SMS: Strawberry Lemonade

It may still be winter but yesterday it felt like anything but in my little corner of Rhode Island.  The sun was shining, temperatures climbed to almost 50 F, I broke out my flip-flops instead of my Uggs for a trip to Target and to top it all off, I was drinking strawberry lemonade - a decidedly summery beverage - on my couch.  Jessica, of My Baking Heart, must have known that yesterday's weather would offer the perfect motivation for me to make the strawberry lemonade, her selection for this week's SMS.

The recipe is easy - it starts with a simple syrup, which is made by dissolving sugar in hot water.  Though the recipe didn't call for it specifically, I made mine in a saucepan on the stove to ensure the sugar was completely dissolved.  Fresh lemon juice and more water are added to the simple syrup as well as a strawberry sauce to finish the lemonade.  The strawberry sauce is made by blending fresh strawberries, a bit of lemon juice, water and sugar and then straining the sauce to remove the seeds. 

I really enjoyed the lemonade!  I have a major sweet tooth and this lemonade was perfectly sweet in my opinion, but if you like things a bit less sweet, you might want to cut back on the sugar.  The strawberry flavor is prominent and I liked it that way, but the recipe can easily be adjusted by using less strawberry sauce if you want more lemon flavor.  I only made 1/2 of the recipe this time but I know I'll be revisiting it again this summer, if not sooner!  Thanks to Jessica for hosting this week.  You can find the recipe on her site or on page 85 of the book.