VMBURNS: It's summer, and it's hot down here in the South! I know, it's hot everywhere, but it's REALLY hot and humid in Georgia. So, when I venture outside in the sauna that is my life, I need something cool to drink. Nothing taste better than homemade lemonade in the summertime.
I like to try different flavors when making lemonade and one of my favorite is blackberry lemonade. Since peaches are in season, I thought about making peach lemonade, but that seemed like a lot of work. Plus, my niece was visiting with her family\ which included small kids. Knowing how picky kids can be, I kept this simple. If you're feeling adventurous, try pureeing 1 cup of strawberries, blackberries, peaches or watermelon to add to your basic lemonade. You'll need to strain the fruit well before adding it to the lemonade (I use cheese cloth). You can also try using limes to make a lemon/limeade. The possibilities are endless.
HOMEMADE LEMONADE
INGREDIENTS
- 1 12 Cups sugar
- 1 1/2 Cups water
- 1 1/2 Cups freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 Cups cold water
- 2 Cups ice
INSTRUCTIONS
- Add sugar and 1 1/2 cups water to a small pan and bring to simmer. Stir until the sugar dissolves completely then remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
- Juice the lemons and add to a pitcher.
- Add the simple syrup to pitcher and 4cups of water, and stir.
- Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, and then add ice and serve.
- READERS: Are you a lemonade purist, or are you open to new flavors? If so, what's your favorite lemonade flavor? Let me know in the comments below.
MURDER AT FIRST SLICE (ARC)
As Maddy’s wedding day approaches, friends and family descend on the little town of New Bison, Michigan, to celebrate—so much so that Maddy wonders if there might be another happily-ever-after in store for her widowed father and innkeeper Mrs. Law. Unfortunately, she also has to deal with an unhappy couple: feuding cousins Hannah and Dorothy, who haven’t spoken in decades. Maddy can only hope the spectacular wedding cake crafted by her head baker doesn’t wind up as ammunition in a food fight.
But she doesn’t have to wait long for a wedding disaster to strike. When the imperious Dorothy crashes the rehearsal dinner—with several uninvited guests in tow—and starts battering everyone with constant complaints, the drama reaches reality-show levels. And the next day, Dorothy is dead . . . with Hannah standing over the body, bloody rolling pin in hand.
Nobody in town believes Miss Hannah could commit murder. But a detective newly relocated from New York doesn’t know the sweet, memory-challenged Hannah the way the locals do—and the evidence seems open-and-shut as an oven. Now, with her sous-sleuths the Baker Street Irregulars, the bride-to-be is busy digging into Dorothy’s past to catch a killer before she cuts the cake . . .
