Let's make Lemonade!- Ready for the Weekend!

It's been a very long couple of weeks for me in the workplace... Long days with no dinner... But we've reached a very exciting milestone!  We're going to start construction on a project that I was on the design team for!  All the hard work is paying off!!!


So, after these long days, I decided to take the afternoon off today.  After leaving work, I called my niece (she's 5) to see what she was up to...  Well, I ended up getting her mom on the line, and she told me that she was going to pick up my niece from school!  PERFECT timing.  I told her I'd meet them at home with my gluten free brownies I made the other night  (thanks to gluten free girl's recipe).  So, with a tupperware of brownies in hand, I set off to meet my niece.

She's like a ray of sunshine!  She greeted me ("HIIIIIII AUNTIEEEEEEEE!") as I walked up to the front yard, as she twirled her hula hoop around her waist.  This is JUST what I needed to start my weekend off.  Love the positivity!

She ran over to me and grabbed my hand, walking me over to the lemon tree, and said "I have an idea!  Let's make lemonade!"  I thought it was a great idea, so we picked some lemons, and into the kitchen we went.  Here's the recipe we used, borrowed from Simply Recipes:

Perfect Lemonade Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup sugar (can reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 cup water (for the simple syrup)
• 1 cup lemon juice
• 3 to 4 cups cold water (to dilute)

1.  Make simple syrup by heating the sugar and water in a small saucepan until the sugar is dissolved completely.
2. While the sugar is dissolving, use a juicer to extract the juice from 4 to 6 lemons, enough for one cup of juice.
3. Add the juice and the sugar water to a pitcher. Add 3 to 4 cups of cold water, more or less to the desired strength. Refrigerate 30 to 40 minutes. If the lemonade is a little sweet for your taste, add a little more straight lemon juice to it.
4. Serve with ice, sliced lemons.  ENJOY!

The lemonade was so delicious that my sister and niece both proclaimed "this is THE BEST lemonade I've ever had".  The secret was the simple syrup, but I decided to tell them that "it was magic".   Those are the best moments.  With my hectic life recently, Ive really treasured these short moments with family and friends.

HAPPY WEEKEND!