Spice up a summer lemonade recipe
Is anyone else feeling a little awkward about school starting in the middle of the summer? It’s the hottest week of the year and we’re walking around campus getting sweat marks from our backpack straps and trying to decide if it’s cool to rock sunglasses between classes or not. I’m pretty sure it’s not, but I kind of want to anyway.
Let’s face it: summer 2011 is still happening. At least until Labor Day. Maybe even until Sept. 21, if you want to refer to a calendar.
Since it’s still happening I think I’m going to hit up the aquatic center one more time, go through Green Canyon for a campfire dinner, ride my bike to First Dam for a picnic and spend a Saturday at Bear Lake one more time.
I’m definitely going to make homemade strawberry lemonade with fresh basil in it at least one more time. It’s the perfect summer drink, full of the flavor of ripe strawberries, freshly squeezed lemons and basil right out of the garden. It’s classy, especially if you sugar the rims of the glasses; and it’s got spunk from the fizz of the club soda.
It’s the perfect drink for sipping with friends in the shade of a tree in your back yard while you catch up and reminisce about your adventures from summer 2011.
Sparkling Strawberry Basil Lemonade
For the Strawberry Basil Syrup:
1 heaping cup chopped fresh strawberries
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons cold water
1 sprig basil (about 8-10 small leaves)
dash of salt
For the Lemonade:
1 cup boiling tap water
2/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cups fresh lemon juice (from 6-8 lemons, depending on the size)
4 1/2 cups club soda
To make the strawberry basil syrup, combine the strawberries, sugar, teaspoon of lemon juice, cold water, basil and salt in a food processor and blend until smooth. (You could also do this in a blender.)
Pour the mixture into a fine mesh strainer placed over a bowl and let it sit until you’ve gotten as much liquid out as you can. You can use the backside of a spoon to push on the mixture to speed the process up a little bit.
Meanwhile, to make the lemonade combine the hot water and sugar in a pitcher and stir until the sugar has completely dissolved.
Add the lemon juice, strawberry basil syrup and club soda and stir until combined.
To serve, use one of the pieces of squeezed lemon to rub the rim of the glasses and dip them in sugar.
Fill the glasses with ice, then pour the lemonade into them and garnish with a small whole strawberry and a basil leaf.
Notes:
A good place to get fresh, delicious basil for a really great price is the Logan Gardner’s Market. It’s happens every Saturday morning – weather permitting – at Merlin Olson Park.
I had a giant case of strawberries and a big bag of fresh basil, so I made a bunch of batches of the strawberry basil syrup and froze them individually – just to have one ready for the next unbearably hot afternoon. Then you only have to wash the food processor once, and the next time you want this it’ll be a snap to make.
If you want to simplify the recipe a little bit, you can use bottled lemon juice in place of squeezing the juice from fresh lemons. In my experience the bottled juice was a lot stronger than the fresh lemons, so I’d recommend only using about ¾ of a cup or so. You can taste and adjust as you go.
– Jennelle Clark is a senior, psychology major who runs the online food blog foodislikeart.blogspot.com. She loves making and eating food and sharing it all with you. What were your food adventures from summer 2011? Send her an email at jenn.nelle@gmail.com and let her know!