Easy, Refreshing, Strawberry Lemonade

Easy, homemade strawberry lemonade, from scratch. It's super refreshing, incredibly delicious and truly the "essence" of summer!

It was destined to be a "strawberry" birthday, long before the day arrived. No one complained. With strawberry cake and strawberry lemonade it was a delicious, delightful day indeed!

What do you want for your birthday? "Strawberry cake". "Anything else?" "No, just strawberry cake."

That's what our little Emmy Kate started telling us way back in January, three months before her third birthday! She never veered from that decision, despite lots of opportunities to change her sweet little mind.

"Who do you want to make the cake?" "Gigi!" - that's me, although since then, she's shortened it to Geeg. I love it. These grandkids can call me anything they want, I've been Gaga, Grammy, Gammy, Gappy and for awhile, one of them even called me Crappy, while she was first learning to talk. Oh well, could be worse. I guess.

So, strawberry cake it was, and Emmy was quite happy when I sent her a picture of the pretty, pink cake the morning of her birthday. She was thrilled when party time arrived and just ready to burst, as we lit the candles on the cake. After all those months, the beloved strawberry cake was finally a reality!

That was back in March and I've been waiting patiently for strawberry season to arrive, to share the cake with all of you. It's prime strawberry time right now where we live, here in North Carolina, and everywhere north of here isn't far behind. The cake recipe can be found here, but there was another delicious strawberry recipe that day. I'll let my daughter-in-law Lindsay tell you about it...

As children tend to do, our daughter Emery talked about her birthday for months before she turned three. Her only request was always the same - a strawberry cake made by Gigi.

 She loves strawberries and will eat a pound by herself within a couple days. We decided to keep it simple this year, and celebrated with both sides of the family. We had everyone over for lunch - grilled burgers and a big salad.

I decided to go with the strawberry theme and make a special drink for the birthday girl.

She was thrilled with this Strawberry Lemonade, and I was thrilled at how easy and delicious it was! I was able to put it together in minutes the morning of the party. So delicious and so pretty! As Emmy says it's, "Good for the blog!" - Lindsay

Indeed! I took the first sip of Lindsay's delicious lemonade and knew that it was definitely a "Good for the blog." recipe!

So keep your eyes peeled for that first lovely sign that says, "Strawberries for sale." and pick up some of those beautiful, delicious berries. Or better yet, set aside an hour or two and pick your own!

There's nothing in the world like fresh, local strawberries. And there's not much I can think of more delicious and refreshing than this Strawberry Lemonade - enjoy!

Here are some of the things I used to prepare and present this Strawberry Lemonade:

5 from 8 votes

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Strawberry Lemonade

Easy, homemade strawberry lemonade, from scratch. It''s super fresh, incredibly delicious and truly the "essence" of summer!

Author: Chris Scheuer

Course: Beverage

Prep Time: 10 mins

Total Time: 10 mins

Servings: 8 1 cup servings

Calories: 114 kcal

Ingredients

For the simple syrup:

• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• For the strawberry puree:
• 2 cups fresh sliced strawberries
• 1 cup cold water

For the lemonade:

• finely grated zest of 1 lemon
• 1 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 cup cold water
• lemon slices and sliced strawberries
• ice

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

1. For the simple syrup, microwave water in a microwave-safe 4-cup glass measuring cup at HIGH 1 minute and 30 seconds or until very hot. Add sugar and stir until well combined. Microwave on HIGH for 2 additional minutes. Stir until sugar is dissolved and mixture becomes a clear syrup. Set aside to cool.
2. Add strawberries and 1 cup cold water to a blender container. Pulse until the mixture is fairly smooth.
3. Add lemon zest, lemon juice and 1 cup cold water to a half-gallon pitcher. Stir in the strawberry puree and simple syrup until well combined.
4. Add lemon and strawberry slices and ice.
5. Taste and add more cold water if needed. Serve over ice.

Recipe Notes

Adapted from a recipe by Alaska from Scratch

Nutrition facts per serving (1cup)

Calories 114kcal

Sodium 3mg

Potassium 86mg

Carbohydrates 29g

Sugar 27g

Vitamin C 33%

Calcium 9%

Iron 0.2%

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