Strawberry Lemonade

Aimee + HTML = frustration city! I've been trying to add some things to my humble little blog which means... dealing with HTML. I'm no good at it, but after a few hours of trial and error I did successfully add a few things:

1. Pinterest is where it's at so now when you hover over a picture, the "pin" button appears. I *love* when people pin my stuff so please, pin away! Hopefully this will make it super easy for you! {psst - follow me? Click the "P" on the right sidebar! I'd love to follow you, too, so add your link to in the comment box!}

2. I also added a Facebook "share" button at the top of each post so you can share a favorite recipe or post with your Facebook friends {and easily find it later!}. Posts are also shared on my Facebook page - which makes sharing even easier - so join me there! Just click the "F" on the right sidebar.

3. As you know, Google Reader is going away soon... which leaves most of us searching for a new way to keep up with our favorite blogs! I jumped on the Bloglovin' bandwagon and so far, really love it! It easily transferred all my subscriptions so I didn't lose any of my favorite blogs in the move and the layout is easy to navigate. Click on the bloglovin' picture in the right sidebar to follow me there!

Psst - if you're awesome at HTML, I'm completely and utterly impressed. Truly.

And now to a recipe!

Spring has sprung here in North Carolina! This is our first spring here and so far, I'm in love. And I can even overlook the layer of green pollen all over everything in exchange for the flowers, trees, and lovely temperatures.

For me, spring = lemonade! While Jason digs lemonade on it's own, I strongly prefer strawberry lemonade especially when made from scratch. This strawberry lemonade? Amazing. Lemonade doesn't need to come from a can; you can whip this up in minutes and it tastes so much better. Plus, people will be super impressed :)

The final product is truly your preference and by making it from scratch, you can easily tweak it. Some people like lots of pucker, others like it sweeter. These measurements are definitely our preference and you should taste and adjust as you go.

Isn't it such a lovely spring shade of pink?

Strawberry Lemonade
2 cups lemon juice (fresh is best, but bottled is okay!)
3 cups sugar
2 cups fresh strawberries
15 cups water, divided

In a medium saucepan, make simple syrup by bringing 3 cups sugar and 3 cups water to a boil, stirring, until the sugar has dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Once the simple syrup has cooled, puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor. If you don't like the seeds included, when you finish send the puree through a cheesecloth to remove them (I didn't bother and we didn't mind them at all).

In a large pitcher, mix together the lemon juice and 2 cups of the simple syrup. Stir in the strawberry puree and remaining 12 cups of water. Mix well. Taste and add more simple syrup or lemon juice if needed. Serve over ice and enjoy!

Yields: 1 Gallon

Source: Adapted from Craftaholics Anonymous