Lavender Lemonade

Who loves lavender?  I do! Not only does it smell wonderful - it tastes great too, but it's very strong so you have to be careful not to use too much.  Here, dried lavender buds are gently steeped in hot water to make a tea which is then combined with water and freshly squeezed lemon juice to make this refreshing lavender lemonade.

The ingredients needed are pretty simple, fresh lemons, water, sugar, and dried lavender.  If you grow your own lavender, you can dried the buds yourself, otherwise they're pretty easy to find online (this is what I purchased).

Gorgeous lemons!!!

We need a lot of freshly squeezed lemon juice (don't even think about using the stuff in a bottle!).  You can squeeze the juice by hand (this is my favorite style for manual squeezing), but for large jobs, I love using my electric juicer.  Sadly, this exact one is no longer made, but there are plenty of similar models available online (here).

Over high heat, combine some of the water with the sugar. 

Stir the sugar until it dissolves.

Bring the mixture to a boil.

Turn off the heat and add the dried lavender flowers; steep for 10 minutes.

After 10 minutes, strain the lavender out and discard.  Add the remaining water and freshly squeezed lemon juice and serve over ice.

Oh, and here's a tip - store the empty lemon halves in the freezer.  Whenever you need lemon zest, grab a frozen half and run it over a microplane grater.  You'll never be without lemon zest again! 

Enjoy!

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• electric citrus juicer https://amzn.to/2LiUSDp

• handheld citrus juicer https://amzn.to/2LfFhEk

• dried lavender flowers https://amzn.to/2LTZG32

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Lavender Lemonade

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 cups water, divided

• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or more to taste)

• 2 tablespoons dried lavender

• 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

• optional: a drop or two of blue or purple food coloring

• garnish: lemon slices and fresh lavender petals

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. Remove from heat and stir in dried lavender; steep for 10 minutes.

3. Strain lavender from mixture and discard.

4. Place lavender-infused water in large pitcher; add remaining water, lemon juice, optional food coloring and stir well.

5. Serve over ice.

Freshly Squeezed Lemonade

You are only 3 ingredients away from freshly squeezed lemonade - one of life's simple pleasures.  

Start by combining water and sugar in a saucepan.

Heat gently and stir to dissolve sugar.

When the water changes from cloudy to clear, the sugar is dissolved.  Remove from the heat.

Cut a bunch of fresh lemons (I used 10).  

Here's a tip:  cold lemons don't like to give up all their juice so make sure your lemons are room temperature or slightly war before juicing.  You can warm them by covering with warm water or pop each one in the microwave for 10-20 seconds until warm.  Rolling the lemons on the counter using moderate pressure before squeezing helps as well.   

Time to juice those lemons - an electric lemon juicer makes very quick work of it.  This kind of manual citrus juicer also works well.  

Pour the remaining water, lemon juice, and sugar/water mixture into a large pitcher and mix well to combine.  Serve over ice.  

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• electric citrus juicers https://amzn.to/3CMpWrW

• manual citrus juicer https://amzn.to/3NKPqvP

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Freshly Squeezed Lemonade

makes 8 servings

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• 8 cups water, divided

• 1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (or more to taste)

• 2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, bring 2 cups of water and sugar to a boil, stirring until sugar dissolves.

2. Pour remaining 6 cups of water into a large pitcher; add sugar water and lemon juice, stirring well to combine.

3. Serve over ice.