I don’t try to hide the fact that I’m not at all talented in the domestic department- decorating our home like a Pottery Barn catalogue? cooking up a sumptuous meal with organic, homegrown ingredients? heck, even managing to vaccuum on a regular basis? Fail, fail, fail. But if there’s one thing I do well, it’s following basic instructions for delicious lemonade. Last summer I discovered the mecca of salads that is SweetGreen, and as I enjoyed my leafy lunch and sipped on their strawberry mint lemonade, it occurred to me that a recipe for said sippy satisfaction was probably online, just waiting for me to discover it. Once I unearthed the instructions and tweaked it to my satisfaction, it became a surefire way to Matt & I’s hearts. You can make it any time of year, but summer strawberries are always better than the ones you get during the winter!

Ingredients:

• One cup simple syrup (that’s equal parts sugar and water, heated on the stove until the sugar completely dissolves)
• One pound of strawberries, washed with stems removed
• 1 1/3 cups fresh lemon juice
• Four sprigs of mint (I used about 8 leaves)
• Five to six cups of water, + 1/2 cup
• A pretty pitcher, clear glass tumblers or mason jars (so everyone can admire the color), and striped straws. Because they make everything taste better.

Go ahead and make your simple syrup first- it’ll give it time to cool while you’re de-stemming the strawberries and juicing the lemons. I’m not a huge juicer so we don’t have an appliance to relieve the lemons of their juice, but I’ve found this metal lemon squeezer from Harris Teeter to work just fine. It’s much easier and way more efficient than trying to squeeze them with just your hand! If the lemons are a little too firm, just roll them between your palm and the counter before squeezing- it’ll help release more juice.

Plop the strawberries, mint leaves and 1/2 cup of water into a blender and set to “liquefy”- I let it go for 5-7 seconds, or until I can see that all the berries have been pulled down through the blades.

Add the simple syrup, strawberry/mint/water combination and lemon juice to a pitcher. Add in 5 t0 6 cups of cold water, depending on how strong you want it. It’s best ICE cold, so make sure to chill it thoroughly. If you’re like me and wait until 5 minutes before your guests arrive and don’t have time to chill thoroughly, stick with 4.5-5 cups of water and just it serve over lots of ice. Make sure to stir it up right before your pour!

*To make what I’ve dubbed the Southern Summer Breeze, try mixing the lemonade with 1/4 to 1/2 champagne- SO delicious. Enjoy!