Happy meal #17: Lemonade

I know, lemonade is not really a meal in itself but I figured that given the amount of effort one needs to exert in order to get a jug of it, surely it can be ranked on par with food. Trust me, trying to wring a lemon dry is like trying to break Arnie’s hand while you are shaking it – IMPOSSIBLE.

This may look nice and dandy:

but it sure took a hell lot of strength to get there.

Lemonade

What you need:

• 6 lemons (or enough juice to fill 1 cup)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 cup of sugar (I used 3/4 cup instead because I didn’t want it to be too sweet)
• Zest of 1 lemon

Directions:

• Combine sugar, zest, water and lemon juice in a sauce pan
• Heat over a gentle flame for about 5 minutes, until the sugar has dissolved to form a syrup
• Add cold water to syrup for lemonade, depending on your taste, and remember to add lots of ice!

As simple as that! Or so it sounds. I had to call for reinforcement in the form of a husband who was mopping the floor. Squeeze the lemon as hard as you can, I instructed. He did and, oh, two drops of juice dripped out into the bowl? (Don’t worry, he washed his hands before doing that. Or did he?)

I’ve read that sticking the lemons into a microwave oven for one minute can help to release the juice but we don’t have one at home so I had to settle for the old fashioned “roll the lemon on the countertop using your entire body weight” method. Then, there was also the hassle of getting all the seeds out of the juice. Messy, messy.

But the end result, I was told, was worth it. Just remember the ratio of one (cup of juice) : one (cup of sugar) : one (cup of water). Works everytime.