Spusht: Strawberry-Ginger Lemonade Recipe

On the night of 1st January 2012, just when I returned to the hotel after an unbelievably, horribly unlucky night at the casino, I saw an e-mail from Siri in my inbox titled "Congratulations - You won the Joy of Cooking cookbook give away".

I instantly forgot all the $$$ lost and was joyfully dancing for the Joy of Cooking!

This 75th anniversary edition of Joy of Cooking has 4,500 recipes for all kinds of meals, from all over the world, suggested menus for several holiday dinners & special occasions, numerous tips, detailed explanations and background information but straightforward recipes, and much, much, much more.

"The Swiss Army Knife of cookbooks," is what The New York Times said about this book.

Strawberry Lemonade

This giveaway was generously hosted for the holiday season by Siri of Cooking With Siri - who has been blogging since 2007 and has an amazing variety of recipes! Thanks so much, Siri :-)

Easy Peasy Party Pleaser - Strawberry Ginger Lemonade

So...while I excitedly leaf through this half-a-pound heavy book sipping a refreshing Strawberry-Ginger Herbed Lemonade inspired from a recipe in the book (p. 41), you may also want to give a twist to your regular lemonade next time using this easy peasy party pleaser strawberry lemonade recipe...

strawberry and ginger lemonade

Strawberry Lemonade/Limeade (serves 1)

In a saucepan, bring 1 cup water + 1 Tbsp sugar* + small piece/slice of ginger** to a boil for 2 minutes (allow sugar to dissolve well), let it cool down completely. Stir in 2 Tbsp lemon or lime juice + 1-2 Tbsp strawberry puree* then refrigerate until cold so the flavors infuse. In a glass, pour the strawberry lemonade over ice cubes (remove ginger piece or any other herbs you used) and serve chilled.

* The amount of sugar you put will also depend on how sweet the fruit puree is. It is better to put lesser sugar at first anyway, otherwise add more water later to dilute the sweetness.

** You can use little rosemary, mint or thyme in place of ginger for a hint of herb. If you forget to add ginger during boiling, you can always add a little ginger juice to the strawberry lemonade later. To make ginger juice, grate fresh ginger, squeeze to get juice.

You can use any other fruit juice or puree of your choice. A lemonade has unlimited options!

Enjoy.