Easy Summer Lemonade or Limeade

June 13, 2012  •  Beverages,

A couple of weeks ago the temperatures started soaring into the 90s here in Colorado. I’m not complaining, mind you – I’ll take that over winter snow any time. But it so happened I was helping my oldest son get ready to move, painting his old condo to put it on the market, and I was completely parched by the time I got home. Fortunately, I had planned ahead.I much prefer fresh lemonade or limeade to anything that comes out of a can, bottle, or powdered packet. But I don’t always have citrus on hand when I want it. Or if I do, I discover those limes hiding in the refrigerator bottom drawer have gone bad. So I developed a summertime routine. I buy a whole bag of limes and lemons and devote a half hour to juicing them. You can use a fork, a citrus reamer, or an electric juicer (like the new Kitchen Aid attachment I got) – whatever you have on hand. Once you’ve juiced the whole bag of lemons or limes, strain out any seeds or solids and pour the juice into ice cube trays to freeze. When the juice is frozen, pop out the cubes and store in a plastic bag or covered container in the freezer. To make your summertime drink, thaw one cube, pour it over a tall glass of ice, add sweetener of your choice, stir and enjoy. So simple! And as a bonus you’ll have individual portions of lemon or lime juice on hand for any summertime recipes that call for it. Can you say Pico de Gallo?

Comments

6 Comments  •  Comments Feed

  1. The Italian Dish says:

    That is totally brilliant.

  2. Barbara | Creative Culinary says:

    I do very much the same thing but I zest mine first and freeze the zest too. It is the ONLY way I can continue to buy citrus from Costco although I can’t deny that having an electric juicer is key…that 5 lb bag of lemons is done in minutes!

  3. Karen Harris says:

    Great tip Michele!

  4. RecipeNewZ says:

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  5. Victoria says:

    This is a GREAT idea.

    In the fall of 2006 my lovely dad died one month shy of his 85th birthday. When cleaning out his house, I found about a zillion bottles of blended Scotch whisky in his liquor cabinet. Apparently people had been giving Scotch to him as Christmas presents for the eleven years he lived longer than his adored wife, my mother, and instead of drinking them, he was just stashing them away.

    At the same time a friend of mine sent me a huge box of Meyer lemons from her backyard in California. I juiced them all, froze the juice in Ziplock bags, and drank Scotch sours as my Saturday night cocktail until everything ran out.

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