Pink Lemonade

Quarantine has combined with horrible weather to make this winter feel like the longest winter imaginable. It has snowed 3 times in May. I know I live in Canada, but come on!

For the first time all year it was marginally nice out. I’m not talking record-breaking heat; the high was 68F, but I swear, with the sun it felt like 80. I laid on the grass, I drank a tallboy on a lawnchair with my shades and when I closed my eyes I swear I could hear the ocean. My children foolishly put their bathing suits on and dove through icy hose water on their slip and slide. And we made lemonade. Proper, pink, belongs in a picnic lemonade. We may have gotten carried away.

Any homemade lemonade is a treat, but pretty pink lemonade reminiscent of childhood makes every afternoon feel like summer. This recipe skips the red dye #40 and instead uses pureed berries. I used a combination of raspberry and strawberries, but feel free to use any combination of raspberries, strawberries or blackberries. I do not like my lemonade overly sweet. 1/4 cup of granulated sugar makes a sweet but not ‘toothache’ sweet drink that I don’t feel bad serving the kids. If you prefer yours sweeter, you can increase the sugar to 1/3 cup or even 1/2 cup.

A note on lemons- I find it easier to squeeze more juice out of older lemons and room temperature lemons. It also helps to roll the lemon on the counter with your hand. I use just a manual hand juicer and it works fine.

Pink Lemonade

From Smitten Kitchen

Makes 1 pitcher, 4 to 4 1/2 cups

3 cups cold water
1/4 cup plus 1 Tbsp granulated sugar, divided
1 cup fresh raspberries, blackberries, or sliced strawberries
1 cup lemon juice (from 4-5 lemons, depending on the size)

In a 1 litre carafe or large pitcher, combine water and 1/4 cup granulated sugar and stir it until mostly dissolved. Set it aside in the fridge to chill and fully dissolve while you prepare the other ingredients.

Combine your berry of choice with the remaining tablespoon of sugar and let sit for 10 minutes to macerate. Blend the berries and sugar until fully pureed. Press through a fine-mesh strainer.

Remove the sugar water pitcher from the fridge. If the sugar hasn’t fully dissolved, stir it again. Add the lemon juice and berry puree. Stir and drink. It can be kept in the fridge, chilled for up to 3 days.