Thursday, March 24, 2011

Pucker Up!


Who does not love a tall, cold glass of lemonade?  No one!  (Well, actually I'm sure there are lots, but I don't know any.)  Well, here is the story...   My husband and I used to frequent a wonderful middle eastern restaurant near our home.  The restaurant was owned by a family.  I loved several of their dishes, but they had the most delicious lemonade that I would crave.  Later, the family sold the restaurant to others, and soon after that, it closed and now sells pancakes.  I have missed that lemonade terribly and have searched for a way to recreate it ever since.  Fast forward to a few weeks ago.  We visited a middle eastern restaurant in Tempe with an attached grocery store, Haji Baba.  While we walked through the aisles of the grocery store before lunch, I found the secret ingredient that made the lemonade of my memory so delicious! 
You can find is several places online, but at My Lebanese Grocer it was the least expensive.
Alrighty then, here is the recipe for the best lemonade you will ever taste!

WARNING!  

This is not a sweet lemonade.  It is definitely tart.  You can always add more sugar to sweeten it up, but tart is how I like it.  


Orange Blossom Lemonade

2 cups freshly squeezed lemon juice (DO NOT use bottled, YUCK!)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 oz orange blossom water (2 tablespoons)
7 cups water

Add all ingredients to a large pitcher and mix with a balloon whisk.  Pour over ice.  Enjoy!

In the above picture, I want to point out a few interesting gadgets.  

First is the balloon whisk.  A balloon whisk does a great job of agitating whatever liquid you are stirring.  (See the froth on top of the lemonade.)  This model is made by OXO and is my favorite.  


Next you will see this strange measuring apparatus here with the orange blossom water. 

This is a small, plungered measuring cup that measures up to one ounce of liquid.  It is especially good for measuring things like peanut butter, shortening, or butter, but is great for liquids too.  The plunger scrapes all of the product out of the tube to give you a true measure.  I also have a 1-cup size and a 2-cup size.  They are my favorite measuring cups for sticky things.  (Thanks, Alton Brown for introducing them to me!)  I got mine from King Arthur Flour.

Here is a tip for freezing liquids.

We bought a large box of lemons from a local grower and juiced them all that same day using my trusty wooden reamer (mostly my husband).  We packaged the lemon juice in quart-sized Ziploc bags (4 cups). 
We put the bags of lemon juice in a second bag labeled with the day's date.  You can see the second bag in the picture.  Double bagging helps to keep the first bag from leaking while you are defrosting the liquid.  This works for all types of liquid, soup, spaghetti sauce, etc. 

The date is on the other bag.  You can see the date in the above picture. 

Also, I believe Haji Baba's lemonade uses rose water instead of orange blossom water.  That was delicious too so we bought a bottle of that to try as well.  


Try some of this delectable lemonade.  I'm drinking some now!

I am linking up to these and other great link parties!  To see a complete list, click on the Linky Party button at the top of the page!




Miz Helen’s Country Cottage

10 comments:

The Atomic Mom said...

They do use rose water at Haji Baba's. I LOVE that place, like no other. Serioulsy, I've been shopping there for almost 20 years now. I can get all sorts of Bulgarian stuff there as well. They also sell the best and cheapest (but high quality) spices there as well. LOVE Haji Babas.

Miriam said...

Mmm, that sounds amazing :), Miriam@Meatless Meals For Meat Eates

Unknown said...

thank you for sharing this lovely lemonade with tuesday night supper club...i bet it tastes amazing! please don't forget to attach a link-back to the club when you join us.
hope to see you at the club again :) all the best
christy

Miz Helen said...

Hi Tanya,
I just love your idea's for the lemonade, especially the bags ready to go. An all time summer favorite made better! Thanks for sharing with Full Plate Thursday and come back soon!

Brandi said...

Love fresh lemonade! Chick Fil-A is one of my favorite places to go for a quick fix! Your recipe sounds refreshing! I'll be looking out for orange-blossom water. Thanks for sharing!!!!

Nancy said...

I was suprised o see that you only use 2 Tbsp of the orange blossom water. It must be really strong stuff. Thanks for sharing. Id love a follow back @ funwithnancy.blogspot.com
Thanks!
Nancy

Miz Helen said...

Congratulations Tanya,
Your recipe is featured on Full Plate Thursday this week, enjoy!
Miz Helen

Anonymous said...

Thank you for sharing! I would try it!

Tina @ MOMS CRAZY COOKING said...

Thanks for linking to THIS WEEK'S CRAVINGS! Tomorrow we post the TOP CLICKED recipe, make sure to come by and take a look. Today we opened this week's theme "30 MINUTE MEALS". We hope you stop back by and link up again! Happy Blogging!

http://momscrazycooking.blogspot.com/search/label/THIS%20WEEKS%20CRAVINGS

MomWhatsForDinner said...

Love this post! I have orange blossoms galore in my backyard and I am going to make my own orange blossom water and use this recipe. I will link back when I post. LOVE the name of your blog!