Warm temperatures. Longer days. Outdoor parties. Beach days. What encapsulates all the summer vibes like nothing else in this world? Lemonade! If you’re short on time, and need that sweet fix, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing a lemonade from your favorite drink spot. But man, when you have just a bit of time and want to experience summer in its purest form….it’s time to get in your kitchen to start making homemade lemonade from scratch!
Making Homemade Lemonade from Scratch
Yep! Not just making lemonade at home, but actually making homemade lemonade from scratch with fresh lemons. Most of us have to buy our fresh organic lemons from our local store, or farmers market. Some of us are lucky enough to have lemon trees in our backyards and can pick them whenever we have the urge for some sour citrus fruit. However you procure your fresh lemons, it’s time to juice and zest them, and make some scratch made lemonade!
Classically Simple Homemade Lemonade
Keeping it simple, especially the first time you’re popping the making homemade lemonade cherry, is important. You want to start slow, and master the sweetness levels. Start with a simple, but classic, homemade lemonade recipe. One of the best lemonade recipes to try and adjust is from the lemon experts over at Love and Lemons. I’d start out using the Love and Lemons recipe, adjust it to your sweetness liking, and then start adding fresh fruits to it to push it to a new level!
No Artificial Color Pink Lemonade
Everyone, and I mean everyone, loves a pink lemonade. I hate pink and even I love a pink lemonade. What most of us don’t enjoy? The artificial crap dumped into the pink lemonade mix. Since we’re making homemade lemonade, there’s no room for weird chemical mixes, or colorings – so, instead, it’s time to use a lemonade recipe that uses actual food-based coloring. Yep, real whole foods absolutely work to change the color of a drink, without corrupting the flavor of the lemonade. Wooo-to-the-whoooo. You’ll love Divas Can Cook’s Pink Lemonade Recipe.
Peach Lemonade
I’m not much of a tea lover, but when I have tea I like fruit-flavored tea. Peach is my fruit flavor of choice. Why not put it in my homemade lemonade, right? Even better, a lemonade recipe that uses REAL peaches to add peach flavor to the lemonade. WHAT? Crazy, I know. Will Cook for Smiles has a fantastic Peach Lemonade recipe that I use and just tweak with real vanilla instead of vanilla extract. It’s a little extra work to make the peach mixture, but totally worth it. Give it a try this summer.
Strawberry Lemonade
What’s better than classic lemonade? Strawberry Lemonade. Strawberries and lemons are my favorite fruits to enjoy, so it makes sense to put them together in a beverage! I mean, I use lemons in many recipes, especially with chicken and various kinds of baked treats. Strawberries make me so happy that I grow my own every strawberry season. Jam them together and life’s just better…. even if it isn’t summer and I have to buy the strawberries instead of pick them from my own strawberry patch. Give Tastes Better from Scratch’s Strawberry Lemonade recipe any time of the year, but it tastes even better during strawberry season with the most epic locally grown strawberries.
When you want to quench your thirst with a sweet beverage you can customize to your preferred sweetness level you’ll want to create your own homemade lemonade with fresh, locally grown lemons! It might mean a bit of extra work, but the rewards are so worth it. Add fresh fruit mixtures to your lemonade to really heighten the experience. Enjoy!
