Thursday, May 14, 2009

Refreshing Lemonade

For a short period during my teenage years, I worked for the infamous Hot Dog on a Stick. I loved sportin' the attractive hat (sigh) and especially loved getting to eat the food. There were many days that I spent "squishing" the lemonade in the large barrel while receiving some funny looks from bystanders, but the best part about being the "lemonade cooker" was that I HAD to test each batch! It was there that I grew to LOVE Lemonade...and I mean L-O-V-E! Now it is a must in our household to have fresh-squeezed lemonade in an ice-cold pitcher during the warmer months of the year! Although HDOS will NOT EVER release their "secret ingredient" (not even to the employees) which makes their version simply THE BEST, this recipe cuts it quite close! Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh-sqeezed lemon juice (takes about 6 lemons)
7 cups cold water
1 cup sugar

Directions:

Squeeze the fresh lemons (I like mine chilled in the fridge beforehand). Place in a large pitcher (at least 2 quart size). Add the water and sugar. Stir until all the sugar is dissolved and pour into glasses with ice.

2 comments:

  1. Thanks for your Lemonade Recipe. Question for you, do you do your own form of stomping? When I make my Lemonade at home, here is what I do:

    I cut my lemons and drop them in a 1 gallon mayo or pickle plastic jug - the kind with a wide mouth.

    Pour on my sugar.

    Add a little bit of water (maybe a cup)

    And then I take a wooden spoon or muddling stick and start MUDDLING the lemons and sugar, kind of like your stomping motion but on a much smaller scale. You can also use a real stiff wire wisk or anything that can do the job of smashing / pressing those lemons and sugar together to create a paste or mash as I like to call it.

    Once done, then add your water and ice, put the lid on the gallon jug and SHAKE it like crazy. The ice / water and MASH will then be transformed into the BEST Lemon Shaker ever.

    I don't know what in the world HDOS could be putting into their Lemonade, but in my opinion, you don't need anything else. The natural taste of freshly squeezed / smashed Lemonade is just awesome all by itself. The real trick to great Lemonade is in the MUDDLING / SMASHING / STOMPING process..you have to break down the lemon and create that great pulp and sugar combination. That is what really releases the flavor of the lemon.

    Give it a try and let me know what you think.

    You probably won't need 6 Lemons to do it this way either. I use the 165 ct Lemon size - which is a little smaller of a lemon but they are the most juicy I've found. Don't get really big lemons..they usually have really thick rinds and aren't as juicy.

    Can't wait to hear your results.

    Thanks again for sharing your base recipe.

    Libby

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  2. Thank you so much for sharing your tricks! I will definitely be giving your stomping method a try! :)

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