Yummy Summer - Summer Treats Part I

This week and next week my yummy summer posts will highlight some of my favorite summer recipes! If you have some fantastic summer foods that you love, please share them with us all and link up below.  I will be featuring some of the recipes on my food blog,
"What’s For Dinner?” – perhaps one of yours will show up there! - giving you full credit and linking back to your blog.

Today I'm highlighting my abundant lemon tree and all the treats it provides,

starting with Homemade Lemonade!

I always recommend getting your kids involved in the kitchen. Not only do they learn a lot, but you’ll find that they’ll try more new foods if they’ve had a hand in preparing them! And summertime is a great time to get your kids in the kitchen because we’re not fighting against school schedules and homework.

The children have lots of fun squeezing the lemons for homemade lemonade!

And even more fun drinking the finished product!

Homemade Lemonade

It’s so simple!

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

1 c. fresh lemon juice

Put the water and sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Simmer until the sugar has dissolved. Allow the simple syrup to cool completely. Pour lemon juice and simple syrup in a pitcher and add water to make the lemonade. You can add 4-5 cups of cold water, but I like mine more diluted and will add more water.

One variation is to add slices of the peel of 2 lemons into the simple syrup once you remove it from the heat to cool. The lemon peel will steep in the syrup and add a stronger lemon flavor. This might require you adding even more water to the finished product, yielding more lemonade. Make sure to only cut off the yellow part of the peel, leaving the white still on the lemon.

Here is my favorite variation –

Blueberry Mint Lemonade

1 c. sugar

1 c. water

1 c. fresh lemon juice

¼ c. fresh blueberries (more for serving if you wish)

2 sprigs of fresh mint

Put water and sugar in a sauce pan and simmer over medium heat until the sugar has dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved into the water, remove pan from heat and add ¼ c. fresh blueberries and 2 sprigs of mint. Allow those to steep in the simple syrup until cool. Smash the berries slightly with the back of a spoon. Pour the syrup through a strainer, add lemon juice and water for a beautiful and delicious summer drink.

Other Yummy Summer Lemon Recipes:

Lemon Blossoms

The Best Lemon Bars