Homemade Lemonade

This homemade lemonade recipe is made with real lemons. It came from my dad and implements what he likes to think of as one of his little secrets. The little secret is so simple...in boiling sugar and water, you suspend the sugar and it keeps the lemonade well flavored without having to be mixed and laying on the bottom every time you take it out of the frig.

-4 lemons
-3 1/2 cups water
-1 cup sugar
-1 tray ice cubes

Use 3 1/2 of the lemons to make juice. I roll the lemon on the counter first to help loosen up the juice and then cut them in half. Using a simple hand juicer, push the lemon half down on the center and twist as you grind it on the sharp point. I cut the half of the 4th lemon in slices and place those in my pitcher. Once I have all the lemons squeezed, I pour the juice in the pitcher with the slices.

In a small kettle, add the sugar and 1 1/2 cups water and bring to a boil stirring constantly until dissolved. Pour into your pitcher with the juice and add an entire tray of ice cubes to cool it all down. Lastly, add the extra 2 cups of water and stir.

Chill the lemonade since it's best really cold and poured over more ice. You really won't need to stir it each time you take it out of the refrigerator.

Once it's really cold, it's time to taste test. Is it too sweet for you? Add more water. I doubt it won't be sweet enough, but if you happen to have some REALLY sour lemons, you can boil up another batch of sugar and water, but cut it down to 1 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar. Stir it in and re-chill.

When you're ready to serve, pour over ice and add a wedge of lemon to the top of your glass!