Although I must confess it is not made from fresh-squeezed lemons. Though I must also confess that this is part of the charm of this recipe. It takes no longer to whip up than it would if you pulled out a packet of yellow colored powder. But it tastes 10 trillion times better.

But...Can it compare to Country Time in cost? Well, actually, it kind of can. I didn't think it would. In fact, I wrote the post as though it wouldn't. I made excuses for my expensive lemonade habit. I talked about how comparing it to Country Time wasn't quite fair since you weren't comparing apples to apples or--hee hee--lemons to lemons; you were comparing lemons (or the juice thereof) to lemon flavoring. I discussed how much better this lemonade is, how your family would thrill at its appearance on a hot day, how it has more vitamin C, and that it's worlds cheaper than making lemonade with actual lemons would be. And then I figured up the costs and compared them. And I was surprised. My mother's lemonade costs only $.10/C (this is with inexpensive Aldi lemon juice) and Country Time costs about $.08/C. Thank you mamma. I'm gonna get another glass.

My Mother's Lemonade
Makes: about 6 cups
Prep time: 2 minutes
Cost: $.60 (for the record, this is only $.10/cup. A cup of Country Time will cost you about $.08/cup)
(sugar: .16, lemon juice: .44)

1 C sugar
1 C lemon juice
4 C water

Mix until combined. Drink.

Want to make it even more special? Crush or tear some fresh mint leaves (they're coming--I've got teeny ones popping out on all my mint) into your lemonade. Stir it up and let it sit in the refrigerator for a while. Strain or spoon out the mint leaves and serve minted lemonade. Hot day meet cool mouth.

PRINTABLE RECIPE