Strawberry Lemonade

 

Although slightly cold, the sunny weather and clear skies that we've been getting off and on lately is making me think of the warmer weather and days spent in the sun. Because of this, I thought I'd share a recipe for a hot weather drink: Strawberry Lemonade.

 

Really, it's extremely simple. The only tools you need are a lemon/lime squeezer (like the one pictured below), a knife, and a quart sized mason jar. Your ingredients will include 2 lemons, a handful of strawberries, sugar, water, and about a cupful of ice.

 

 

So first, you just need to prepare the fruit by cutting the lemons in half and rinsing the strawberries and removing their stems and leaves. Then you simply juice each lemon half into the mason jar with the lemon squeezer, followed by the strawberries. Yes, I actually juiced the strawberries this way, and it seemed to work really well. You can then drop the flattened strawberries into the jar with the juice, and it seems to add extra flavor. Next, add the ice to the jar, and then fill the jar with water, until there is about an inch and a half left room the top of the jar. After this, you add sugar to taste, and shake the sealed jar to mix everything up. You may end up using about a 1/4 cup of sugar, but some people like their lemonade a little sweeter, and it really just depends on your preference.

 

Enjoy!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

After making jam I still had several pints left, so I ad libbed a strawberry rhubarb crumble, and I thought I'd share the recipe.

Ingredients:

5 rhubarb stalks

2 pints of strawberries

 1 1/2 cups sugar

1/4 cup flour

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon clove

For the crumble:

3/4 cup flour

1/3 cup butter, lukewarm

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

a dash each of nutmeg and clove

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cut both the strawberries and rhubarb into bite sized pieces and combine both in a medium size bowl.

Mix in the sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove.

Place mixture into a 9x9 ungreased baking dish.

For the crumble  combine the flour, butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove in a small mixing bowl, and mix until it has a crumbly texture.

Sprinkle the crumble mixture over the strawberry and rhubarb.

Bake the crumble for 40 to 50 minutes, until the topping has become golden brown and the juices are bubbling.

Golden Sweet Cornbread

I found this recipe earlier today on allrecipes.com and I absolutely love the end result and had to share it! You can see the original recipe here if you'd like, but I thought I'd write it down as well.

Golden Sweet Cornbread

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

2/3 cup sugar (I used half white and half brown)

1 teaspoon salt

3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 C), and grease one 9 inch round cake pan.

2. Combine flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking powder in medium bowl. Stir in egg, milk, and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour in prepared pan.

3. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

I actually used a 13 x 9 inch cake pan and baked it at 350 degrees and it turned out perfectly.

Easy Sun Tea

Every year when the weather starts to get warmer and the sun stays out for longer periods of time, I make sun tea. Sun tea is extremely easy to make and, apart from the time left in the sun, only takes a few minutes to prepare.

What you need:

A pitcher or container of some kind for holding the tea

Several tea bags of your choice, preferably with attached strings.

( I used 6 black tea bags for 2.75 quarts/2600 mL of water.)

Water

First, fill the container with water.

Then, unwrap the tea bags and put them in the container, with the strings hanging out.

Screw the lid onto the container so that the strings stay hanging on the outside of the container.

Set out in a sunny spot in the yard for several hours.

Here the tea is after a half hour out in the sun.

I tend to keep the tea outside for a longer period of time, because I like mine strong, but it depends on your preference. When the tea is strong enough, bring it inside, take out the tea bags, add sugar (again this is based on your personal preference), and either put in the refrigerator or pour into a glass over glass.

And there you have it, easy sun tea to enjoy on a hot summer day.