Life gave me lemons

But not in the way you'd think.



Like in fresh-off-the-tree Meyer lemons from California. One of my dearest friends that I've known for 25+ years scoured the Bay Area to pacify this pregnant craving of mine. Picture it: She and her sweet husband get off the plane and almost immediately hand me this Ziploc bag full of sunshine. Oh, I could've cried. If you've never tried lemonade with fresh lemons... run, don't walk, to get your hands on them. Store bought lemons are not even comparable, actually. They have a vibrant, flowery undertone to them that's hard to embody in words. My hands smelled heavenly for hours after making the lemonade. And boy did I make my family ration it!

Yum. For the lemonade recipe (via allrecipes.com):

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups white sugar
8 cups water
1 1/2 cups lemon juice

Directions
1.In a small saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup water. Bring to boil and stir to dissolve sugar. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until chilled.
2.Remove seeds from lemon juice, but leave pulp. In pitcher, stir together chilled syrup, lemon juice and remaining 7 cups water.


Heather's revisions:
Since Meyer lemons have a sweeter, less tart flavor to them, I opted to go for 1-1/4 cups white sugar and a dollop of honey instead, and it was still a bit sweet for my taste. Next time, I'll try either raw sugar, or all honey.

Julianne, thank you from the depths of my heart! Perhaps you'll be back for a marathon or two, wink wink? At least to be lavished with compliments from a certain seven and three-year-old? To quote Abigail: "Suyon Emo (Aunt Julianne) wif the pwetty face gived me a pwesent."