Blood orange lemonade
Sometimes it’s difficult to know what to do with all the fruit you have when you have fruit trees, especially lemons or limes. Back in March when all of the lemons were ripe at once, I stripped the tree and juiced all of them. I poured the juice into ice cube trays and froze them. Once they were solid I put them in a freezer safe container. Since it’s been warmer I’ve been making lemonade. Blood orange lemonade and strawberry lemonade are our two favorites. Blood oranges are coming to the end of their season but you could definitely use regular oranges or a combo or oranges and strawberries or raspberries and still get the same beautiful color and similar flavor. Here in the Riverside, Corona area, there is no citrus shortage. The citrus industry pretty much put this area on the map in the 1800’s. Anyway, enough of the history lesson….here’s the recipe. If you’ve never made your own lemonade, you’re in for a treat.
Blood orange lemonade
1 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh blood orange juice (or strawberry purée)
1-1/2 cups organic sugar
4 cups of water
In a medium pan make a simple syrup by boiling 1 cup of water and adding the sugar. Make sure all of the sugar is fully dissolved and set aside. Pour your lemon juice and orange juice (or strawberry purée) through a strainer. You will still end up with some pulp so you can do this a couple of times or you can strain it through cheese cloth if you don’t want any pulp. Once you have them strained just pour everything into a large pitcher and chill until ready to serve. You’ll end up with about 6 cups. It’s delicious, refreshing and a great way to use up your lemon juice! Enjoy! (I’m sure it would also make a great mixer for your favorite cocktail.)
Why Organic?
Some people think that buying organic produce and products is hype, I am not one of them. I buy organic whenever possible, not only does it taste better, it’s better for the environment and most of the time it is affordable. The difference is usually only $.20 -.50/ lb or bunch, that is not expensive.
Every year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) publishes an updated list of the 12 most contaminated foods, here’s this years list:
The 2019 Dirty Dozen:
Strawberries
Spinach
Kale
Nectarines
Apples
Grapes
Peaches
Cherries
Pears
Tomatoes
Celery
Potatoes
(Strawberries rank number one for the fourth year in a row, and the rest of the list looks similar to years past with one exception: Kale made the top 12 for the first time in a decade.)
If you're concerned about pesticides, the EWG also publishes a list of the "Clean 15," a.k.a. the produce from conventional growers that generally had less residue in the group's tests.
The 2019 Clean 15:
Avocados
Sweet corn
Pineapples
Frozen sweet peas
Onions
Papayas
Eggplants
Asparagus
Kiwis
Cabbages
Cauliflower
Cantaloupes
Broccoli
Mushrooms
Honeydew melons
If you’re juicing I think it’s extremely important to use organic produce because you do not want a concentration of pesticides and chemicals in your juice, I’d say that pretty much defeats the purpose. I’m a big believer in farmers markets, I try to go at least once a week. When my kids were tiny we loved going to the Redland’s farmers market then hit Trader Joe’s on the way home (because it was the closest one, thank God we have closer ones now)! Check out your local farmers markets, it’s super easy…..there are free app locators, just search the App Store.
Sources: www.ewg.org, www.organic.org