Thirsty Thursday: Strawberry Lemonade

 I think one of the BEST parts about living in Southern California is the strawberry season.  You can start getting (semi) local strawberries by the end of January, and you can milk that season through when everyone else in the country eats them.

It seems as though the local stands sell them for about 8 straight months.

Consequently, I can't always make the same strawberry shortcakes, strawberry jams, and strawberries with cream every day.  Even though I would love to eat strawberries every day of my life, my husband doesn't quite align with my sentiment.

So?  I found a recipe for a lemonade concentrate.  So "easy," and simple, plus you don't have to worry about any added preservatives or gross-ness.

Ingredients:
6 cups of strawberry puree (about 2-3lbs whole fruit)
4 cups of fresh lemon juice (about 3-4lbs whole fruit)
1/4 cup of sugar - 6 cups of sugar depending on the sweetness.  Original recipe called for 6, I used 1/4 cup.  You're call, obviously.
5+ freezable containers.
Liquid to un-concentrate later (Sprite, Ginger Ale, Water, Seltzer Water, or whatever you'd like).

Directions:
1. Stem and hull strawberries.  Throw into your food processor and blend until smooth.
2. Juice a lot of lemons.  Add to strawberry puree.
3. Add sugar to taste.
4.  Place into freezable containers.  After the concentrate freezes, you can pop the cubes out and place them in a zip-lock bag.
5. When you're ready to enjoy the beverage, thaw your concentrate and use an equal proportion (or more) of the liquid (I used about 3/4 C Diet Sprite to 1/2 C concentrate, and loved it).

* You can also process the concentrate through a water boil method for canning, but I didn't want to waste the jars on something so easily frozen.
** These would also make a good smoothie base.

Pink Lemonade Cupcakes - and Gluten Free!

 I'm not one for Gluten Free recipes.  I know some who need them to maintain health, and I completely respect that.  I am just a gluten junkie, and don't normally look for specifically GF recipes.

However, when I saw a Pink Lemonade Cupcake recipe, I knew I had to try it.  Even if it used rice flour instead of the stuff that's 30x cheaper.

I'm willing to give anything a try.  Maybe I'll try to work with alternative flours more as a personal goal.  Maybe I'm just over thinking it.

Okay, I am over thinking it, but for those of you who need or want to maintain a gluten free lifestyle, kudos to you!  Even with stores having their own GF sections, the choices are so minimal that it amazes me you can maintain a state of healthy living.  I am in awe.

Regardless, here is the original recipe that I found.  It was kind of a pain in the butt to have two bowls going off simultaneously, but it is TOTALLY worth it.  The egg whites make the cake so fluffy.  I was completely in awe.

 I made the cupcakes over a series of three days.  Primarily because I had lots of food to prep, but also because I couldn't wait to get started.  I made the cupcakes on Tuesday, the garnish on Wednesday, then the frosting and assembly happened on Thursday.

When the cupcakes came out on Tuesday, I had some residents around the neighborhood sample them as is.  And, I must admit, I tried one as well.

It was like eating a lemony marshmallow.

Completely amazing.  You couldn't even tell that I had used rice flour once it had baked.  You could in the raw batter, but since no one is supposed to eat that anyway, there's no way to know.

For the garnish, we followed the recipe and candied the lemons.  We boiled them in sugar water until the rinds started to become translucent, then we cooled them, dipped them in sugar, and then dipped them in sugar again right before assembling the cupcakes.

The only thing that left me iffy on these was the frosting.  It tastes fabulous, but it's really thin.  I noticed the next day that the grocery store sells some pink lemonade frosting in your baking aisle, but I'm not sure that's the answer either.  I'll have to ponder it, but the maraschino cherry juice really did give the frosting a nice pop of color.

And out of  78 mini cupcakes, I only had 10 left at the end of the night.  Completely wonderful, all around, especially for those looking for a gluten free recipe!

Thirsty Thursday: Sarasota Lemonade

 With this drink, I can really only say one thing: BRING ON SUMMER!

Ingredients:
2 bottles Moscato
1 pink lemonade concentrate
3 C of Sprite (more or less, depending on your taste)
Fresh raspberries

I emptied all of the liquid ingredients into a pitcher and stirred.  Then I mashed about half the raspberries and put them in.  Placed the rest of the raspberries in the glasses and served it up to most of my guests content.  We ranged about 60 years in age (those who were partaking), and the only complaint I received was after I had run out.  Crisp and refreshing all around!

sorry for the blur, I was running out the door to refill the glasses!