Lemonade: Just like Babcia’s

While chatting with my mother last week I got some good news.

“You did it.”

Uh oh…  just what DID I do?

“That lemonade recipe you sent tastes just like my Babcia’s,” she said. Mom’s casual statement closed the book on a 27-year odyssey. We now have the right ratios in place to duplicate her Polish grandmother’s lemonade.

How hard could this be?… one may wonder. For nearly three decades, my mother, sister and I have been experimenting with lemons, water, sugar, and yes, EVEN powdered drink mixes to replicate the tasty beverage. The results have been either too tart, too sugary-sweet, or just plain yucky.

Just in time for your 4th of July…

Babcia’s Lemonade

2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup boiling water
2 cups fresh lemon juice (do not substitute)
8 cups cold water
mint sprigs and lemon slices for garnish

1. In large container, place sugar. Add boiling water. Stir to dissolve sugar.
2. Add lemon juice and cold water. Stir until mixed.
3. Chill several hours. Garnish with mint and lemon slices.

Mix up a pitcher, close your eyes, and pretend you are sitting on Jay Gatsby’s veranda.

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You Have 5 Minutes Remaining On This Test…

I work at a private school. Yesterday, I helped out our college guidance department by proctoring national examinations. You know the ones… We’ve all taken them. Four hours of sheer torture–reading, writing, mathematics and science. So imagine what it is like to supervise a room full of young exam takers. That was my day: Handing out booklets, sternly barking out the directions and sitting like a sphinx for the remainder of the test. That is, until you gently utter that ubiquitous
proctor refrain, “You have five minutes remaining on this test.”

So as I sat through this soul-sucking activity, I daydreamed about getting home and back to the kitchen. I was starving and by the time we got to the fourth test, the carb laden Dunkin Donut I had wolfed down at 6:55 am in the faculty break room had me bottomed out. I was dragging tail but probably not half as bad as the kids were. It was time for a pick me up.

Here’s my homage to all the students (and their proctors) who took exams yesterday. I’m calling it the Proctor Pick-Me-Up.

I had a couple of ripe mangos on the kitchen counter as well as a fresh pineapple. I had a couple of Meyer lemons and Cara-Cara oranges left over from my recent adventures in making Orange Marmalade.

Proctor Pick Me Up

1 ripe mango, large dice
1 cup fresh pineapple, large dice
1/2 cup coconut milk
juice of one lemon
juice of one orange
2 cups crushed ice
1 tsp. vanilla

Whirl all in your blender. Add about 2 tablespoons of sugar (optional). Garnish with mango or pineapple.

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